The Genius of Savion

Went to Western Carolina Univ. in Cullowhee tonight to see Savion Glover's "SoLe Sanctuary: a hoofer's meditation on the art of tap." The blurb says that his "reverence for the art of tap is put to the stage literally in the form of a living altar where he can pay his respects to the craft that he has perfected."

First of all, the man is a stone genius. His tap dancing belongs to the style called "improvography" created by Gregory Hines and is nothing like the upright style most of us were used to. If you've seen the movie "Tap," starring Hines, along with Sammy Davis jr, Jimmy Slyde, Honi Coles, Bayard Nicholas, and others, you know what I'm talking about. Glover uses his whole body as a percussion instrument and it becomes the orchestra, as he dances without music most of the time.

Just think about watching a tap dancer for two hours without pause. It was stunning.

He had a fellow hoofer with him as both back-up and collaborator, named Marshall Davis jr, who has performed in Glover's Broadway show "Bring in Da' Noise Bring in Da' Funk." While Davis is obviously very talented, he pales beside Glover. His best set was when the two of them created a "challenge" dance, a traditional competition of hoofers who try to out-dance each other.

I've been a fan of Hines since he showed up on the Johnny Carson show many years ago with his father and brother (Maurice) as Hines Hines and Dad. Sadly, he died very young (age 57). And I've been a fan of Glover's since the movie "Tap," when he was only 14. Glover also did the dancing for the lead penguin in the movie "Happy Feet," though his credit for it was buried. I went to see that movie solely because I knew Glover was dancing.

You can see the genetic line from Sammy Davis and vaudeville-style hoofers, to Hines and his improvography, to Glover and his craft. It's a wonderful thing to see, and I'm very very glad I got to see him in person.