"I just dance."

Brace yourselves! Here comes the ballet!  A more ballet-educated human than I might point out that this dance could also fall into the "modern" category and they might have a very valid point. Twyla Tharp, the choreographer, is widely considered to have choreographed the first "crossover" ballet; a combo of ballet and modern.  Her work spans ballet to modern and jazz and frequently isn't easy to label as one thing or another. Twyla Tharp's choreography is unlike anything else and is in high demand . According to her website: " Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines." I could list all of her awards too, but we would be here all day.  Literally. It is like, book-length list.  Anyway, When I think of gro...

This dance is one of the most important in the history of film. How often do I get to say that? It marked the first on-screen interracial dance. "The Little Colonel" was the first movie in a line of films that featured both Shirley Temple and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Yup. That Bojangles, like the song (not the restaurant... I don't think? That would be weird).  "Bojangles" is one of the most famous American dancers ever and completely revolutionized the art of tap dancing. but first some... Dance Background: There are several different forms of tap. They all basically spring from the original form which is now dubbed "Rhythm Tap." Rhythm Tap came primarily from older African-American dance forms and was an almost entirely black dance style. It is highly rhythmic (as the name implies) and was a big part of the development of the swing music style. I will get into that in a separate post. Rhythm tap became a popular form o...