Special thanks to the folks over at Danciti for posting this link.
In a June 19th New York Times article, Savion Glover discusses his growing estrangement from the rest of the tap community. Preferring to focus on his own projects, Savion participates in very few of the national or regional tap festivals and workshops, including the New York City Tap Festival next month (which I will be attending for the first time this year).
According to the article, “(Savion) describes festivals as increasingly impersonal and business-oriented, adding that they do little to develop the artistry and intellect of aspiring tap dancers.”
Moreover the article states: Mr. Glover was sweepingly dismissive of the festivals, deriding the lack of talent he sees in the teachers and flatly stating, “They’re overcharging the kids to be a part of the dance, and they give nothing back to the community.â€
The article offers rebuttals from Jason Samuels-Smith, Director of the L.A. Tap Festival and Tony Waag, Director of the American Tap Dance Foundation, both of whom, I think gave thoughtful responses. Still, I think what was lacking in the article were comments from everyday students of tap! Everyday students would certainly be better judges of what goes on at festivals than the directors of the festivals themselves, as students have no self-interest to protect.
What has your experience been? Do you agree that “(festivals) do little to develop the artistry and intellect of aspiring tap dancers…?”
Please post your comments.
View related posts: Tap Festivals (positive) & Tap Festivals (less positive)
Also here are my experiences at the New York City Tap Festival & the Southeastern Tap Explosion.
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June 26th, 2007 at 3:59 am
[...] OK…maybe not sliced bread, but you get my point. This will be the first of a two-part post where I share my experience of tap festivals. This article will focus on the good things about tap dance festivals, while the next will focus on areas that I think could use some improvement (A.K.A. the bad). Recently, I shared an article with you in which Savion Glover discounts the value of tap festivals. His comments motivated me to think long and hard about my experience at these events. So without further ado, here are 4 reasons that I think tap festivals might be the best thing since sliced bread! 1. The Instruction [...]
April 13th, 2009 at 3:30 am
[...] what Savion Glover recently had to say about tap [...]
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