REVIEW: Dancers tap into past and present styles

By Diana Nollen

IOWA CITY - I left “Thank You, Gregory: A Tribute to the Legends of Tap” not knowing any more about the late Gregory Hines than when I went inside City High's Opstad Auditorium.

But I did know a lot more about the huge expanse of tap dances and the wildly different styles of stars through the years.

The Hancher program brought a near-capacity crowd to its feet Saturday night (1/23), after showering the dancers with cheers and applause throughout the nearly two-hour show.

The multimedia production was created by Tony Waag, co-founder of the American Tap Dance Foundation in New York City. Hines was his friend and sat on the foundation's board for 15 years before dying from cancer in 2003.

The show is Waag's way of thanking Hines for bridging the gap between the old guard of tappers and an emerging generation of fleet feet.

Still, it would have been nice to learn more about the singer-dancer-actor who brought tap out of the mothballs and back to the fore.

With a mixture of vintage film clips and live performances, the first half focused on the tap trailblazers and the hoofers from the glory days of Broadway and Hollywood musicals.

The eight dancers came onstage one by one to form a line and build on the each other's rhythms before breaking into solo and ensemble work to showcase the likes of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Charles “Honi” Coles, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller and other famous females, the rhythm tappers and the comedians like Ray Bolger.

Some of the highlights included Susan Nase performing the power rhythms and sharp arm movements of Brenda Bufalino; Joseph Webb capturing Hines' rapid-fire staccato; and Donovan Helma and Brent McBeth tapping on roller skates a la vaudeville.

The most educational number found Webb in the solo spot, recreating the styles of the Kings of Rhythm: Jimmy Slyde, “Baby Laurence” Jackson, John Bubbles and Peg Leg Bates, who lost his left leg in a cotton gin accident at age 12 and tapped with a peg leg. All pioneered completely different styles, laying a foundation for those who followed.

The time capsule took a giant leap forward in the second half, with more emphasis on modern applications of tap.

The men were terrific in capturing the Cole Stroll, but the women were not as precise in their salute to the women of the '70s, slipping out of sync to muddy their rhythms.

The most exciting section layered very contemporary, precise drill movements and constantly changing meters to the Beatles' “Eleanor Rigby,” followed by Chloe Arnold's elegant, sexy interpretation of Hines' vocals on “More,” featuring lots of toe work, slides and brush steps. Then the ensemble really let loose and had fun with slinky partnering to Beyonce and Jay-Z's “Deja Vu.”

An invitation for audience participation on the Shim Sham Shimmy closed the evening with a smile.