The annual Beijing International Dance Festival will end this
weekend with the British ballet Madame Butterfly at the Poly
Theater and a performance of American tap dance at the Beizhan
Theater.
Local theatergoers have already experienced Irish tap in River
Dance, Lord of the Dance and Spirit of the Dance. And from the
musical 42nd Street, which just wrapped up its China tour last
month, they tasted one style of American tap. Now the real deal is
set to hit the Beizhan Theater from December 23.
The show, JUBA! Masters of American Tap captures the dynamic
renaissance of tap as performed by the finest dancers from Chicago,
LA, San Francisco and New York, including Harold Cromer who started
out in the 1950s. There's also Dianne Walker, the acclaimed
"America's First Lady of Tap", Sam Weber, who combines ballet with
tap choreography, and Lane Alexander, the artistic director of the
show.
In 1990, Alexander and the late Kelly Michaels co-founded the
Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) as a workshop at the Gus
Giordano Dance Center in Evanston, Illinois. The Project organizes
for master tap dancers to tour throughout the US and teach in
various communities.
Alexander once said that he realized at the beginning of his
career as a dancer that tap dancing was a homeless art, nomadic and
poorly supported. So he founded the CHRP to celebrate tap dance as
a quintessentially American art form.
"The Chicago Human Rhythm Project, through its educational and
entertainment program, promotes understanding of the intricacies
and techniques of tap dancing, and creates performance
opportunities for tap artists," Alexander says.
"Tap dancing, which was almost a lost art, is having its
renaissance - and this time, it's here to stay!"
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: Beizhan Theater, Xizhimen Waidajie Street, Xicheng
District
Tel: 6406-8888, 400-818-3333
(China Daily December 22, 2007)