Foreword by Dianne Walker
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction (1650-1900)
Chapter 2: (Turn of the Century) Buck-and-Wing
Chapter 3: (Teens) Over-the-Top and In-the-Trenches
Chapter 4: (Twenties) Simply Full of Jazz
Chapter 5: (Thirties) Swing Time
Chapter 6: (Forties) Jumpin' Jive
Chapter 7: (Fifties) Beat, Bebop, Birth of the Cool
Chapter 8: (Sixties) Tap Happenings
Chapter 9: (Seventies) Nostalgia, and All That Tap
Chapter 10: (Eighties) Black and Blue
Chapter 11: (Nineties) Noise and Funk
Chapter 12: (Millennium) Hoofing in Heels
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Constance Valis Hill is a jazz tap dancer, choreographer, and
highly respected scholar of performance studies whose writings have
appeared in Dance Magazine, Village Voice, Dance Research Journal,
Studies in Dance History, and Discourses in Dance. She studied tap
dance with Charles "Cookie" Cook and various members of the
Copasetics; performed as one member of the tap-dancing Doilie
Sisters; and directed "Sole Sisters" for the
Changing Times Tap Company. Her book, Brotherhood in Rhythm: The
Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers (2000), received the
ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. She is a Five College Professor of Dance
at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.
"Hill's prose brings to life the visceral thrill that a
well-executed virtuosic tap routine or improvisation can impart.
Her work here will inspire readers--tap enthusiasts, dance
historians, as well as nonspecialist scholars and students--to
delve deeper into the complicated history of this eminently
American dance form." --Dance Research Journal
"A great source of reference for Tap Dance culture and history, Tap
Dancing America accumulates stories and articles in attempts to
capture the essence of this elusive oral tradition. An important
read. I highly recommend it!"-Jason Samuels Smith
"With breath that is bated we all have awaited the arrival of this
book. Spanning the gaps and the taps across the ages and the stages
of time, covering the various aspects of the art of this American
dance form, Ms. Valis Hill has guided us through a definitive
full-of-life exploration into the world of Terpsichore. It's a hard
book to put down and calls out to you with its inclusion and
accuracy whether it be about the dance patterns, the personal or
the
historical dates and times. With his love of dance and dancers my
grandfather would have been most proud to be included within these
pages."--Mercedes Ellington, President & CEO of The Duke Ellington
Center for The Arts
"Comprehensive and compelling, Tap Dancing America places race,
gender, individual innovation, and rhythm at the center of American
dance history. Carefully researched and eminently readable, this
landmark volume will inspire generations to explore a legacy of tap
dancing as corporeal evidence of Afro-Irish fusion. Constance Valis
Hill brings intellectual breadth and an abiding love for the dance
and its dancers to this invaluable and definitive
project."-Thomas F. DeFrantz, Professor, Music and Theater Arts,
MIT and author of Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey's Embodiment of
African American Culture
"Tap Dancing America casts new light on the hurly burly of class,
culture, race and gender that fused into one of America's most
original and popular arts. An indispensible resource for anyone
interested in American culture."-Sali Ann Kriegsman, Modern Dance
in America: The Bennington Years
"This handy source for tap history and personalities packs in lots
of info." --Library Journal
"Brimming with info and energy...a fresh perspective that
communicates the vibrancy of this art form with all its twists and
turns, engaging readers in the complex history of its American
life. A spectacular achievement!" -- Lynn Dally, Artistic Director,
Jazz Tap Ensemble; Adjunct Professor, UCLA Department of World Arts
and Cultures
"This will be an invaluable resource for those interested in US
cultural history and the history of dance in general, as well as
the tap dance genre itself. Summing up: Essential." --Choice
"Hill is not only an accomplished tap dance historian (and
performer), but an extremely descriptive and passionate writer; she
is able to paint a colorful and dynamic picture for her
reader...That is what makes Tap Dancing America: a Cultural History
such a compelling read." --Southwest Journal of Cultures
"By book's end, the reader will come away with an understanding of
tap dance in the way one would expect from a similar study on
American painting, opera or jazz. Hill writes with authority, yet
in a voice that welcomes readers at all levels of knowledge...Tap
Dancing America will bring the conversation around to tap, and
perhaps even bring another generation into the tradition Savion
Glover most recently has spotlighted." --Broadside
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