THE WEST COAST TAP DANCE COLLECTIVE
invites you to a tap filled weekend
SATURDAY, MAY 18th 7:30 - "SpecTAPular"
The 11th annual Tap Dance Day Celebration, honouring Ethel Bruneau@ The Centennial Theatre 2300 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver
Over 100 pairs of tapping feet, share the stage.
Including: Jim Hibbard, Danny Nielsen, Jessie Sawyers, Dayna Szyndrowski, Jennifer Bishop, Paula Skimin, Razzmatap, The Hot Flash Hoofers, The Vancouver Tap Dance Society, Harbour Dance Centre, The Landing, The Rhythm Room, Classic Steps, Richmond Dance Academy, Dance Co, Caulfield School of Dance and more!!!
Tix $20/$25 available at Centennial Theatre Box Office or by calling (604)984-4484
SUNDAY, MAY 19th - 4 to 6 p.m. TAPAS w/a TAPPA : )
A chance to dine with the legendary Ethel Bruneau and learn about the historical roots of this art form from her unique perspective @ Pasparo's Taverna - 132 West 3rd St. (btwn Lonsdale & Chesterfield) North Vancouver. Parking available on the street. Admission by donation and there will be a full menu of tapas, meals and beverages for you to purchase fromMONDAY, MAY 20th 6:30 - 8:00 CLASS WITH ETHEL BRUNEAU
Come take class with the teacher that so greatly affected the careers of many of the great tappers on the scene today. @ The Rhythm Room 8713 Cambie Street (one block south of the Marine Drive sky train stop) Cost: $10 for WCTDC members & Rhythm Room students $15 for all other tappers. Advanced Beginner - Intermediate levelPlease help us bring our honoured guest, the legendary Ethel Bruneau from Montreal to celebrate with us by visiting our indiegogo site. Lots of great tap swag for donations!"
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Jeni LeGon Passed Away December 7, 2012 at the age of 96
We regret to announce the passing of tap dancing legend, Jeni LeGon.
Dr. Jeni LeGon was one of the first African American women in tap dance to develop a solo career. A career, very much on her own terms. In a sea of chorus girls in short skirts and high heels, she was
centre stage in pants and low-heeled shoes. Her routines combining flash, acrobatics, and rhythm tap proved you didn't have to be a man to dance like a hoofer.Born in 1916, the fifth child of Harriett and Hector LeGon, she developed her talents on the sidewalks near the southside of Chicago. At 13, supported by her brother who toured as a singer and ballroom dancer, she made her professional debut as a chorine with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Uptown Theatre in Chicago, where she stamped her famous style when her boyish figure didn't work with the chorus girl outfits and Basie decided she would dance front and centre in pants.
Soon after she started touring as a chorus line dancer with the Whitman Sisters, the highest paid act on the TOBA vaudeville circuit. This all black, woman-managed company was successful in booking themselves continually in leading southern theatres and had the reputation for giving hundreds of dancers their first break. LeGon remembers the famous female line, saying, "Each one of us was a distinct looking kid. It was a rainbow of beautiful girls."
It was in Los Angeles, where she was stopping the show with her flips, spins, drops, and toe stands, that LeGon got a part in the 1935 MGM musical, Hooray for Love, in which she partnered the legendary Bill " Bojangles" Robinson.
In 1936, after numerous films, LeGon was released from her MGM contract to travel to London to star in the musical Follow the Sun. She was hailed as one of the brightest spirits, the "sepia Cinderella
girl who sent London agog with her clever dancing." When she was in the UK she was struck by the increased level of respect she received there, not only as a headliner but also as a person. In a period
where even the most celebrated performers were separated by race in the states, Jeni recounts that in London she didn’t have to worry when she went out, she could go anywhere without fear of being kept
out because of her colour.Talk of war, returned LeGon state side where she played the Apollo with Fats Waller, toured the East with many popular bands of the day, and was one of the few women ever to get invited back to the legendary New York tap hang out – the Hoofer’s Club.
Back in Hollywood, LeGon appeared in over sixty films. Often portraying stereotypical roles, Jeni played every kind of maid from an Egyptian hand servant to singing and dancing in a French maid outfit.
However, LeGon did have the opportunity to play lead parts in several black films where she got to be the heroine and even have men fight over her – and as Jeni says “that’s what it’s all about.”In the 50s, she started her own show – Jazz Caribe, which toured around the world. Touring finally landed her in Vancouver where she had always been reluctant to visit because of the snow and igloos. However, when she arrived she ran into some colleagues and former students she had taught in LA. They convinced her to stay and she quickly set up a dance studio.
In her National Film Board of Canada documentary entitled Living in a Great Big Way LeGon’s love for teaching is as much a part of the film as her illustrious career. Many of her students have gone on to great careers of their own.
Jeni LeGon was honoured by the Westcoast Tap Dance Collective in 2005. She will be missed.
info@westcoasttapdance.com