"Listen to my feet, and I'll tell you the story of my life." This is the message sent by every tap dancer today, and was certainly the philosophy of John Bubbles (1902-1986). Born John William Sublett in Louisville, Kentucky (who says Kentucky doesn't produce tap legends?!), and raised in Indianapolis, he played engagements at an early age in Louisville, Detroit, and New York City. He was once laughed out of the Hoofer's Club for being a novice tap dancer, after which Bubbles retreated to the privacy of the shed, determined to develop his technique. He returned to the Club with his new style of rhythm tapping that was laced with double over-the-tops and triple back slides, and blew everyone away. John teamed with Ford Lee "Buck" Washington to form the duo Buck and Bubbles, and they reached the pinnacle in vaudeville by playing at New York's Palace Theatre. They also performed at the London Palladium, the Cotton Club, the Apollo, and were the first black performers to perform at Radio City Music Hall, and continued to break the color barriers in theatres across the country. They also performed in a number of motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s. John revolutionized tap dancing by dropping heels on the offbeat, accenting rhythms with the toes, extending rhythmic patterns beyond the usual eight bars of music, and loading the bar with a complex slew of beats. He is heralded as the Father of Rhythm Tap. Before Bubbles, dancers tapped up on their toes, capitalized on flash steps and danced to neat two-to-a-bar phrases. Bubbles loaded his bar, dropped his heels and hit unusual accents and syncopations, opening the door of modern jazz percussion. His complex sound prepared for the new sound of bebop in the 1950s and anticipated the prolonged melodic lines of "Cool" jazz in the 1950s. He was posthumously inducted into the Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002. (Thanks to #TapInspiration Ian Berg for this video.) #TapInspiration #TapInspirationTuesday #JohnBubbles #tapdance #tapdancer #hoofer #tap #dance #Repost @ianberg67 with @repostapp. ・・・ John Bubbles #tapdance
