Versatile dancer taps into his modern style
"When I started mixing the tap and modern, I can say that I was wondering how they might co-exist," said Evans during a call from his home in New York. "I actually have been tap dancing longer than I have been dancing modern. And I left tap dancing to pursue modern dance in the '70s. But after I left RDT, I started tap dancing again. But I didn't like the fact that my upper body didn't move much. So I began to incorporate some of the modern movements to enhance what my feet and legs were doing.
"At the same time, I didn't know what the tap community would think, and I didn't know what the modern dance community would think, because the dance forms come from two completely different areas."
However, Evans didn't need to worry. Dianne Walker, known as "Lady Di" in the tap dance world, liked what Evans was doing.
"She said I was doing cutting-edge work," said Evans. "And it was exciting for her to see."
He knew he wanted to mix things up a bit and perform classic tap works and some of his newer works.
"I'm reconnecting of historic tap dance and using modern technique," Evans said.
The historic classic works include "Doin' the New Low Down" by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1928); "Takin' a Chance on Love" by Charles "Honi" Coles and Cholly Atkins (1940); and "Laura" by James "Buster" Brown (1944).
The more recent works include "Tater Diggin"' by Eddie Brown (1991); and Evans' own "Blues for My Father" (1985), "Three Preludes (2007), "Los Ritmos Calientes" (1997) and "Yes, Indeed!" (1987).
In addition, Evans has invited guest Deborah Robertson to join him during a few numbers.
"I had known Debby when she was a dance student at the University of Utah," said Evans, who graduated from the U. with degrees in ballet, modern dance and English in the early 1970s. Neither knew the other danced tap.
"Well, a few years ago, I attended a tap festival in Southern California and ran into her," he said. "We've kept in touch, and I though it would be great to work together."
Evans, who is the full-time visiting professor and guest artist at the State University of New York at Brockport and was the artistic director for the Bill Evans Dance Company, was born in Lehi and grew up in Salt Lake City.
"My father worked at Kennecott and we lived in Magna at the time," he said. "But the air quality back in the 1940s and 1950s was so bad we moved to Salt Lake. It was then I saw my first dance movie.
Recent comments
Nice article. Evans is a wonderful dancer and choreographer, and...
Deborah | June 30, 2008 at 1:13 p.m.
