‘Jazz on Tap’ brings the rhythm of variety to L.A.

‘Jazz on Tap’ brings the rhythm of variety to L.A.

Artists bring virtuoso dancing, ‘great jazz’ music to
Wadsworth

By John Mangum

Tap dancing is back, and a group of dedicated artists guarantees
that it’s here to stay.

These dancers come together at the Wadsworth Theater today
through Saturday to bring Los Angeles "Jazz on Tap," a
multi-generational tap exhibition featuring virtuoso dancing and
some great jazz music. The legendary Cholly Atkins hosts the
evening.

Atkins began performing as a child in vaudeville productions and
appeared in movies before teaming up with Charles Coles to become
half of a highly successful tap duo. He has received many honors
throughout his long career, including a Tony Award in 1989 for his
choreography in the Broadway hit "Black and Blue."

Atkins emphasizes the variety of the evening’s show, which
covers a broad base of styles and techniques. "There’s a lot of
technique that’s involved in presenting a show of this type, and
most of it is based around good jazz music."

Atkins’ is best-known for his style of choreography, which he
calls "vocal choreography." He invented it for the Motown groups of
the ’60s and ’70s, groups like the Supremes and the Jackson
Five.

"There was a time that they would all have movements, but
everybody was doing whatever they wanted to do, but there was no
unity there, there was no precision," says Atkins. "I put it into
that fashion, and everybody started to pick that up."

Because of his long experience with dance, Atkins often teaches,
and many of the dancers involved with this weekend’s performances
have studied with him. "Some of them have taken classes that I’ve
conducted at dance festivals, and the Broadway show; a couple of
the people were in the cast of ‘Black and Blue’ that I
choreographed."

The dancers featured in "Jazz on Tap" include Dianne Walker,
Germaine Ingram, LaVaughan Robinson, Van Porter, and Fred
Strickler. Strickler teaches at U.C. Riverside, where he is a
member of the Dance Faculty.

Strickler, like Atkins, sees the evening as a presentation of
diverse styles and techniques. "I like to think of it as a dance
concert, celebrating the individual."

Strickler’s own style began with his first tap lessons, which he
took at the age of 11. "I love rhythm, and I love dancing in
general. I’m both a modern dancer and a tap dancer. To me, movement
and music are both very powerful ways of being in the world. This
is how I really feel I communicate myself best, through my
dancing."

Though he enjoys dancing as a form of interaction, Strickler
thinks that many audience members find it enthralling for different
reasons. "I think that people would enjoy it for its rhythmic
complexity, for its speed, for the plain old difficulty of doing
it, because tap dancing is actually very difficult to do. It looks
easy, but it isn’t."

For Strickler, the audience gets to enjoy the art of a group of
dancers that he really admires. "I get to be on stage with some
really, really fine dancers and I really appreciate that
opportunity. They’re really good people, I think among the very
best tap dancers in the U.S."

Not only does "Jazz on Tap" highlight these dancers, but it
gives audiences a chance to enjoy dancing which Atkins calls,
"really the only American art form as far as dance is
concerned."

DANCE: UCLA Center for the Performing Arts presents "Jazz on
Tap" at the Wadsworth Theater Dec. 8-10. TIX: $28, $25, $9 for
students at the Central Ticket Office. For more info call (310)
825-2101.