While Black History Month is almost over, Broadway Plus wants to keep the conversation going, celebrating the past, present, and future of Black accomplishments on Broadway!
Looking Back: The Origins of Tap Dancing
When you think of tap dance, what comes to mind? Today, it seems like a record number of contemporary Broadway musicals are using tap dance: Mean Girls, The Book of Mormon, Flying Over Sunset, and Mrs. Doubtfire, to name a few. Though, when you tap dance, you may think of faces like Sutton Foster or Grey Henson, do you know the Black individuals who paved the way for this style of dance?
Click the tiles below to find out!
William Henry Lane
“Master Juba”
(1825-1852)
Credited with being one of the most influential creators of American tap dance. Lane began to learn the Irish jig from “Uncle” Jim Lowe, an NYC dance hall performer. By 10, Lane was performing in Paradise Square in the Five Points District. He mixed British Isle Folk dance and African dance together to create tap.
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949)
Another dancer credited with shaping modern-day tap dance. Robinson began dancing for pennies as a child, and eventually made it to the vaudeville circuit. Robinson performed in many musicals, including Hot Mikado, Bojanges, and Broadway’s Blackbirds of 1928, where he became known for his legendary “Stair Dance.”
While Black History Month is almost over, Broadway Plus wants to keep the conversation going, celebrating the past, present, and future of Black accomplishments on Broadway!
Looking Back: The Origins of Tap Dancing
When you think of tap dance, what comes to mind? Today, it seems like a record number of contemporary Broadway musicals are using tap dance: Mean Girls, The Book of Mormon, Flying Over Sunset, and Mrs. Doubtfire, to name a few. Though, when you tap dance, you may think of faces like Sutton Foster or Grey Henson, do you know the Black individuals who paved the way for this style of dance?
Click the tiles below to find out!
William Henry Lane
“Master Juba”
(1825-1852)
Credited with being one of the most influential creators of American tap dance. Lane began to learn the Irish jig from “Uncle” Jim Lowe, an NYC dance hall performer. By 10, Lane was performing in Paradise Square in the Five Points District. He mixed British Isle Folk dance and African dance together to create tap.
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949)
Another dancer credited with shaping modern-day tap dance. Robinson began dancing for pennies as a child, and eventually made it to the vaudeville circuit. Robinson performed in many musicals, including Hot Mikado, Bojanges, and Broadway’s Blackbirds of 1928, where he became known for his legendary “Stair Dance.”
John William Sublett “Bubbles” (1902-1986)
Credited to have invented “rhythm tap.” He experimented with rhythms by dropping his heels and accenting unconventional beats, ultimately paving the way for modern jazz percussion. His vaudeville act with Ford Lee “Buck” Washington headlined the white vaudeville circuit, performing in Broadway Frolics of 1922, Blackbirds of 1930, and The Ziegfield Follies of 1931.
Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates (1907-1998)
Danced in vaudeville, on film, and recurrently on the Ed Sullivan Show. After losing his leg in a cotton gin accident, he made it a point to perform with other disabled dancers.
The Whitman Sisters
Mabel, Essie, Alberta, and Alice Whitman owned and produced their own entertainment company. Their act become the longest running and highest-paid act in the black vaudeville circuit. Alice was regarded as the best female tap dancer of the 1920s and was called the “Queen of Taps.”
Jeni Le Gon
(1916-2012)
Known as the first black women make a career as a tap soloist. Jeni wore pants, rather than a skirts, when she danced and her tapping took on a more athletic, acrobatic style that was typically associated with masculine dancing. Jeni has a total of 24 film credits and is the only black woman to have danced with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson on screen.
4 Black Organizations to Support Today
Get to know what organizations our artists support and are involved in!
The Future of Theatre: 4 Black Playwrights To Look Out For
Michael R. Jackson is most well known for the musical White Girl in Danger and the 2020 Pulitzer prize winning musical, A Strange Loop, which will be premiering on Broadway this April! A Strange Loop tells the story of a black, queer writer writing a musical about a black queer writer writing a musical… Wesley Morris of the New York Times says that A Strange Loop is “a ferocious, pungent hit – some of the most vital work in American Theatre.” Michael has received numerous awards, including the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Outer Critics’ Circle Award, the OBIE Playwriting award, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama, and was nominated for 7 Lucille Lortel Awards in 2020.
Antoinette Nwandu is a stage, film and television writer. Her play Pass Over debuted at Lincoln Center in 2018 and soon after opened on Broadway in the fall of 2021. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter called Pass Over “A powerfully imaginative drama that will shake up audiences, instantly tagging the playwright as a significant new voice.”
