To all dancers, dance enthusiasts and tap dancers, join us in celebrating the Birthday of Dr. Jimmy Slyde today 10/02/1927, born James Titus Godbolt. A Tap Master, National Treasure and an Honorary Board Member of the Tap Legacy™ Foundation.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in Boston after his family moved there. He began tap dancing at age 12 with teacher Stanley Brown at The New England Conservatory of Music, after seeing Bill Bojangles Robinson perform.
Jimmy Slyde found the Slyde Brothers with Jimmy Sir Slyde Mitchell, he also was part of the tap dance revival of the 1980s.
Slyde was in films such as The Cotton Club, Tap and Round Midnight, as well as a number of television specials. He collaborated with Steve Condos on a program of jazz tap improvisation at the Smithsonian Institution and performed across the United States, France and South America.
In 1989, Slyde received a Tony Award nomination for his Broadway debut in the musical Black and Blue. He was also the recipient the Flo-Bert award – 1991 and the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award – 1999, the Charles Honi Coles Award – 2001, a Guggenheim Fellowship for Choreography – 2003, and an honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts from Oklahoma City University.
Sit back and enjoy this Master Artist at play in a clip from the Broadway Show Black and Blue.