Savion Glover | |
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 Glover in 2007 | |
| Born | 19 November 1973 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1985–present |
| Website | saviongloverproductions.com |
Savion Glover (born November 19, 1973) is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer.
The youngest of three sons, Glover was born to a white father, who left the family before he was born, and a black mother. Glover's great grandfather on his mother's side, Dick Lundy, was a shortstop in the Negro leagues. He managed eleven Negro league baseball teams, including the Newark Eagles.[1] His grandfather, Bill Lewis, was a big band pianist and vocalist.[1] His grandmother, Anna Lundy Lewis, was the minister of music at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She played for Whitney Houston when she was singing in the gospel choir, and was the one who first noticed Savion's musical talent. She once held him and hummed some rhythms to him, and he smiled and joined along.[2][3] Glover graduated from Newark Arts High School in 1991.[4]
Glover stated that his style is "young and funk." When asked to describe what funk is, he says it is the bass line. "Funk is anything that gets one's head on beat. It is riding with the rhythm. It is a pulse that keeps one rolling with the beat."[5] Gregory Hines, a tap legend, was one of Glover's tap teachers. Hines stated that "Savion is possibly the best tap dancer that ever lived." Glover liked to start his pieces with some old school moves from famous tappers and then work his way into his own style. Hines said it is like paying homage to those he respects. When Honi Coles died, Savion performed at his memorial service. He finished his dance with a famous Coles move: a backflip into a split from standing position, then getting up without using one's hands. Glover rarely does this move because it wasn't his style, but he did it because it was Coles' style that he wanted to keep alive. "I feel like it's one of my responsibilities to keep the style."[6] Henry LeTang called Glover "the Sponge" because he learned very quickly with everything thrown at him. LeTang taught the Hines brothers back in the 1950s and taught Glover for a little while before having him work for "Black and Blue," a tap revue in Paris in 1987. Many legendary tappers taught Glover such as LeTang, the Hines brothers, Jimmy Slyde, Dianne Walker, Chuck Green, Lon Chaney (Isaiah Chaneyfield), Honi Coles, Sammy Davis Jr., Buster Brown, Howard Sims, and Arthur Duncan.[1]
He has been teaching tap since he was 14 years old. Glover created Real Tap Skills, and started HooFeRz Club School for Tap in Newark, New Jersey.[7] At age seven, Glover drummed in a group called Three Plus One. In the group, he demanded that he dance while he played the drum.[8] Glover has a heavy foot for tap. He dances hard and loud in every step, and teaches his students how to "hit," a term related to one's ability to express oneself, complete a tap sequence, or say something.[8]
When Glover choreographs a piece, he improvises as he generates a dance sequence.[10] As he finds rhythms, he listens for new sounds at many points on the stage. "I'm feelin' the stage for sounds. You might find a spot on it that gives you that bass; you might find a spot on the floor that gives you that dead type tom-tom sound." "I think what makes Savion an incredible artist is his extraordinary joy in what he does. He is able to live in that state of joy and not compromise his emotional complexity like the earlier tap dancers had to," says George C. Wolfe.[11]
One of the timesteps performed in Barbaba Streisand's Timeless in Glover's performance as "Brother Time" has been informally named the "Savion Glover Timestep" by many tap dancers.
This musical was based on the 1974 novel Nobody's Family is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh. Glover's Broadway debut, at the age of 11, was as a replacement with this show. The musical was choreographed by Danny Daniels, with direction by Vivian Matalon; the music was by Henry Krieger and lyrics by Robert Lorick.[12] Reviews of this show were mediocre. The New York Times claimed it was a traditional story to give children a dream to look forward to, but was not anything exceptional.[13] However, the musical went on to be nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.[12]
Performed at the age of 15. For this performance, he became one of the youngest performers ever nominated for a Tony Award.[14]
In Jelly's Last Jam (1992), the tap dancing was choreographed by Ted Levy and Gregory Hines, who starred as Jelly Roll Morton. Glover played the role of "Young Jelly",[7] and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.[15]
Glover performed in this musical and also choreographed it. He was nominated for the Tony Award, Actor in a Musical for his roles as Lil' Dahlin' and 'da Beat and for Choreography.[1][16] "Mr. Glover meticulously and respectfully demonstrates the techniques made famous by each, then blends them all into an exultant stylistic brew that belongs to no one but him. As dance, as musical, as theater, as art, as history and entertainment, there's nothing Noise/Funk cannot and should not do." -The New York Times.[13]
Glover choreographed the musical Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, which opened in 2016 at the Music Box Theatre.[17] He has been nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography and a Drama Desk Award[18] for his work on the musical.[19]
2001 - "Timeless: Live in Concert", Brother Time
