Essence  dance concert gives history and dance lessons

So you want to talk about "hoofin' "? Well, you are in for quite a history lesson. Essence dancers present Talkin' about Hoofin' , a tribute to the great hoofers of yesterday and tomorrow, at Warner Main Space tonight at 8.

Hoofin' is an African-American form of tap dancing. It dates back to the early '20s when jazz was hot and the dancers were cool. The concept of hoofin' is that the feet remain close to the ground and the accent is based on the down beat of the drum. It is based on the belief that the dancer is an instrument as he brings his feet to the floor creating rhythm and sound. Seeing Gregory Hines tap provides a good example of hoofin'.

As the stage lights transcend from black, images of tapping feet slowly emerge from center stage in Talkin' about Hoofin.  What starts out as an a cappella  piece lights up with the sounds of Miles Davis's "Bye Bye Blackbird." Through first-year Rashida Bumbray's talent and love for the art of hoofin' she has created and choreographed five pieces that pay homage to this underappreciated art form.

The first piece, "Shim Sham," or what is known as the Tap National Anthem, consists of a one-chorus routine to a 32-bar tune, with eight bars each of a double shuffle, the crossover, the Tack Annie, and finally a falling off the log. This piece seems short but there is nothing small about the history that the Shim Sham has to offer.

The dance was first popularized in 1931 at Connie's Inn in Harlem. However in no time, the Shim Sham lost its place and was soon replaced by mock versions of its tap steps and rhythms.

The next piece, "The Challenge," was choreographed by Bumbray and sophomore Robyn Brazeal. The concept of a tap duel on the streets of any major city is quite humorous as, for example, a pregnant woman and a wino compete for their "props" in the world of hoofin'. This a cappella  piece is a remembrance of a long-time tradition of tap dueling that brought the tap world to its knees. A similar piece, "Coming from the Corners," emphasizes rhythm and builds up step by step. It focuses on the concept of rhythm and sound in hoofin'.

The following act, also choreographed by Bumbray and Breazeal, is a tribute to the black performers of Harlem's Cotton Club. It opens with a lip-synched dedication to Billy Holiday singing "God Bless the Child." The interlude fades into a performance number choreographed by Bumbray and Brazeal as they come out as the flash tap duo Coles and Atkins.

But, where would the Cotton Club be without the Cotton Club Girls? In "The Cotton Club Girls" the Essence performers do the Charleston in flapper wear. The Cotton Club, one of the most popular clubs in Harlem during the jazz era, featured black performers but forbade them to attend the club.

The next piece, "Showtap," was what Bumbray called a mockery of how Broadway reacted to hoofin' and turned it into the "dance and smile" style of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. The Essence dancers gleam throughout this performance further enhancing the tragedy of Hollywood's exploitation.

The last piece performed by Bumbray is her own work, "Hittin'." Hittin is a combination of all the steps she ever learned from watching some of the greats of hoofin' fame. As she approaches the stage, Savion Glover's voice explains the concept behind hittin':

"Hoofin and rhythm tap is like music, if you can do an eight-bar phrase, and another person, not a dancer, can understand what you just did - you hit, you expressed yourself, you made a statement."

Bumbray's performance says that this art form will not be mistaken for something it is not. She later explained that "the whole thing is a tribute to the old-time hoofers. The '70s, '80s and '90s was a rebirth of tap. No one really knew where it had came from. Now the new generation of tap is starting to recognize the origin of what is now called `tap'. This performance is a time to show people the profound distinction between hoofin' and show tap."

Though this year's Essence focus is on hoofin', its origin was not overlooked. The next two dance troupes, who are also featured in the show, perform African dance and movement.

The first set of performers are called the Atilogwu Dancers. The dance's name, "Atilogwu," is Igbo for "Magic has been put into it." Choreographed by sophomore Ijeoma Anusionwu, this focused on the women's high energy and acrobatic abilities. It is unlike the usual African dance forms performed by women, shying away from extreme body and hip movement and centering in on the African woman's ability to show strength and physicality through her ability to do the acrobatic feats that the men do. This dance depends on the beat of the drum and the gong, the most important instrument. The gong, or what is called the Ogene, follows the dancers' steps by "beating" out their rhythms.

This piece is extremely high in energy and creative in form. The highlight of the dance is how it focuses on the traditions of African dance because of its strong incorporation of rhythm and sound and its emphasis on pushing the body to its fullest limits. Ijeoma considered the dance "an opportunity for the African woman to show that she is not necessarily the weaker one, because she is also capable of the stunts that the African man can do. Not to mention she can exert as much energy as they can and make it appear effortless."

The second troupe, Black Oasis, is comprised of seniors Farah Woodall, Diepiriye Kuku and Malleata Carson. They and Anna Glass, OC '96, organized the troupe out of a love for West African dance forms.

Choreographed by Kuku and performed to Stevie Wonder's "Another Star", "The Best Piece of Ass You Ever Had" was inspired by Kuku's unrequited love last year. The piece focuses on Kuku's turmoil, which is finally put to rest by the end of the performance. The final section of the piece is what Kuku calls the "funeral." Kuku said that the work's relevance to a funeral stems from when "[he] was full and [his] heart could take no more." The stunning choreography and Wonder's "Another Star" make the performance dynamic and emotional.

"Sweet," the second piece, was choreographed by Woodall, who decided to use two selections from the rap group Goodie Mob's most recent album. As they emerge from the stage, three figures donned in black and made up in black makeup. The song is "Free" and the slow but sudden dance movements convey the message of a people in search of their freedom.

This section of the performance is then linked to the next section, featuring the song "Day After," which focuses on the transcendence from slavery to freedom. The music and the movements of this piece pick up in pace and delivery. Woodall called her Oberlin experiences inspirational. "The point is that even though we have so many obstacles in life, you are free in the sense that you can overcome the obstacles," she said.

The finale, choreographed by Bumbray and performed to Goodie Mob's Cell Therapy,  is probably one of the most powerful in that it incorporates the rhythms and sounds of today and still manages to pay respects to the creators of those rhythms and sounds. With its combination of hip hop's bass and hoofin's tap this piece makes for a beautiful tribute to makers of hoofin'.