Honoring the LEGacy of the chorus line
Special to the American
When All That Tap XVI goes down Saturday, July 28 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, the stage will be dominated by black talent.
Robert L. Reed III, the son of a legend who toured with Savion Glover in the 2003 international Noise/Funk; Karen Callaway Williams, the first female tap dancer in Riverdance-The Show; Dr. Marion Coles, a veteran of ‘30s and ‘40s chorus lines who performed with Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway; and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, featured principal dancer in European tour of Black and Blue, are just some of the African-American hoofers who will bring a wide range of styles to the Touhill.
Featured will be everything from the furious funk of hip-hop artists Darryl “Dee Mac” Sandoz and Rashad “Wizdom” Rounds, to the elegance of Sumbry-Edwards. As the Village Voice reported, “When (Savion) Glover traded phrases with her, you could see he’d met his match and was grateful for the challenge.”
The dancers of All That Tap XVI hail from around North America. Several have never appeared in St. Louis before, such as Canadian-born jazz artist Shelley Oliver and New Yorker “new vaudevillian” Rod Ferrone, who has given master classes in the art of hat tricks as well as tap.
The show will bring to the stage a wide range of ages as well. Elder tap masters performing in All That Tap XVI include Dr. Jimmy Slyde, Harold Cromer and featured honoree Coles, still dancing with gusto after seven decades. With Coles, All That Tap XVI puts a spotlight on “LEGacy of the Chorus Line.”
Founded in 1992 by tap master Robert L. Reed, the St. Louis Tap Festival is produced by the Robert L. Reed Tap Heritage Institute, Inc. Reed is an internationally sought-after teacher, choreographer, producer and performer of acrobatic, flash and improvisational rhythm tap. He directs the St. Louis Hoofers, a youth professional tap group with members from Missouri, Oklahoma and Colorado, which recently returned from the Duisburg Tap Festival in Germany.
All That Tap XVI crowns the six-day St. Louis Tap Festival that includes master classes, a tap jam improvisation, and a participants’ showcase, taking place July 23-28 at the Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel, 7730 Bonhomme. For more information, check tapheritage.org or call the St. Louis Tap Festival hotline at 314-531-8277.
The concert itself is at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 28 at 7 p.m. All That Tap XVI also features live jazz music by St. Louis’ own award-winning Carolbeth True Trio.
Tickets for All That Tap XVI are $15, $20 and $25. They are available by phone via the Touhill Center at 516-4949 (toll free, 866-516-4949) or online at www.touhill.org.
