National Tap Dance Day, initially commemorated on May 25, 1989, is now celebrated internationally every year. The law was passed by the 101st United States Congress, however from Tokyo to New York City and throughout Europe and Asia, there are celebrations, large and small. Tap dance enthusiasts, students, and professionals come together all through the month of May to celebrate the art form with performances, workshops, tap jams and more. But how did this all come to be?
Here’s the story of (National) Tap Dance Day.
The Beginnings of an Idea
The idea for National Tap Dance Day first came out of a set of course requirements for a young graduate student at George Washington University and tap dance enthusiast by the name of Linda Christensen. She needed to report on a piece of Congressional legislation. While her classmates found 100+ page bills to report on, Linda had taken notice of a one-page bill declaring Jazz a national treasure – HR 57, written and introduced by Representative John Conyers, Jr. of Detroit, MI. As part of her research, Linda had the opportunity to meet with Cedric Hendricks, Congressman Conyers’s legislative director, who walked her through the purpose and history of the HR 57. She learned that in addition to the evident declaration, the bill was also designed to bring the older generation of jazz artists into support and funding structures available at the time, and that Congressional sponsors had timed the passing of the bill and it’s process in order to reach as many people as possible.
The jazz bill had Linda thinking about the relationship between jazz and tap, and if something similar could be done for tap dance. Linda brought the idea to her tap teacher at the time Carol Vaughn, and a friend from tap class, Nicola Daval. They all agreed that it was a good idea, however a few months would pass before Linda’s school work would again serve as the catalyst for further pursuit of a bill for tap dance.
In order to graduate Linda needed to complete an internship at a non-profit organization. Being a student with a full-time job, this didn’t really seem feasible. What about founding a non-profit to support a possible tap dance bill AND fulfill the academic requirements? This seemed more feasible. Linda researched other commemorative bills and drafted the bill to declare a National Tap Dance Day. With the draft of the bill in hand Linda returned to Carol and Nicola and what was simply a good idea suddenly seemed a little more real.
Key Figures of Support
Linda and Nicola returned to Cedric Hendricks, Congressman Conyers’s legislative director, to pitch the idea of the tap dance day bill. After listening to the pitch, Cedric quickly said no thank you, on behalf of the congressman.
This soon changed. A few weeks later Charles “Honi” Coles (of Coles and Atkins, and The Copasetics) was featured in an interview on National Public Radio (NPR). During his segment Honi discussed the similarities of tap dance and jazz music in musicality and in these art forms’s roles in American and African American history. Linda received a call from Cedric the day the interview was broadcast to say that Congressman Conyers would take on the tap dance day bill. Congressman Conyers enlisted the support of Senator Alfonse D’Amato (NY) to sponsor the bill in the Senate.
House Joint Resolution 662 was introduced in the 100th Congress by Congressman John Conyers on September 23, 1988 with 35 cosponsors.
It was too late in the congressional season to expect passage of the bill, so, instead, it was introduced simply to begin informing people about the bill. This was in following the successful precedent of the jazz bill that Congressman Conyers also sponsored.
Everyone Gets Involved
Without a large lobbying firm or budget the National Tap Dance Day legislation would have to brought to fruition through the efforts of the entire tap dance community – fans in the U.S. Congress, the recognized masters, dance studios and dance organizations, teachers, students, administrators, and writers.
Linda, her friend from tap class Nicola, and her tap teacher Carol, incorporated Tap America Project (TAP) as the non-profit that would spearhead and coordinate the National Tap Dance Day efforts from Washington, D.C. (and fulfill Linda’s graduation requirements).
On Capitol Hill, House Joint Resolution (H.J.R.) 131, sponsored by Congressman John Conyers, and Senate Joint Resolution (S.J.R.) 53 sponsored by Senator Alfonse D’Amato were introduced to the 101st Congress on February 7, 1989.
To garner support for the bills Tap America Project launched a grass roots effort across the country. In an era before instant communication and social media, the Tap America Project with the support of Congressman Conyers’s office sent postcards out to dance studios across the country asking them to send the postcards to their members of Congress encouraging them to cosponsor the bill. Word of mouth was also a powerful tool. At Dance Umberlla’s tap dance festival in Boston, MA, Honi Coles spoke of the legislation during a panel discussion. Key figures in the tap dance renaissance also became interested, including Sali Ann Kriegsman (then dance director of the National Endowment for the Arts), film archivist Ernie Smith (whose collection is now housed at the Smithsonian Museum), writer Sally Sommer, dancer and writer Jane Goldberg, and Marda Kirn (director of the Colorado Dance Festival). Many of the recognized legends of tap dance were also supportive of the legislation.
