To all dancers, dance enthusiasts and tap dancers, join us in celebrating the Birthday of Dr. Leonard Reedtoday 01/07/1907.
Born in Lightning Creek, Oklahoma near Nowata, a mix of black, white and Choctaw. He was raised by his great-grandmother until he was 11, when he was placed in a foster home in Kansas City, Missouri.
Reed got into dance as a Charleston dancer, after wining several contests, at 18 he started working for the Whitman Sisters, who were acknowledged to have the best black revue, and formed a partnership with the similarly light-skinned Willie Bryant: Reed and Bryant – Brains as well as Feet.
Reed and Bryant came up with a new finale for their eight-minute show, a simple combination danced to four eight-bar choruses. First they called it Goofus, but it became known as the Shim Sham after a club at which they regularly performed. Its simplicity, and suitability as a line dance, especially with the newly popular swing music, meant that it was quickly picked up and disseminated by clubgoers. It has endured ever since, and has been called the anthem of tap.
The clip is of Leonard Reed at the Orpheum Theatre, June 2nd 1999.