Bill

Bill Robinson was one of the main innovators of a the tap style that brought an end to the flat footed tap predecessors, Bill was said to have brought tap up on to it's toes. He over came racial barriers and movie politics to go on to become a legend. He was, as many legends are, surrounded by conflicting stories of the type of person he was, and his life style. There is even controversy over the origins of his nick name 'Bojangels', but no one could dispute the clarity of his tap sound produced by his light footed tap technique.

Bill Robinson was (Although it is disputed by a some.) the creator of the stair dance, which was originally a three step pyramid placed in the middle of the stage in theatres. Bill extended his step dance and used it in a film, instead of the three steps he performed the step dance on a whole set of stairs as shown above. The original was executed on three pyramid steps, which he had set up on stage to his own specifications. It was said that this particular part of his act was one of the things he held close to his heart and if he heard that any one else was performing it, he is said to confront the person in question and persuade them not to continue it's performance, using any means necessary.

Although Bill Robinson spent most of his life within theatre stage shows of one sort of another it didn't stop him making his mark in movie shorts and then onto his big break in the Shirley Temple films in his later years. He was criticised by some of his peers for perpetuating the stereo typical image of a black man on screen, however it was the difference between large exposure and near obscurity with in the black theatre circuits. His exposure in mainstream films enabled him and many other black performers to appear, even if it was only for one dance sequence, thus paving the way for other fellow African Americans to appear.

The wealth of his tap-dancing abilities can be found in numerous movie shorts he made from time to time, these movie shorts were then used as movie fillers. In the early years there were 'B' films and movie shorts before the main title films and Bill along with many other talented artists performed songs or danced in the shorts, all hoping to be spotted for future movie work.

There does however exist some film of early stage shows which are hard to track down and are kept in obscure movie vaults possibly long forgotten. Bill will always be with those who take the time to read about the historical roots of tap, and teachers who continue to hand down the origins of some of the classic steps they teach.