Jeremy O. Harris broke the record for the most Tony nominated play with his 2018 work Slave Play. Jesse Green of The New York Times said that Slave Play was “willfully provocative, gaudily transgressive and altogether staggering.” Wesley Morris said that it was “the single most daring thing [he’s] seen in a theater in a long time.” Slave Play brought home the 2018 Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award and The Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. An experienced writer and producer for stage and screen, Jeremy is currently developing a pilot for HBO, and serves as a co-producer of Euphoria!
JOCELYN BIOH
Jocelyn Bioh is a celebrated theatre artist on and offstage. She has performed in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, most notably starring in the Broadway production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. She is also a playwright with the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Lincoln Center, and MCC Theatre. Her play School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play was featured in the MCC PlayLab Series. In 2018, School Girls won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for New American Playwright, and the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award (amongst others).
Sources
http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tdabio.156/default.html
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/jeni-legon-38
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200217630/
https://ums.org/2019/06/21/from-margins-to-mainstream-tap-dance-history/
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lane-william-henry-master-juba-1825-c-1852/
https://www.britannica.com/art/tap-dance
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/bill-bojangles-robinson/
https://www.artsboston.org/2018/02/06/10-contemporary-black-playwrights-you-shouldpotential-know/
John William Sublett “Bubbles” (1902-1986)
Credited to have invented “rhythm tap.” He experimented with rhythms by dropping his heels and accenting unconventional beats, ultimately paving the way for modern jazz percussion. His vaudeville act with Ford Lee “Buck” Washington headlined the white vaudeville circuit, performing in Broadway Frolics of 1922, Blackbirds of 1930, and The Ziegfield Follies of 1931.
Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates (1907-1998)
Danced in vaudeville, on film, and recurrently on the Ed Sullivan Show. After losing his leg in a cotton gin accident, he made it a point to perform with other disabled dancers.
The Whitman Sisters
Mabel, Essie, Alberta, and Alice Whitman owned and produced their own entertainment company. Their act become the longest running and highest-paid act in the black vaudeville circuit. Alice was regarded as the best female tap dancer of the 1920s and was called the “Queen of Taps.”
Jeni Le Gon
(1916-2012)
Known as the first black women make a career as a tap soloist. Jeni wore pants, rather than a skirts, when she danced and her tapping took on a more athletic, acrobatic style that was typically associated with masculine dancing. Jeni has a total of 24 film credits and is the only black woman to have danced with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson on screen.
4 Black Organizations to Support Today
Get to know what organizations our artists support and are involved in!
The Future of Theatre: 4 Black Playwrights To Look Out For
Michael R. Jackson is most well known for the musical White Girl in Danger and the 2020 Pulitzer prize winning musical, A Strange Loop, which will be premiering on Broadway this April! A Strange Loop tells the story of a black, queer writer writing a musical about a black queer writer writing a musical… Wesley Morris of the New York Times says that A Strange Loop is “a ferocious, pungent hit – some of the most vital work in American Theatre.” Michael has received numerous awards, including the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Outer Critics’ Circle Award, the OBIE Playwriting award, the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama, and was nominated for 7 Lucille Lortel Awards in 2020.
Antoinette Nwandu is a stage, film and television writer. Her play Pass Over debuted at Lincoln Center in 2018 and soon after opened on Broadway in the fall of 2021. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter called Pass Over “A powerfully imaginative drama that will shake up audiences, instantly tagging the playwright as a significant new voice.”
Jeremy O. Harris broke the record for the most Tony nominated play with his 2018 work Slave Play. Jesse Green of The New York Times said that Slave Play was “willfully provocative, gaudily transgressive and altogether staggering.” Wesley Morris said that it was “the single most daring thing [he’s] seen in a theater in a long time.” Slave Play brought home the 2018 Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award and The Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. An experienced writer and producer for stage and screen, Jeremy is currently developing a pilot for HBO, and serves as a co-producer of Euphoria!
JOCELYN BIOH
Jocelyn Bioh is a celebrated theatre artist on and offstage. She has performed in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, most notably starring in the Broadway production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. She is also a playwright with the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Lincoln Center, and MCC Theatre. Her play School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play was featured in the MCC PlayLab Series. In 2018, School Girls won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for New American Playwright, and the Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award (amongst others).
SOURCES:
http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.tdabio.156/default.html
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/jeni-legon-38
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200217630/
https://ums.org/2019/06/21/from-margins-to-mainstream-tap-dance-history/
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lane-william-henry-master-juba-1825-c-1852/
https://www.britannica.com/art/tap-dance
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/bill-bojangles-robinson/
https://www.artsboston.org/2018/02/06/10-contemporary-black-playwrights-you-shouldpotential-know/
