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Themes | Essays

Tap

Curated by Brian Seibert

An Introduction By

Brian Seibert

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Roll Over, Ted Shawn: Tap at Jacob’s Pillow

A comprehensive look at the history of tap at the Pillow, from its tentative beginnings in the 1940s to the full flowering today.

Michelle Dorrance

Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner Michelle Dorrance has been lauded as one of today's most imaginative tap choreographers.

Savion Glover

Having long ago proved that he could do pretty much whatever he wanted in tap, Savion Glover is also ever mindful of his tap ancestors who forever live on through his performances.

Gregory Hines

Alone among the hoofers of his generation, Gregory Hines was a star on Broadway and in the movies, and the memory of his singular Pillow performance lives on.

Jazz Tap Ensemble

At the time of its Jacob's Pillow debut in 1983, Jazz Tap Ensemble was in the vanguard of a new phase in the history of tap dancing.

Jimmy Slyde

As a silver-haired elder statesman of tap, Jimmy Slyde was regularly celebrated at tap festivals and tap events, and he made a number of memorable appearances at Jacob's Pillow.

Jason Samuels Smith

Few dancers, in their debut performances at Jacob’s Pillow, can have made an entrance as head-turning as Jason Samuels Smith’s.

Dormeshia

Prodigies don’t always grow into great artists, but the remarkable poise and rhythmic accuracy Dormeshia demonstrated as a teenager were true portents of the extraordinary tap dancer she would become, frequently cited as the best in her generation.
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