By Walter Rutledge
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Tag: Tap Dance
8/22/25 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project’s Artists Speak
By Walter Rutledge
The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project (CBDLP) 2025 presentation, Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions will grace the stage of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance this Saturday, August 23, 6pm. This unprecedented dance/theatre event showcases ten of Chicago’s most dynamic and diverse dance companies. The event is more than a dance concert. The production is a collective of Chicago-based artists celebrating the continued historic contributions of the Black dance community on the city’s cultural landscape. Continue reading
11/1/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Hinton Battle/Alfonso Ribeiro -Tap Dance Kid (Tony Awards 1984)
Fabulous Feet from the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid choreographed by Danny Daniels and featuring Alfonso Ribeiro, Hinton Battle and Company. This performance is from the 1984 Tony Awards. Continue reading
11/30/21 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Harlem On Parade (1944)| Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge
Harlem On Parade is a musical number from the 1944 American musical romance film Atlantic City. The supporting cast features Louis Armstrong, Buck & Bubbles and Dorothy Dandridge who recreated Vaudeville acts. The film was reissued in 1950 under the title Atlantic City Honeymoon. Continue reading
5/7/21 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: The Harlem Sandman (1943) Count Basie and Dorothy Dandridge,
Count Basie and his Orchestra play Harlem Sandman, an extended number in Hit Parade of 1943. It features Dorothy Dandridge and Jack Williams singing plus dance act Pops and Louis (Albert Whitman & Louis Williams) along with dancers Dorothea Durham, Neva Peoples & Ruth Scott.
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11/27/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: The First Moonwalk- Bill Bailey At The Apollo Theatre (1955)
Bill Bailey, brother of singer Pearl Bailey, is frequently credited with inventing the moonwalk because of a tap dancing move called backslide; making this one of the first ever moonwalks on film Continue reading
6/11/20 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN LEARNING: The Harlem Renaissance – Black Cultural Movement in Art Music and Literature
This a video biography of the Harlem Renaissance, a negro movement where Black America developed significant cultural resources and a new cultural identity. It was an era of intellectual flowering. The levity of this movement produced great Black renaissance poets, music, art and literature . Continue reading
9/28/19 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: Motown Returns to The Apollo (1985)
Motown Returns to The Apollo (1985) a star studded celebration of the 50th anniversary and re-opening of The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York. Proceeds from the concert went to the Africare/Ethiopian Relief Fund. The program received a 1985 for Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Program. Continue reading
9/16/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth Dance So Near and Yet So Far (You’ll Never Get Rich – 1941)
You’ll Never Get Rich (Columbia Pictures) is a 1941 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth. The picture was very successful at the box office, turning Hayworth into a major star, and provided a welcome boost to Astaire who felt his career.
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8/5/19 O&A NYC DANCE: It Don’t Mean A Thing from Sophisticated Ladies- Phyllis Hyman, Gregg Burge And Hinton Battle
It Don’t Mean A Thing from Sophisticated Ladies features a knockout cast including Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge and Mercer Ellington. Continue reading