Eventually, the bill in the House (H.J.R. 131) would have 159 cosponsors while the bill introduced in the Senate (S.J.R. 53) would have 52 cosponsors, the first being Senator Charles Robb from Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s home state of Virginia.
A NOTE ON THE DATE: Although there had been discussion of other dates during the early formation of the bill, however May 25th was eventually chosen. The date selected would honor Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, an icon of the Vaudeville stage and silver screen, and an esteemed contributor in technique and style to the art of tap dance who crossed racial and commercial barriers.
It warrants noting that this particular legislative effort was not the first legislative or public effort to celebrate tap dance on a specific day. Starting in 1976, years prior to the passing of the National Tap Dance Day legislation, Rosie Radiator, a tap dancer and educator in San Francisco, began celebrating a local Tap Dance Day every Labor Day. In 1983, Congressman Edward Boland (MA, 2nd District) introduced a bill to designate the entire month of May as National Tap Dance Appreciation Month. Although the bill garnered 28 cosponsors it was never voted on.
The Best of Timing
During the time that the bill was first introduced a few other things were happening in the world of tap dance. Norman Mitgang and Jim Haskins were publishing Mr. Bojangles: The Biography of Bill Robinson, Rusty Frank had already begun research for TAP! The Greatest Tap Dance Stars and Their Stories (1900-1955), and most notably the movie TAP was in production.
Tri-Star Pictures, the production company behind TAP contacted the Tap America Project to discuss promotional ideas for the film. Tri-Star wanted to adopt the National Tap Dance Day theme and produce a series of local Tap Day Competitions across the country as a major part of the film’s marketing campaign. In addition to the local tap day competitions, designed to publicize both the film and the National Tap Dance Day legislation efforts, Tri-Star brought TAP to Washington, D.C.
In September 1988, Gregory Hines, Harold Nicholas, Sandman Sims, and Savion Glover appeared at a Congressional press conference to discuss the art of tap dance, the National Tap Dance Day legislation, and their upcoming film. Members of Congress were treated to a sneak peak of some of the scenes from the upcoming film and were able to meet personally with these dance legends.
The legislation began to move at an accelerated rate following the press conference and film’s release in February 1989. Tap America Project hosted the Washington, D.C., premiere of TAP as a fundraising activity, with special guest Congressman Conyers speaking to two sold out theaters that night.
A Bill Become Law
On May 25, 1989, the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service discharged H.J.R. 131 and it was passed without objection on the House floor. To all those involved, this made it official, but there were several more steps to conclude the process. On October 26, 1989, Senator Joseph Biden reported the S.J.R. 53 to the Senate without amendment. On October 27 it passed the Senate and on November 1, 1989 was presented to President George Bush for signature.
On November 8, 1989 the President signed the legislation. National Tap Dance Day officially became Public Law No: 101-143
It’s Time to Celebrate
In New York City, the Black Patti Project presented a National Tap Dance Day Celebration on May 22, 1989, a few days before the actual passing of the bill in the House, and featured members of the cast of Black and Blue and Tina Pratt. The first celebration of National Tap Dance Day following the passage of the legislation in the House took place on May 25th, 1989 in Washington, D.C., and included a panel discussion with Brenda Bufalino, LaVaughn Robinson, Norman Mitgang, and Rusty Frank. The panel was followed by a dance celebration at the historic Kennedy-Warren ballroom.
A growing number of celebrations came the following year. In particular, the New York Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance Day was founded and in 1992 the Committee would establish the Tap Extravaganza® which has been presented every year since. The Flo-Bert Award for Lifetime Achievement and Excellence in the Art of Tap Dance is presented annually at the Tap Extravaganza®.
The Future is Now
Over the past 25 years Tap Dance Day celebrations have gone global with shows, workshops and tap jams happening all over the world. This year (2014) marks the first known celebration in cyberspace with Tap Legacy’s social media campaign to get the hashtag #tapdance to trend on May 25th. As the joy of tap dance continues to spread we look forward to sharing in all the celebrations as they happen, wherever they might be.
Happy Tap Dance Day!!
A word on oral history: This page is dedicated to the stories of the establishment of National Tap Dance Day. If you have stories that are relevant to this slice of tap dance history please contact us here.