A black-and-white publicity shot from the Broadway musical Jelly’s Last Jam in 1992 tells the story of one of the most influential relationships of Savion Glover’s life.
The teenage performer, by then heralded as the salvation of the lost art of tap, appears to be in dance communion with his co-star, the late Gregory Hines. Glover sports a newsboy cap, suspenders and a bowtie; his mentor is in natty pinstripes and two-tone bucks. Together, they catch air and feed on each other’s energy, but it’s obvious even from this freeze-frame moment that two very distinct stylemakers are at play.
Glover has indicated time and again that he’s had some big shoes to fill on the way to becoming tap’s superstar. Now the Newark-born prodigy is saying thank you in a very public way to those who tapped him on the shoulder so he could listen and learn his art.
Savion Glover’s Chronology of a HooFer, on stage at New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 8, is the dancemaker’s solo show about his life, career and mentors who paved the path. “I’ll be sharing a journey with the audience — the span of my journey and my career. How the dance has transitioned me and how it has transitioned itself,” remarks Glover, the tap master of Broadway’s Shuffle Along and Tony Award winner.
The multimedia Chronology introduces the audience, via images and Glover’s storytelling, to a pantheon of tappers who contributed to or influenced his ascendancy: Jimmy Slyde (“King of Slides”), Dianne Walker, Sammy Davis Jr., Lon Chaney, James “Buster” Brown and Ralph Brown.
“He could arguably be the best tap dancer that ever lived,” Hines once observed during an interview on 60 Minutes. “He’s a genius.”
A choreographer and legendary hoofer whose career has spanned four decades, Glover began his Broadway career as The Tap Dance Kid and continued with Black and Blue, Jelly’s Last Jam and Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, which garnered him a Tony for Best Choreography.
As NJPAC’s Dance Advisor, Glover has spent the summer creating Club Bring Time Back @ NJPACZ for its Arts Education Department. This original song-and-dance piece features a cast of 45 ranging in age from 6 to 18, mostly from his home city of Newark. The piece will be performed on Sunday, September 18 at 6pm in the Arts Center’s Victoria Theater.
Whether he’s introducing children and teens to live performance or looking back on his own apprenticeships and career, Glover believes in the life-changing potential of the arts.
