DOCUMENT RESUME ED 407 293 SO 026 675 TITLE Stepping in Time. INSTITUTION Philadelphia Folklore Project, PA. REPORT NO ISSN-1075-0029 PUB DATE Feb 94 NOTE 45p.; Photographs may not reproduce well. AVAILABLE FROM Philadelphia Folklore Project, 719 Catharine St., Philadelphia, PA 19147. PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) Historical Materials (060) JOURNAL CIT Works in Progress; v8 n2 Feb 1994 EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adult Education; Aesthetics; *Art Education; *Blacks; Dance; Drama; *Folk Culture; Higher Education; Interdisciplinary Approach; *Multicultural Education; Music; Secondary Education IDENTIFIERS *African Americans; Entertainment; Musicals ABSTRACT This special commemorative theme issue features a Philadelphia Folklore Project that sought to encourage a wider discussion about art and the politics of culture; to document and explore the history of a significant folk art form--in this case, tap dancing--from the perspective of the generation of African American women and men who "came up" in the 1920s-40s; and to create a forum for presentation and discussion of these issues. Following an introduction and a section titled "Performers' biographies," seven essays present in-depth testimonies from the artistsas they trace Philadelphia vernacular tap traditions and discuss aesthetics of the art as well as the range of customs and performances. Featured artists include Hortense Allen Jordan, Libby Spencer, Edith Hunt, Henry Meadows, and Tommy Jordan. (DQE) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** STEPPING ,INTIME A 471 0 INSIDE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Setting the record straight, p 2 ko d Performers' biographies, p 4 Beginnings and breaks, p 14 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Henry Meadows & the rhythms of .4 South Philly, p. 18 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement Not everyone can be in a show: ED yCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1John Hart, p. 21 This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Rehearsing Hort- The real untold stories of tap: Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. ense Allen Jordan African American women dancers, talks with Charles p. 22 Points of view or opinions stated in this Bowen and Paul document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Grant (seated). Staging shows all the way down the Marvin Jordan, line: women choreographers, p. 28 Ruth Mobley Kitty Works in Progress, the newsletter of the DeChavis, Isabelle Tiying to get my knowledge togeth- Philadelphia Folklore Project Fambro, and Ger- er women entertainers, p. 32 maine Ingram Special commemorative issue (standing). Photo: Km had your own style, p. 38 Volume 8, number 2 Thomas B. Morton Credits, p. 42 February 1994 ISSN 1075-0029 [BEST ON Setting the record straight: an introduction to "stepping in time" One point of beginning for this pro- stream dance world, few question to document and explore the histo- ject (and there are many) is in other peoples' authority, knowl- ry of a significant folk art form from recognition of the significant art, edge, or assumptions. But look who the perspective of the generation of wisdom and accumulated experi- isn't doing the talking. Effectively, African American women and men ence of African American tap tap dancers schooled on the streets who came up in the 1920s-1940s; dancersmany of whom achieved and in the business, by lifetimes of and to create a forum for presenta- prominence in the golden age of dancingthat is to say, dancers tion and discussion of these issues swing or rhythm tap (1930s-40s). educated within what is convention- which, rather than coopting voices, Artists are passing, and it is not only ally considered folk tradition rather instead facilitates understanding a great and original American art than formal school traditionare and communication. form that is being "lost," but a way scarcely represented in dance festi- This booklet is one attempt to of approaching art, a vital kind of vals, concerts, funding panels, remove barriers to seeing and connection between art and com- dance faculties. They are excluded understanding dance itself. Included munity We are also losing track of from substantive discussions about here are lengthy testimonies, artists' some hard-won lessons about what tap aesthetics, innovation, program- own words. These narrative tradi- can happen when a vernacular tradi- ming, education, funding, quality, tions condense common experi- tion goes "uptown." We write this history, or futures. It is all of our ences. Part of the occupational folk- conscious that people have been loss. lore of tap, these stories are an art announcing the "death" of various Results of these omissions as rich and resonant as dancers' folk art forms for generations often unintentionalare