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Bates danced for money as young as age 5. After he lost a leg in a cotton mill accident at 12, he learned to dance again on a wooden leg his uncle whittled for him. He performed all over the U.S. and Europe, and appeared at least 22 times on The Ed Sullivan Show. He danced Saturday in his home town, Fountain Inn, S.C., to help raise funds for a statue of him for City Hall, and died the next day (December 6) of a heart attack. He was 91. From This is True for 6 December 1998 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Linda Sue Park List Price: $16.00 Amazon Price: $11.20 Editorial Review: From Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park, a unique poetry collection with Korean roots. A "sijo", a traditinal Korean verse form, has a fixed number of stressed syllables and a humorous or ironic twist at the end. Like haiku, sijo are brief and accessible, and the witty last line winds up each poem with a surprise. The verses in this book illuminate funny, unexpected, amazing aspects of the everyday-of breakfast, thunder and lightning, houseplants, tennis, freshly laundered socks. Carefully crafted and deceptively simple, Linda Sue Park's sijo are a pleasure to read and an irrestible invitation to experiment with an unfamiliar poetic form. Istvan Banyai's irrepressibly giddy and sophisticated illustrations add a one-of-a-kind luster to a book that is truly a gem. "Introduction, author's note, bibliography, Some Tips for Writing Your Own Sijo."  By: Beverly Fletcher List Price: $36.95 Amazon Price: $24.39 Editorial Review: As the official reference manual of the Dance Masters of America, this tap dance resource contains more than 1,500 up-to-date entries about every facet of this uniquely American art form. It provides a history of tap dance as well as the dancers who defined it. This manual also includes a comprehensive dictionary of tap and dance terminology with a special section devoted to teachers.  By: Rusty Frank List Price: $24.00 Amazon Price: $18.00 Editorial Review: From the vaudeville era, through the Astaire-Rogers movies, to the intricate artistry of bebop, tap has dominated American dance with its rhythm, originality, and humor. This book collects the voices and memories of thirty of America's best-loved tap-dance stars and two hundred rare theater, film, and publicity photographs. Here Shirley Temple recalls her magical duo with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson; Fayard Nicholas describes his days at Harlem's Cotton Club performing with Cab Calloway; Fred Kelly visits his and his brother Gene's Pittsburgh dance studio; Hermes Pan reminisces about his work with George Gershwin, Ginger Rogers, and Fred Astaire; and, in a chapter new to this edition, Toy and Wing tell about their days as the world's leading Asian tap duo. Appended with the most comprehensive listing of tap acts, recordings, and films ever compiled—newly updated for this paperback edition—Tap! brings to life the legends of one of America's most cherished and enduring art forms.  List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: $11.96 Editorial Review: "There once was a man who danced in the street / He brought pleasure and joy to the people he'd greet / He didn't just dance, he made art with his feet / Rap a tap tap--think of that!" This simple book for young children has the added bonus of describing the life of a ground-breaking African-American tap dancer. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1920s-30s. People said he "talked with his feet," and in the Dillons' graceful paintings of old New York, he dances from page to page to the tune of a toe-tapping rhyme. Rap a tap tap--think of that!  By: Mark Knowles List Price: $55.00 Amazon Price: $55.00 Editorial Review: The language of tap dancing is as rich and varied as that of any art, and different choreographers, teachers and performers often use totally different terms for exactly the same step. The various names of all steps and clear descriptions of them are collected for the first time in this reference work. The emphasis is on all variations of a name, from universally recognized terms to simple "pet" names that individual performers and choreographers have created, with extensive cross-references provided. Each of the steps is fully described, with appropriate counts, explanations and history. Many antique and unusual steps such as the Patting Juba, the Quack and the Swanee Shuffle are included. |
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