Bill Robinson's Influence On Tap Dancing

Rising from an era of fierce racial discrimination and the dawn of the Great Depression, the first interracial couple to ever hit Hollywood was created. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was an African American born in 1878 in the city of Richmond, Virginia. He transformed the traditional style of tap dancing and launched a new style altogether that continues to influence tap dancing. Shirley Temple was born in 1928 in Santa Monica, California and became the new face of Hollywood and television as a child star. These two came together in films such as The Little Colonel in 1935 and captured the hearts of American audiences and forever impacted the future of tap dancing and the potential end of racial segregation. Despite their differences in backgrounds, …show more content…
His artistic contributions to the world and style of tap dancing definitely left a mark in the styles that are still used today. It is believed that “Bill Robinson’s contribution to tap dancing is exact and specific: He brought it up on the toes, dancing upright and swinging” and “danced with a hitherto-unknown lightness and presence” (Stearns 187). Compared to the more grounded and flat-footed style of King Rastus Brown, “Robinson’s “light an exacting footwork brought tap ‘up on its toes’ from an earlier flat-footed shuffling style, and developed the art of tap dancing to a delicate perfection” (American Tap Dance). Robinson’s style was very much controlled and centered on balance. He did not focus on flashy acts or over the top tricks, but his main concern was the clarity of his footwork. His “up on the toes” style gave tap dancing a new feel and colored the lives of upcoming tap dancers and their future dance styles. Another artistic contribution that Bill “Bojangles” Robinson created was the famous “stair dance.” In 1921, Robinson danced up and down stairs from the orchestra pit to the stage, developing