|
COPYRIGHT 2004 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.
The tap virtuoso Savion Glover began his career as a child star, and, because he was so young, reviewers often felt free to give him advice. He should show a little warmth, they said, not perform like a machine (the child-prodigy syndrome). He should broaden his work, include more tones, more moods. This was all good counsel, and Glover followed some of it--in his own way. Now thirty years old, he has warmth and moods and nuances, but they are all in his feet. At the same time, one no longer feels like giving him advice--certainly not after his recent three-week season, called "Improvography," at the Joyce. The first half, the forty minutes before intermission, was just Glover, solo, with a five-piece jazz band, and it was the finest tap dancing I have ever seen.
Glover wanders onstage, unceremoniously, together with the band. They play "The Way You Look Tonight," and he sings along. He's not a very good singer, but, as with Fred Astaire, you like him for doing it anyway. As he's singing, his feet start moving in place. The tapping here is like lace, complicated, but still ingratiating. Then, having convinced us that he's just a nice little hoofer, Glover stuffs his mike into his back pocket and starts laying down the business. This is not like lace anymore. It is like those eighty-step equations which math professors need three blackboards to write out. The rhythms declare themselves, then change, then take flight, then zoom off in a different direction, then circle back, then take off again. You try to keep track; you manage, for a while. When at last he slows down to a steady clomping, you're grateful....
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
