Heels and Gumption: Tap Dance Empowered by Women

Glover, Jason Samuels-Smith. These names create a list of some of the most famous tap dancers spanning over a hundred years of dance history. Yet something is missing--that extra X chromosome. Female tap dancers have been referred to as hidden over the years as tap research has started to increase in recent years. Little to no information is present that can aid modern day historians in understanding the lives of such spectacular artists. Although there is little written about many of these women, it is possible to draw conclusions based on what is known. Female tap dancers have been the backbone of the tap dance industry and have helped it to develop and adapt over the years. This level of influence can be seen through performance acts such as The Whitman Sisters, the stories of the Apollo Theatre Chorus Line dancers, and mid century tap renegades such as Brenda Bufalino and Dianne Walker. It is the stories of these women that reveal how they influences the tap dance scene. Before television, film, and Broadway there was Vaudeville. Vaudeville shows were more similar to a three-ring circus then to a professional dance performance, filled with varying acts such as, song, dance, comedy and acrobatics.1 It could be compared to a variety show, but informal and meant to entertain “a rowdy and impatient crowd of male boozers.”2 While firs