Tap / Sammy Davis, Jr.

In the previous entry I mentioned the term "hoofers" and briefly wrote about that style and its best known performers. One of them, Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (1925-1990) , was an artist with multiple talents: he was an actor, dancer, singer, comedian and musician.












Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr. started tapping as a small child. His father and Will Mastin, a friend of his father, taught him how to dance and he joined their stage act at a very young age. They were called the "Will Mastin Trio. At the age of six, Sammy Davis, Jr. sang and danced in the film "Rufus Jones for President". This short comedy is about a child who becomes the president of the US in his mother's dream. This was Sammy Davis, Jr.'s first ever film appearance. As you can see, as a boy of six he was already able to give a solid tap performance with some pretty advanced steps in it.






During his life, Davis appeared in several Broadway and TV shows and played in numerous films. In the sixties, he was a member of the Rat Pack, a group of famous stars led by Frank Sinatra. He was also one of the first African-American artists who spoke up against racial segregation. After he achieved stardom, Davis refused to work at venues which would segregate. His friends and fellow performers also avoided such places. Eventually, their demands for equal rights led to the integration of several nightclubs and casinos. Davis was very proud of this success.
Among tap dancers all over the world, he is best known for his extraordinary dancing ability and smooth, effortless style on stage. In the next short video you can catch a glimpse of that skill.





One of his last film appearances was in the film "Tap", where Davis plays an old tapper called Little Mo. He tries to convince Max, a talented younger tap dancer (played by another tap icon, Gregory Hines), that he should choose dancing as a future career instead of being a criminal. Although the story is a bit weakened by clichés, the fantastic dancing makes up for that loss. In a mesmerizing scene, Mo and some other veteran dancers have a tap challenge (a kind of competition among top tappers) when Max claims the veterans were good in their days but "they ain't got no legs any more". If you happen to be a tapper you are surely familiar with this brilliant show of great tap dancers. If not, just sit back and relax.






Do some exercises about the language content of the entry.