Network Sessions

Network Sessions

Members of the steering group will host these informal but structured sessions that are FREE and open to all. You can connect with other people that are interested, or involved in doing research around tap dance.

Hear from researchers and practitioners about what they are working on and have learned through their projects. Learn about different approaches to learning in the field and pick up valuable tips and insights to help you pursue your own tap dance learning. A great opportunity to ask questions, swap tips for researching and developing projects, share information about resources and opportunities.

The next few sessions will explore what happens when we consider tap dance from certain perspectives such as Folk tradition, vernacular and pop culture, visual music… What does each of these viewpoints offer and what is the relationship between them?

**Next Session**

15:00 BST | 10:00 ET | 16:00 CEST

Following on from our last session that explored what happens when we consider tap dance from the perspective of Folk tradition, we now continue the  journey through vernacular dance, pop culture, and social dance. 

We will discuss how tap dance relates to these ideas before taking a deeper dive into vernacular dance. We will ask how appreciating tap dance as vernacular dance informs the way we dance, learn, educate, promote, discuss and research in tap dance…

Jess Murray will introduce the topic before opening it up to a conversation where different perspectives and experiences can be shared.

Book a FREE ticket

Facebook event

 

Buddy Bradley: Choreographing British Film & Theatre

Buddy Bradley: Choreographing British Film & Theatre

Wednesday 17 March 2021 19:00 GMT

By Annette Walker with special guests.

Ticket price per event £6 full price/ £4 students, unwaged, low income. Book here

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Buddy Bradley was coaching many stars of Broadway musicals, including Fred and Adele Astaire, Ruby Keeler, and Eleanor Powell. However despite being well known (and well paid) within show business he never received credit for choreographing a show with a white cast in America. In 1930 Buddy was invited to London to choreograph for Jessie Matthews’s show, Ever Green at the Aldephi Theatre for which he received his first choreographic credit. It was a great success for both Jessie and Buddy and in 1934 it was made into the first British musical film, Evergreen, launching him into the emerging English film industry. Buddy staged over thirty musical productions during the 1930s and choreographed a number of British musical films during his thirty-eight years in Britain.

There is little reference of Buddy’s creative work but researcher Annette Walker has sourced clips of his choreography from several British musical films, including an uncredited, rare glimpse of Buddy himself. There’ll be a presentation about Buddy’s life and work in America and Britain and a closer look at his style through film footage as well as a discussion about his wider influence on dance.

Buddy Bradley

TDRN UK is a volunteer led, ‘non-profit’ community interest company and funds generated from ticket sales are used to cover overheads of running events. However, we are committed to making our events accessible to all and hold a number of tickets available free of charge to those unable to fund a ticket. Please contact us directly should you require one admin@tdrnuk.com.

Become a TDRN UK member

Become a TDRN UK member

TDRN UK provides a space for researchers, artists, academics, educators and enthusiasts to share knowledge, information, and research around Tap Dance.

As a member you will benefit from:

  • Free access to 4 ticketed events per year (normally costed at £6 each)
  • Automatic links to join our monthly Network Sessions
  • Discount ticket price for our annual Research Festival events

To become a member register here and pay £20 annual membership fee (valid until August 2023) via the PayPal link in the registration form. Thank you for supporting our work as a non-profit organisation.

 

You are welcome to attend one of our monthly FREE Network Sessions to see if TDRN UK membership is for you.

 

More about TDRN UK membership benefits

Free access to 4 ticketed events per year – online

Hear from a diverse range of researchers, artists, practitioners and educators. Learn about people who have shaped the past and present of tap dance, creative processes and different approaches to teaching and learning. Each 1.5 hour session includes a presentation to gain more knowledge as well as interactive activities, discussion and a Q&A.

Our first Online Talk Series event of this annual cycle will take place on 16th November 2022 with Jane Goldberg and Brian Harker author of ‘Sportin’ Life: John W. Bubbles, An American Classic’.

Monthly Network Sessions – online

Members of the steering group will host informal but structured sessions that are FREE and open to all. You can connect with other people that are interested, or involved in doing research around tap dance. Hear from researchers and practitioners about what they are working on and have learned through their projects. Learn about different approaches to learning in the field and pick up valuable tips and insights to help you pursue your own tap dance learning. A great opportunity to ask questions, swap tips for researching and developing projects, share information about resources and opportunities.

These sessions are FREE to all, so you can join prior to becoming a member to meet the team and the research community.

Our annual TDRN UK Research Festival – online and in-person

Get a discount on the ticket price for our annual TDRN UK Research Festival which will bring the tap dance research community together with researchers and practitioners from other fields to explore, discuss and enjoy all things related to tap dance. There will be workshops, discussions, Keynote speakers, sharings of performance work, networking and social events.

 

If you have any questions about our membership offer or how to get involved, contact us at info@tdrnuk.com

A UK situated group

TDRN UK recognise Tap Dance as an art form that was created in America born of African American culture and experience. While we maintain close links with Tap Dance communities in the United States and globally, we seek to develop a greater awareness and understanding of Tap Dance history in the UK alongside its relationship to the United States. We highlight the achievements of UK born and UK based Tap Dance practitioners acknowledging their influence and legacy in the UK Tap scene today. We work to generate more opportunities for ‘tap connected’ research in the UK context by connecting researchers, artists and practitioners making interdisciplinary connections to support key areas of research that we can contribute to the community.

Tap Dance information resources

We work to increase awareness of Tap Dance’s cultural background and historical contexts by locating and creating resources to share through our social media platforms and website. We are constantly expanding our sources of knowledge about Tap Dance including oral histories, archives and published material such as books and articles. We aim to highlighting ‘hidden histories’ of Tap Dance and Tap Dancers that are not currently incorporated into mainstream education. We aim to support the viability of Tap Dance as a professional area of creative practice and academic research by raising its profile in the UK Arts sector and Academia. For those wanting to know more about specific aspects of Tap Dance practices and histories, we can provide a starting point for accessing further research, resources, or connecting with other artists, researchers and educators globally. We work to raise awareness of the value of work being done by creative practitioners by upholding an approach to Tap Dance research that encompasses embodied, practice based approaches and scholarly approaches and encourages dialogue between them.