Puttin' on the Ritz

I have always been fascinated with tap dance and the old Hollywood musical. As a teenager in Oman circa 1997, I had taped a grainy TV broadcast of 'Singin' in the Rain' (I upgraded to a DVD last year) and would indulge in it ever so often getting so caught up in the sight and sound of it that I'd be skipping about for at least an hour after everytime. So when 'The Souls of Our Feet' decided to grace Tulsa with a performance, I scrambled for tickets. The Austin-based tap group took me back to old Hollywood and the dancers channeled the old tap greats into 2008. I quote the Tulsa Performing Arts Center website when I say that 'this fast-paced collection of footwork restages the best of rhythm tap masterpieces from Fred Astaire & Eleanor Powell to the Nicholas Brothers as well as contemporary works of living masters. Led by the live jazz music of the Eddy Hobizal Jazz Trio, this one-of-a-kind concert brings swingin' jazz and 18 feet keeping time to the pulse of this wonderful and indigenous American art form—a celebration of rhythm at its best!'. Thank you, Tapestry Academy!

Here are some of my favourite tap dance routines. As you can see, I favour Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. In my late teens, I had a big crush on the former.