Venue:The Vancouver Playhouse
Date:September 2, 2002
Reviewer: Ross Michael Pink
To a full house, with energy in the air, the
Vancouver Tap Dance Society presented an extraordinary and gifted
afternoon of Tap Dance at Theatre on September 2. The performance marked the third annual
Vancouver International Tap Dance festival.
Tap dance is not customarily seen by Vancouver
audiences yet judging from the enthusiastic response,such performances can enjoy
great success.
The evening was hosted by the affable
Cholly Atkins
known affectionately as " the man with the moves." A tap dance legend, he has toured with
leading
bands such as Cab Calloway, Count Basie and the velvet
voiced Billie Eckstein. Atkins has also directed stage acts for
the likes
of Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes.
In 1989, Atkins won a Tony award for
his
choreography of the Broadway show, Black and Blue.
The afternoon featured a medley of tap
artists,
each performing a short set. The range of talent was
remarkable. Performance highlights included Ms.
Terry Brock, who resembles a young Ginger Rogers. She electrified the audience with
her
graceful, classy tap moves. Ms. Brock, a former member of the
prestigious Jazz
Tap Ensemble, has shared the stage with Gregory Hines, Savion Glover and
the
Nicholas Brothers.
After Brock performed, Atkins spoke for
many when
he summed up her graceful and romantic performance with the
remark, " there is a whole lot of love
out there."
Perhaps nowhere is the intensity and
beauty of Tap
Dance better combined than with the artistry of Vancouver native, Joel
Hanna.
At a young age, he is already a master
of
Irish dance and became a star with the famous Riverdance troupe
that dazzled world stages a few years ago.
Hanna danced rythmically to the
beats of a
drum. After a sequence of drum beats, he would reply with
dazzling tap steps. It was an extraordinary
moment of
creative dance genius that enthralled the sell -out
crowd. Hanna is currently starring in, Fire of
Dance, a
performance that is selling out shows in Europe.
Other performers included Jim Hibbard,
Anthony
Peters and Cheryl Johnson, Van Porter, William Orlowski,
Robert Reed, Dianne Walker , Dr. Jeni
Legon and Dr.
Jimmy Slyde.The combined talent of this group represents the Hall of
Fame of tap dance and aroused
audience acclaim
and respect that this art form so richly deserves.
A special word of gratitude belongs to
the tireless
workers and volunteers at the Vancouver Tap Dance Society for arranging
the
Masters of Tap. For all concerned, it was clearly a labor of love and
dance
afficionados can only hope that tap dance becomes a more
frequent visitor to our stages.
© 02, Ross Michael Pink