Throwback Thursday and Eddie Brown
Eddie Brown was born on July 27, 1915 in Omaha, Nebraska.
His early dance training came from his uncle, and when he was sixteen he
entered a tap dance contest where he was spotted by Bill Robinson. Eddie went
on to win first place in this contest and Robinson invited him to move to New
York with him, but Eddie’s mother refused to allow it. A few weeks later, he
hopped a freight train and made his way to New York.
Less than two years later, he joined the Bill Robinson Revue
at the Apollo Theatre, where he stayed from 1933 to 1939. Here he honed his
craft and learned by watching Robinson and his perfectionism.
Later, he moved to California, where he remained. He worked
with groups and as a soloist, experimenting and improvising. He even worked
with a drummer, Dave Tough, and they developed a type of call-and-response
routine.
Eddie Brown performed throughout the decades, from the 1940s
to the 1980s, when he tried – and failed – to retire. He went on to appear in
many tap festivals with dancers such as Honi Coles, Gregory Hines and Savion
Glover.
Eddie Brown calls his style of tap dancing the “scientific
rhythm” because, he says: “You heard all
this music/rhythm but couldn't see where it was coming from.”
Eddie Brown died on December 28, 1992.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #22s:
“Eddie Brown was a famous tap dancer who employed what he
called “scientific rhythm”.
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“Show
me a person who found love in his life and did not celebrate it with a dance.”
― Shah Asad Rizvi
― Shah Asad Rizvi
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