If you were to give the tap dancer Dianne Walker, a choice between a big stage, and a small jazz club, chances are she’d choose the club. That’s because Walker considers herself a musician — not a performer. Her feet are her instrument, tapping, shuffling and brushing out emotion, beat and melody with each step.
She is known as “Lady Di” for her elegant style, and she’s one of the few women celebrated in the world of tap, having performed with the likes of Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Junior and Savion Glover.
She tosses aside the movie musical versions of tap and old Broadway for something closer to the ground, something closer to “da noise and da funk.” There is, says Walker, a straight line between tap and hip hop. We’ll hear the “music” of the tap dancer Dianne Walker.
Guests:
Dianne Walker, legendary tap dancer who has performed in “Tap” with Gregory Hines and “Hoofers Line” with Jimmy Slyde, Chuck Green and Bunny Briggs.