I think Billy and Tharbis could win the climatic dance contest at the Savoy with at least one of these moves. :)
 Dance Spirit magazine compiles a LIST of some of cinema's greatest dance scenes. Worth a watch.
Unique Camel Walk/Moon Walk choreography for use in the climatic dance scene where our hero and heroine Billy and Tharbis mirror each others movements by dropping the kind of stuff that would make a jaded Savoy Ballroom audience stand-up and shout!
 Jack Johnson was the first African-American World Heavyweight Boxing Champion (1908-1915). In 1920, he opened a supper club called Club Deluxe in the heart of Harlem at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue. In 1923, gangster and bootlegger Owney Madden "offered Johnson a deal he couldn't refuse" and the Cotton Club was born.
Thanks to polymath Marshall Davis, Jr, tap dance is alive and well in the 305 and beyond! He is tap dancing's "Grand Philosopher" and his "Revelations in Rhythm" is really a tour de force. Trust me, you've probably never seen anything like this. With Savion Glover, this is well worth a watch and a listen-- to learn something about life and yourself.
Every performing art has its parameters in time and space. What you do within those parameters is challenging, limited only by your imagination and the laws of physics. So, when you see dancers like Zack Richard and Maryse Lebeau exploring the 100-year-old space of the Jitterbug and Lindy by creating moves you've never seen before, well, the old tried and true takes on an air of excitement as they dance in the 2009 International Lindy Hop Championships in Washington, DC. Worth a watch.
 Surprisingly, there's a whole lotta tap dancing going on in Jitterbug! One of its pivotal scenes has the dancical's protagonist Billy Rhythm taking on Bill "Bojangles" Robinson when the Mayor challenges him to "trade fours" in the legendary Hoofer's Club, a small back room in a Harlem speakeasy. That janitor's closet-- for the most part (it was just big enough for an old battered upright piano, a bench and enough floor space for two dancers)-- has been called the "unacknowledged headquarters of American tap dancing from the 1920's through the 1940's." Tap even shows up in the climatic dance contest at the Savoy Ballroom when Billy and his girlfriend Tharbis Jefferson put it to use in the Jitterbug breakaway to beat their competition.
So it's quite fitting to release the "Jitterbug!" Kindle Edition today on both Bojangles' birthday and National Tap Dance Day. With teaching in mind, it is formatted for smartphones so students can use their phones at their desks or remotely from home through online learning. Performing assigned roles via Zoom or similar platforms is encouraged. Annotated for historical context and period slang, the Kindle edition supports Endnotes where one click on a number next to a word in the script brings up a definition or supportive historicaL context pages from the Endnotes section at the back. If read online, it affords the reader/actor the option of listening to the music used in the script while reading or performing by clicking the music link to the Jitterbug! website. The Kindle edition also contains a map of Harlem circa 1931 of the actual places where the story takes place. Pictures of historical characters portrayed in the story can be found on the last page. Finally, free Educator Manuals and Student Questionnaires (pdf files) based on National Core Arts/Common Core Standards for DANCE, THEATRE, MUSIC (Composition and Ensemble strands), LITERATURE, and HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES are available for download at the "Educator Resources" page on the Jitterbug! website. If read online, readers can click Internet links in the pdf files to multimedia targets that will enhance their learning experience. Synchned duo steps from Les Twins. So cool...
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DC CopelandMulti-hyphenate with a penchant for writing. Archives
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