- Description
Tap Dance America is a reference work of bibliographic information and does not point to digitized versions of the items described. The Library of Congress may or may not own a copy of a particular film or video. To request additional information Ask a Librarian.
See Also:
From:
{
download_links:[
{
label:'MODS Bibliographic Record',
link: 'mods.xml',
meta: 'XML'
},
{
label:'METS Object Description',
link: 'mets.xml',
meta: 'XML'
}
]
}
The Afro-Celtic Connection / Flying Home / Dianne Walker [concert]
- Title
- The Afro-Celtic Connection / Flying Home [Concert]
- Performer
- Walker, Dianne
- Published/Created
- 1997-08-28
- Genre
- Concert
- Venue
- Lincoln Centers Out of Doors, Damrosch Park Bandstand
- Abstract
- This performance that attempts to establish the connection between Irish traditional step dancing and African-American social and tap dancing devised and produced by Terry Monaghan, who writes in the program: "The boatlands of Irish fleeing The Famine took more than their destitution to the United States. The dances and music off their ancient and distinctive culture were absorbed so rapidly by African-American communities that the meeting of the two groups, at the bottom of the social ladder, was more of a reunion than first encounter. In fact, these new arrivals accelerated the cultural fusions which were already underway during the 18th and 19th centuries in sea ports and trading towns along America's east coast. There, Irish laborers and seamen mingled with African slaves and freemen, contributing enormously to the emergence of American popular culture, especially jazz."
Performers included The Jiving Lindy Hoppers (Carolene Hinds, Warren Heyes, Russell Sargeant, Teresa Jackson, Maxine Green, Francis Angol and guest dancer Ciara Gill) and tap dancer Dianne Walker. Music by the Irish band Sin E, Steafan Hannigan (traditional Irish instruments and djembe), Michael Cosgrave (keyboard), Taz Alexander (vocal, fiddle, bodhran), Teresa Heanue (fiddle), James O'Grady (traditional Irish instruments), Ben Clarke (percussion), Mark Lockheart (reeds), Alec Dankworth (bass), Joe Barnes (djembe), Vince Ector (guest kit drummer).
Dance sections included: Overture: Meeting at the Crossroads (celebrating and worshipping the guiding spirits at the Crossroads was an ancient custom and practice in Ireland and West Africa); The Maid of Coolmore (traditional Irish choreography re-staged by Gill to "Connolly's & The Morning Slip Jig"); Unchained Spirits; Rhythms of Africa ("Stomping at the Savoy" danced by Dianne Walker; One-Man Dance danced by Sargeant, Heyes, Jackson, Green and Gill to Duke Ellington's "Black Beauty"); A Minor Set; The Breton (chor. by Pepsi Bethal, Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Heyes, Hinds, Angol and Jackson); rhythms and Jigs; "Rights of Man"; The Shim Sham Hornpipe (a suite of dances choreography by Dianne Walker and Leonard Reed); Dreaming of Coolmore; The Old Time Feeling; Last Orders; and Reel to Reel. - Source
- Hill, Constance Valis: Constance Valis Hill, personal collection of tap dance materials. ().
Last Updated: 12-16-2015