![]() ![]() ![]() Robinson's Stair Dance, introduced in 1918, was distinguished by its showmanship and sound, each step emitting a different pitch and rhythm. After the split, Robinson launched his solo career, becoming one of the few African-Americans to headline at New York's prestigious Palace Theatre. Robinson was a staunch professional, but he was also a gambler who possessed a quick temper and carried a gold-plated revolver. Bound by the "two-colored" rule in vaudeville, which restricted blacks to performing in pairs, they performed together on the Keith and Orpheum circuits, but did not wear blackface makeup that performers customarily used. When Robinson arrived in New York in 1900, he challenged the In Old Kentucky star tap dancer Harry Swinton to a Buck-dancing contest and won. He got his first professional job in 1892, performing as a member of the pickaninny chorus for Mayme Remington with The South Before the War. In Richmond, he got the nickname "Bojangles" from "jangler," meaning contentious, and invented the phrase "Everything's Copasetic," meaning tip-top. Young Bill was reared by his grandmother, Bedilia Robinson, who had been a slave. Born Luther Robinson in Richmond, Virginia, his parents, Maria and Maxwell Robinson, died in 1885. Dancing upright and swinging, his light and exacting footwork brought tap “up on its toes” from an earlier flat-footed shuffling style, and developed the art of tap dancing to a delicate perfection. BiographiesĢ002 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (c.1878 -1949), who claimed he could run backward faster than most men could go forward, was the most famous of all African American tap dancers in the twentieth century. To provide an educational experience available to local, national, and international professionals, students, and the general population. To increase public awareness of the diversity inherent in the form. To honor the contributions of legendary tap dance artists by preserving their legacy for future generations to enjoy. The ATDF created the first International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in July of 2002, and its purpose is: It features founding and innovative 20th and 21st century professional tap dancers.With a collection of photographs, biographies, and videos, the Hall of Fame is becoming a colorful and diverse retrospective of America's seminal tap dance personalities. The International Tap Dance Hall of Fame is the only tap dance hall of fame exclusively focused on tap dancers. About the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame
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