Tap Lineage - Honoring Leon Collins

Stacie Strong | Aug 02, 2008 | 0

Do you know your forebears?  Your tap forebears, that is?  Lineage is incredibly important in tap, not only because it preserves the memory of great artists, but because it describes how someone who is part of that line hears and interprets their music.  None of us in tap stands alone - we are who we are because of who has come before us.

Last night, as part of the JUBA series of performances (with different programs each night from August 1 to August 3), the Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) honored three people who have helped preserve the memory of the great teacher and tapper, Leon Collins.  Read on to hear more about who was honored and why.

Here's Collins dancing to Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C Minor.

Leon Collins (1922-1985) danced everything from bebop to Bach, typically performing in a black or white tuxedo with a bow tie.  Though he danced with the best tappers and musicians in the business, sharing stages with stars such as The Nicholas Brothers, Honi Coles, Billie Holliday, Dizzie Gillespie and Tito Puente, he maintained a connection with common folk, even going so far as to improvise quick command performances for stagehands (see story at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_n5_v11/ai_18965679/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1) (the video clip shown above may be the "command performance in street shoes" mentioned in the linked story).

Though Collins passed away in 1985, he was celebrated in Chicago, his hometown, last night when three of his proteges - Dianne "Lady Di" Walker, Barbara Duffy and Joan Hill - were given awards by the Chicago Human Rhythm Project for their role in preserving Collins's legacy.  Though Collins's dancing included all the usual "flash" steps (over the tops, wings, trenches, etc.), he emphasized clean, clear tapping with varied rhythmic lines that followed the melody of the tune rather than being based on pre-set eight bar rhythm patterns.  In effect, he was performing more like a solo instrument (such as a sax or trumpet) than a rhythm section instrument (such as the drums set).  In many ways, his approach to tap was similar to that of his friends and colleagues, Baby Laurence and Teddy Hale, though Collins was unusual in choosing to dance to so many classical melodies.

Like many tap dancers of his generation, Collins found it difficult to work professionally during the 1960s and early 1970s, but in 1976 he put his shoes back on for a second career in tap, this time as a teacher, first with legendary Stan Brown and then as head of his own studio in Brookline, Massachuetts, just outside of Boston.  There he started the collaborations and mentorships that were honored by CHRP.

Dianne "Lady Di" Walker is perhaps his most famous protege.  Known for her elegant style and beautiful tone, she performs and teaches around the world, passing on Collins's legacy of melodic musicality.  Walker - like Collins - can make her taps sing and has done a fantastic job in passing on Collins's vision of tap as a musical art form.  

Barbara Duffy - fondly said by Walker to be "the baby" of the group and therefore Collins's "special pet" - is another nuanced and musical dancer who performs and teaches the Collins approach.  In her performance on August 1, she demonstrated an unhurried simplicity and clarity that built incrementally to surprisingly swift tapping by the end of the performance.  Like Walker, Duffy never appears rushed or forced and never pushes for a trick - instead, her appeal lies in beautiful rhythms, clean tapping and exquisite tone.

Though Joan Hill tapped Collins's "Routine 1" with Walker and Duffy at the award ceremony, she is better known as the woman who notated many of Collins's routines, using a system of tap notation that she created.  She was also his longtime accompanist, playing piano for Collins as he performed to everything from bebop tunes to Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C Minor to his signature tune, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee," which often segued into Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine."   Hill also spoke of Collins the person with great love and admiration, saying that her life began when she met him at the age of 55.

One other tribute was made that night - at the beginning of his solo, Derick Grant uttered the words, "There once was a man named Jimmy," and then proceeded to dazzle the audience with some of the signature moves of the late, great Jimmy Slyde (Grant also ended his performance with the poignant words, "Remember Jimmy").  Though Grant is definitely his own man, he is embodying the Slyde tradition in a way that other dancers do not, perhaps because - as another tall and lanky dancer - he shares Slyde's body type or perhaps because he has decided to embrace the use of slides in addition to his fast footwork (another Sylde hallmark) and physically demanding flash steps.  Either way, Grant obviously shared a deep personal and professional connection with Slyde, and it is a joy to see Grant carry on the Slyde style.

Last night's performance was a great lesson in tap history, and makes me wonder how many of us know what line of dancers we follow. I know that my technique is firmly in the Stan Kahn lineage, via Mark Yonally and Sam Weber. My musicality is influenced not only by those gentlemen, but also by Leon Collins (through Dianne Walker), Honi Coles and Eddie Brown (through Heather Cornell, among others). So often, one teacher will have several different mentors, so you can learn several different styles from one person.  If you don't know your own lineage, ask your teachers - you may learn something surprising!

JUBA has two more performances with different lineups on August 2 at 8:00 and August 3 at 3:00.  If you're in the Chicago area, come and check out the world class dancing.  More information is available on the CHRP website, www.chicagotap.org.

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