Tap dancer and podcaster Travis Knights takes you on a rich listening journey through the tradition of tap dancing, revealing an expansive world culture, music, and rhythm through many cities and ages. Travis gives gratitude to many ancestors and teachers that have guided his lifelong passion for the form, while giving voice to tension between aesthetic and cultural origins of tap dance. A beautiful conversation about reverence for dance, culture, and the necessity for community. 

References & links 

Ethel Bruneau

Mary Bruce

“Tap” (film feat. Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr., Savion Glover, Suzzane Douglas, Joe Morton)

Sandman Sims

“Tap Dogs”

“Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk”

Jimmy Slyde

Dianne “Lady Di” Walker 

“Black and Blue” (Broadway show feat. Dr. Henry LeTang, Frankie Manning, Dianne Walker, Dr. Jimmy Slyde, Lon Cheney, Dr. Bunny Briggs)

“Sophisticated Ladies” 

Mis-education of the Negro, by Carter G. Woodson

The Jazz United Jam

Datri Bean 

Bill Bojangles Robinson 

Coles and Atkins

“Ephemeral Artifacts”

Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell 

Explore more conversations at nakaitheater.com/podcast. Thanks to the Government of Canada through the Department of Heritage for funding this cycle of the podcast.