for the seeds

Published: July 09, 2009

This morning Savion Glover gave a demonstration and speech geared towards children at the Hult’s Soreng Theatre …

Savion began by stating that he’s really a hoofer … not so much a tap dancer. Then he explained the difference between the two. Tap is more for the audience’s entertainment. Hoofing is for the entertainment, I mean, “edutainment” of both the artist and audience. He said a hoofer will start off with some moves that acknowledge the crowd and then transition into a zone of their own. It’s something that could easily be compared to a jazz solo. Think Coltrane catching the Holy Ghost. Eventually the hoofer will check back in with the audience to see “who’s listening or who’s getting it.”

Savion then gave a brief history of how he became the dancer that he is today. He started out as a drummer in a band called Three Plus. “There were three other guys in the band and I was the plus.” He began learning tap at the age of 7 and quickly attracted attention which lead to roles in Black and Blue and The Tap Dance Kid. Glover aborbed everything he could from the old school hoofers and continued practicing. He eventually caught the eye of Gregory Hines and landed a role in Tap along side Sammy Davis Jr. and Hines. Later on in his career, he choreographed a show himself (the award-winning Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk). Most recently, he co-choregraphed the steps and was the central motion-capture dancer for the main character, Mumble, in Happy Feet.

And then Savion moved into demonstrating some steps and talking about the variety of vibes in rhythms. He also explained how the wood platform was his instrument. (The platform has pickups like a guitar and was designed by Hines.)

After the demonstration, he did a quick Q&A with the audience. I was just waiting for the Sesame Street question. ; ) Glover said he really enjoyed his time on the Street and that it was cool to learn a lot of the behind-the-scene secrets that he wouldn’t share with the young audience. Didn’t want to spoil the magic for anybody.

He ended by inviting one of the young’ns up that asked a question. The boy, Isaac Luger, mentioned earlier that he was drummer so Savion asked him to play a paradiddle on the stage. When Luger started, Glover began to improvise to the rhythm. It was definitely the highlight of the hour. Afterwards, Isaac was all smiles taking a bow, saying thanks and soaking in the applause. He even told Savion that they make a great team. And Savion replied, “Well we’ll have your people call my people and we’ll set something up.”

When the show was over, I went over to Isaac to give him props for his performance and he gave me his official quote for the Weekly:
“It was a fabulous experience to be invited on stage by one of the world’s greatest hoofers!”

Goooooood stuff!

CLICK HERE (or on any image) to see more photos from “Savion On Tap”.

AND DON’T FORGET:
1. Tomorrow night – Classical Savion at the Hult Center.
2. You can still pick up EW’s Guide to the OBF at the Hult or check it out online.

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