lack of steps. public awareness of both present while the arts themselves have con- The Philadelphia tap scene of and past politics of culture, lack of tinued to alter, change and evolve. the 1920s through the 1940s is a understanding of past African We want to call attention to some prime example of a folk or vernacu- American tap innovation and expe- real changes in what counts as tap lar tradition, operating in a commu- rience, lack of appreciation of the nity milieu. The vital local dance dance these clays, in how people complex features of the vernacular learn to dance and sing, in who con- scene was connected in many ways traditionand less opportunities, to the national scene, and trols and who has access to art. prestige, and rewards for African Philadelphia vernacular styles Tap artists for some time now American artists. entered and shaped popular cul- have been in the peculiar (but We began this project wanting to ture. Oral tradition and folk custom unfortunately not unfamiliar) posi- bring attention to the steps, styles, emphasize the life of tap within the Artie Riley Oscar tion of watching from the sidelines and voices most excluded by con- community, as well as the complex Mc Burse and as younger dancers, critics and pro- temporary tap, i.e. folk artists, and knowledge that tappers have about Patricia Perkins grammers (chiefly but not exclusive- especially African American women one another. They also reveal the look at this vol- ly white, chiefly but not exclusively among them. We wanted to facili- ume in process, trained in school and classes) define tate discussion of critical issues aesthetics of the art: what people held by Debora tap and its possibilities, its mile- raised by the example of tap but value and privilege, what they count Kodish. Photo: stones, its pantheon of giants and present for most folk arts: How do as excellence. The folk history of Thomas B. Morton history, its so-called "death" and histories of art affect the present? tapincluding this aesthetic "theo- "revival." People talk to who they What happens when vernacular arts ry" continues in peoples' narra- know, and within the so-called main- gain currency in mainstream set- tives, in a range of customs, and (to tings? In what knowing eyes and ears) in perfor- ways can buried mances that reference, extend, assumptions reprise, or fall short of the magic about race, class, and skill of previous artists. gender, color, and When talking frankly with one performance con- another, hooferswomen and text affect the menmay speak about how race, evolution and gender, class, and color affected evaluation of an their own individual ability to work. art form? Our They talk about the hard toll that aims were to life on the road took, of artists who encourage a fell victim to drugs, drink, fame and wider discussion other tragedies. They talk of luck, about art and the good and bad, of what they could 2 politics of culture; control and what was outside their power. Some stories and functional differ- are often retold, for the ences from aesthetic pleasure of the telling, ones. or because they seem We always had a to embody collective performance in mind, judgements, knowl- but somewhere in the edge and truths. Few of middle of the process, those speaking are bit- the artists involved ter. Most are clear-eyed decided to put on a realists. All are sur- show, a real show, that vivors. would give this genera- These stories and tion's audiences a the performances pre- chance to understand sented in "Stepping in the glory and glamour Time" are rooted in an of show businessand ethic and aesthetic to see, as Isabelle that diverge frequently Fambro put it, "that we from those of today's ain't dead yet." The mainstream dance issues and the perfor- world. The ambition of mance naturally moved some latter-day tap from a focus solely on disciples to establish hoofing to the wider LaVaughn Robin- tap as a "serious" art context of show busi- son and Ger- form has resulted in ness. maine Ingrain emphasis on the The conviviality look at materials. proscenium stage and and joy of the past Photo: Thomas B. concert format as pre- months have been Morton ferred presentation extraordinary. Meetings modes; in uninformed in Fambro's photo- distinctions between graph-lined basement "routines" and choreography; and London, Paris and Australia. have been occasions for people to in celebration of lengthy pieces LaVaughn Robinson recalls that he share precious memories, to debate and what passes for improvisation and his dance partners learned early art and history, to reconstruct great over the pithy, carefully composed to "pack the meat of our material performances, and to enjoy the numbers performed by Bill into six to eight minutes," and cau- sociability of others who under- Robinson, Tip, Tap & Toe, Coles tions that if you can't "tell a story in stand.