Thank You, Gregory!
A Tribute to the Legends of Tap

7:30 p.m. Friday, October 2, 2009
Eisenhower Auditorium

Adult $36     University Park Student $15     18 and Younger $26

Eight dancers (including Emmy Award-winner Jason Samuels Smith), a trio of jazz musicians, multimedia projections, and live narration combine in Thank You, Gregory! to celebrate tap dance’s history, artistry, and rhythms. Written and choreographed by Tony Waag of the American Tap Dance Foundation, the show’s title honors the late dancer whose career united the previously separate and unequal branches of the tap family tree. “Gregory Hines brought international attention to tap dance as an American art form,” Waag says, “as well as a positive, accessible, forward, and inclusive mode of self expression.” The performance features tributes to the “Kings of Tap” (Fred Astaire, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, John Bubbles, Gene Kelly, and the Nicholas Brothers); “Leading Ladies of Hollywood” (Ruby Keeler, Ann Miller, Eleanor Powell, and Juanita Pitts); “Eccentric Dancers” (Ray Bolger, Donald O’Connor, and Hal Leroy); “Concert Dancers” (Dr. Jimmy Slyde, Chuck Green, Bunny Briggs, and Paul Draper); “Pioneering Women in the 1970s” (led by Brenda Bufalino); and “Unsung Hoofers” (who were often overlooked because of race, gender, or social circumstances).

sponsor
McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

This tour of Thank You Gregory, A Tribute to the Legends of Tap has been funded, in part, by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

This tour of Thank You Gregory, A Tribute to the Legends of Tap is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program.

Artist Activity

A member of the Thank You Gregory cast conducts a tap dance master class from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, September 30, at Indigo Nite Club, 112 W. College Ave., State College. The master class is open to participation by tappers in high school and older. The public is also welcome to observe.

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