SeeChicagoDance.com

Chicago Human Rhythm Project "Windy City Rhythms"

By Laura Molzahn

The world of tap dance, like a family, has its traditions, and older family members pass them down to the younger generations. At the same time, this relatively cozy universe can be all over the map stylistically. So it makes sense that the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s annual “Windy City Rhythms,” celebrating National Tap Dance Day with performances by Chicago artists, would be both varied and inclusive. And, by the way, really fun.

The dancers at this year’s celebration, which concluded Friday night at the DuSable Museum of African American History, ranged from age 9 to --- well, let’s say 50. The takes on dance ranged from Chicago footworking to hip-hop to varieties of traditional tap. But a few elements unified the program: a sense of humor, a sense of history, and love. When the third- and fourth-graders of the Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter School Tap Ensemble took the stage, one woman called out, “We love you!” And once they’d performed, we loved them too.  

The astonishing FootworKINGz have become a brand, with corporate clients that include McDonald’s and Nike. Springy knees and ankles (like the flexible ankles of tappers) allow the six dancers to attain both warp speed and a goofy, floppy clown look. Plenty of show-off stuff brought the right amount of tongue-in-cheek ‘tude; in fact, what the FootworKINGz mostly communicate is a good-natured, firmly maintained work ethic. They were impossible to resist, especially in their chameleonic second piece, “ABDC – AGT Re-Mix,” danced to samples from five songs. They’ve reached the top of the charts in part, I’d say, because they never seem to take themselves too seriously onstage, even as they perform some serious feats.

At the other end of the age spectrum was Mr. Taps, aka Ayrie King III, who’s been in the biz 30 years. A true king in his white gloves, white tie against a black shirt, and sparkly vest, Mr. Taps proved both a dance impersonator par excellence and a get-down comedian, issuing a steady stream of jokes and impersonations, his targets ranging from a supposed old girlfriend to Michael Jackson to Mr. Bojangles himself (whose birthday is the occasion for National Tap Dance Day). King even enacted a credible approximation of footworking as he followed the impossible-to-follow act of the FootworKINGz.

Bril Barrett, his professional company M.A.D.D. Rhythms, and one of his student projects, the Better Boys Foundation Tap Ensemble (which appeared to be made up mostly of, um, high school girls), all displayed an in-the-pocket groove unique to Barrett. It didn’t matter whether he and his dancers, inexperienced or experienced, were tapping a cappella or to recorded music, you could bop along to their swinging rat-a-tat beat.

Barrett has long participated in youth outreach programs, and the talented BBF dancers were bold, decisive, and literally outspoken. The M.A.D.D. Rhythms ensemble --- dancing “To the Point/Gone,” choreographed by Starinah Dixon and Jumaane Taylor --- gave losing control a new luster. Another person who doesn’t take himself too seriously, Barrett specializes in a humorous off-balance style, torso raked perilously to this side or that; the added momentum of swaying seems to boost the tapping’s swing.

The two pieces performed by BAM!, headed by CHRP founder and director Lane Alexander, mined the vein of classical tap. Unfortunately, Ted Levy’s “Three Little Words” seemed more stodgy than classic. But Alexander’s “Reflections” --- a world premiere made up of three sections, set to a Bach gigue, minuet, and prelude to a fugue --- brought tap up to the minute by revisiting the past. Alexander, also the evening’s MC, delivered a prologue linking Bach’s devotional music and the fact that percussive dancers have often been shamans. But the rightness of this dance has nothing to do with religion --- unless you think swing is a gift from God. Bach swings, and “Reflections” swings too, when it works. The too-polite first section never quite takes off, but Alexander’s sure-footed solo (the second section) and the final segment echo Bach aurally and visually while providing counterpoint to his rhythms.

Like BAM!, Martin “Tre” Dumas III inhabits a quieter subdivision of the tap universe. He began his solo slowly, with no pyrotechnics, and proceeded to a soft-spoken, easygoing tapped conversation. Even when he accelerated into a flurry of super-fast steps, he was introspective and maintained his light touch.

I’m not sure why the overstuffed Boom Crack! Dance Company was included in this program. It’s not that hip-hop shouldn’t share the stage with tap and other percussive forms, but this group couldn’t hold a candle to the other companies. The dancing, portioned out among 17 people, was uneven, to say the least. And talk about taking yourself too seriously! All the sexiness and anger came across as clichéd and fake.

Reviewed by Laura Molzahn on 05/12/2012 at 5:29 PM