Tap Extravaganza[R] 2003.

Haft Auditorium, Fashion Institute of Technology New York, New York May 25, 2003

New York City's annual Tap Extravaganza is a chance for the tap community to not only honor its own but to catch up with acts from around the world.

The annual event celebrated its fifteenth anniversary this year, and coincided with National Tap Dance Day, celebrated on the anniversary of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's birthday. While the event ostensibly honors recipients of the Flo-Bert Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Tap Artistry (named after Florence Mills and Bert Williams), it's also an occasion to see old friends and check out relatively new names laying down the iron around the world.

"Extravaganza" is a big name for such an intimate-feeling occasion. This is a family affair; for the tap family, that is, with touching tributes to this year's honorees--film director Stanley Donen, Broadway legend Tommy Tune, soloist and teacher Dianne Walker, and Ernest "Brownie" Brown, an original member of the Copasetics.

In addition to some spectacular dance tributes, the audience was treated to some thrilling performances generally, a testament to the rich range that exists within the tap world. Performers included COBU, a trio of women from Japan who combined rhythm tap with taiko drumming; Rod Ferrone and Marietta Clark in a vaudeville-style act; Jenny Lane in a tribute to tap legend Eleanor Powell; Gil Stroming and Break the Floor in a Stomp-like rhythm-tap-and-bucket drumming fusillade; teen up-and-comer Michela Marino Lerman; the irrepressible singer Mable Lee; and Rhythm Iss, a quintet of women rhythm tappers impressive as much for their exuberant spirit as for their blistering footwork. TAP HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN A MALE-DOMINATED COMMUNITY, BUT ONE OF THE NICER SURPRISES OF THIS YEAR'S EXTRAVAGANZA WAS THE HEAVY PRESENCE OF WOMEN PERFORMERS. The evening also featured tap's grande dame, Brenda Bufalino, who served as mistress of ceremonies and who danced a magical duet with honoree Tommy Tune that doubled as a tribute to the late Charles "Honi" Coles.

The family feel came in moments big and small, in a brief but emotional spoken tribute to two tap legends who had passed away earlier in the month--Cholly Atkins and Sandman Sims--and a humble presentation to Tune by Thoroughly Modern Millie star and Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster, who, in her presentation, thanked Tune for launching her career via the national tour of his Will Rogers Follies. Broadway director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall offered a warm tribute to Donen. And Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin's tribute to Brown was particularly moving, not only demonstrating this duo's unique father-son relationship but also proving that Brown, though an octogenarian, still has the goods. His high energy and showmanship throughout the evening brought a well-deserved roar of approval from the audience.

Sometimes family affairs can seem a bit too "inside." Such was the case with the heartfelt but overly long tribute segment for Walker, including a presentation by Yvette Glover, the spirited mother of Savion and the tap world at large. Walker's speech wasn't a display in ego. This was the exuberance of a woman who had endured years of obscurity and hard times for an art form she adores, who was reveling in the joy of being honored by her peers. But while the audience thrilled at the brief appearances of Walker's tap buddies Savion Glover and Jimmy Slyde (as well as at Walker's own performance), the usually reserved Walker rambled on in her speech about her career, her family, and tap. Though touching, it tested the endurance of even the most die-hard tap aficionados in attendance. Then again, this was a family affair, wasn't it?