January 8, 1995
African American Artists Reclaim Broad Street: "Stepping in Time," A Weekend Revue of Classic Tap Dance, Comedy, Song and Dance, Graces the Stage of the Philadelphia Arts Bank.

Philadelphia - The Standard Theater no longer stands at 12th and South Street. Pep's and the Showboat on Broad St. are long gone. Other landmark sites of African American culture have fallen to the wrecking ball. But entertainers who headlined are returning to the neighborhood. In this weekend revue of classic tap dance, comedy, song and dance, meet veteran African American entertainers, and learn where they've been. Immerse yourself in a Philadelphia you have yet to encounter ... a stage full of dancers and singers, smooth, hard-working professionals fully aware of the entertainment history they have helped to create, locally and nationally; chorus line, comedian and musicians, all polished, listening for the spaces in between songs, comedy and dance routines to add their solid timing; singers, elegant, in command, bringing to each song the audiences who have heard it, the singers they have sung with and the halls in which their voices have resonated over the last sixty years.

Under the auspices of the S.C. (Senior Citizens) Performers Alliance, an independent group of illustrious African American entertainers, and in association with the Philadelphia Folklore Project, close to 30 performers are co-producing Stepping in Time, a show of their own. This public event will feature entertainers with more than 500 years of collective experience on major stages and nightspots of the country, from the Apollo to Sim's Paradise, from the Standard to the Horn and Hardart Kiddie Hour (breaking the color bar there), from Club Harlem to the Palace.

On February 4, at 7:00 pm and February 5, at 3:30 pm at The Philadelphia Arts Bank, 601 South Broad Street, these area show business legends will grace the stage. Currently, rehearsals are in session, memories abound, and the masterful sounds and steps of talented Philadelphians promise an unforgettable performance. Come experience the style, dignity and artistry of Hortense Allen Jordan and the Hortense Jordan Dancers, Robert F. Burden, Jr., Kitty DeChavis ("Miss Hucklebuck"), Edith "Baby Edwards" Hunt, Isabelle Fambro ("Eleanor Byrd"), Germaine Ingram, Tommy "Red Foxx" Jordan, McHarris and Delores, Henry Meadows and Pete Briglia, Ruth Mobley, Henry Mosley, LaVaughn Robinson, Dottie Smith, Libby Spencer, the Johnny Williams Band, and many more.

These artists preserve histories that have remained unwritten. There was a time in Philadelphia when "dance was happening everywhere... on every street corner on South Street, you could hear a different time step." From the 1920's to the present, people recall that Philadelphia has been home to a significant number of exceptional African American tap dancers - hoofers - who played important roles in shaping this folk art. Tap dancer Germaine Ingram writes that "vernacular rhythm tap has a focus on subtle polyrhythms and aural presentation, a competitive milieu underscored by a cooperative ethic in which artists borrowed, adapted and made other people's steps their own (but in which - in theory - they did not perform another person's routine publicly)."

Like many other African American folk art forms, tap with its affiliated musical industry has many different faces, lives, or histories when viewed from inside African American communities and from "outside." And there are several "insides" to the story of tap - extraordinary women rhythm tappers faced the double discrimination of racism and sexism as they tried to develop as artists. They were less able to get "breaks" during the heyday of rhythm tap and restricted to certain kinds of dance because of their color and looks. The tap revival of the 1970s opened new venues to some African American men; few African American women hoofers were invited to the schools, festivals, or dance revivals then developing. Stepping in Time builds on the experience of hoofers - and the singers, chorus lines, choreographers, producers, musicians, comedians, and more - who crafted shows that delighted the ear and caught the eye of audiences in nightclubs and theaters coast to coast and that exported Philadelphia traditions of music and dance to the nation.

To preserve and explore the distinctive features and histories of these entertainment traditions, to showcase some of the Philadelphia artists who have had a significant impact on show business, and to bring their knowledgeable voices into more public conversations, the S.C. Performers Alliance and the Philadelphia Folklore Project, are undertaking this venture.

Tickets will be $15 for adults and $8 for children under 12, and are available from UpStages 215.893.1145 or the Arts Bank at 215.545.0630.

For further information or for interviews with artists, contact Debora Kodish, Philadelphia Folklore Project, at 215.238.0096.