DancEllington's "Black and Tan Fantasy" Ellington, Mercedes performer LeTang, Henry performer Theatrical Performance 1991-01-10 Symphony Space Jan. 10-13, 1991. Tap dance revue directed and choreographed by Mercedes Ellington, artistic director of DancEllington.(Joe Orrach, the company's assistant artistic director). DancEllington [seems to be a continuation of Balletap USA, founded by Maurice Hines and Mercedes Ellington] founded in 1982, in its first Manhattan series, a four-day run at Symphony Space beginning January 10. choreography by Mercedes Ellington and Henry LeTang. "Peter and the Duke" a tap-jazz version of Ellington's arrangements of the dances from Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite." "Les Trois Noirs Roirs" a tribute to a the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.; "There's never a venue for tap dance unless there's a Broadway show. But tap is an indigenous American art form. There are so many modern and ballet companies but very, very few tap companies." stated Mercedes Ellington about the performance. "Company Warmup" (part of the repertoire of Balletap USA) "Hot and Bothered" a frenetic street scene "Waltz in Springtime" danced by Randy Skinner to Jerome Kern tune "Crackerjazz: Peter and the Duke" Duke Ellington's treatment of themes from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker "The Nutcracker" "Suite Queen of Soul" (chor. John curry, no taps) Solo by Lethaniel Cooper Dancers in the company include: Randy Davis, Randy Skinner, Lisa Scialabba; Lethaniel Cooper, an 11-year old pupil of Henry LeTang (Jack Anderson, "With Such Good Cheer, Tapping Through the Night" New York Times Jan. 17, 1991; Susan Heller Anderson, "Chronicle: Tap, tap tapping to the sounds and moves of Ellington" New York Times Jan. 3, 1991, B16.) Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Henry LeTang (biography) loc.music.tdabio.128 Mercedes Ellington (biography) loc.music.tdabio.87 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.2504