One of the ways oral traditions are explored is through the people involved. Finding old stories, making connections, watching video recordings, all comes back to the people and their names.
Who’s in the story, who used to dance with who, and who are we watching right now. Knowing the names of the people can help us on our individual explorations of the tradition. For instance, looking through the index of biographies of jazz greats for the names of tap dancers may yield unique stories not found elsewhere. But, we need the names that we should be looking for first.
To that end we are excited to announce a new resource. A community sourced list of tap dancers, individuals and acts, listed in alphabetical order. We envision this list of contributors both large and small, to be a living document that will continue to grow as contributors are remembered, discovered, and newly recognized.
Visit the List here and submit a name using the form at the bottom of the page.