bojangles step dance -- full version

[Nemesane]

1 person fell down a flight of stairs...

[kingofvintage]

He was a natural... and amazingly he's 50 here and could still make it look effortless!

[GrizeldaGrundle]

HOT DAMN!!



[sunless2000]

Seems like Bob Fosse must have gotten inspiration from Mr. Bojangles, with the hat and all the tap moves!!!

[ZAS2702]

Greatness! Thank you for sharing.

[edepaz66]

:)

[TheBowlingAddict]

Lol. Act a fool wit it

[Xmus44]

The power of indecision, should I go over this staircases or should I not..! oh i don't know... i don't know!! yes, no... maybe?

Step-dancers a Awesome XD

[thebradybunchlover]

This is what he did with Shirley in The Little Colonel!

[lulionbowler]

Nothing better than watching that man tap

[Jessiquoi1]

Anyone know if this was choreographed or did he improv it?

[diddymuck]

Next visit to Richmond VA see the statue erected in his honor featuring him doing this dance.

[HtotheHizzIce]

the one person who disliked this must hate life

[wendyverdades]

The reaon the crowd is so chill is that was the way people did it up until like the 1970's .

My mother would hhave fits when the audience cheered. You waited until the end and then you went nuts. It was considered rude to disrupt and initially cat calling was reserved the the artists people didn't like on stage. A truly grand era with some manners and grace. I hope we can retain some of the old with the new.

[maorigooner]

does the one person who dislikes this live in a bungalow and have a deep rooted fear of all things stair related??

[Dantovsky]

So amazing!

[sikdancer4life]

dont like the way the crowd is just chillin talking like nothin happenin...this dude is flat out breakin it down !!!!! Wish he coulda been my tap teacher growin up!!!!

[CanUdoThiss]

Jigga jigga they call him bojangles,jigga jigga they call him BOJANGLES wow,I hav nuthin bt respect for this artist

[million3697]

i want to see somebody do a turtorial of this

[million3697]

i want to see somebody do a turtuil of this

[aardvaark069]

These old guys came up through vaudeville and such. They were originally stage actors and so they had to have a full routine nailed. Todays dancers don't have that background so many of them lay out a move or two and then cut. The editors have a field day but the dancers don't have to be great to be made to look good.

[gfks11]

SUBLIME!!

[DrinkingDinosaurs101]

wow... i wanna tap like this :D

[djmbm100]

this is from the '32 "race film" Harlem is Heaven

[niemanickurwa]

I'd actually go as far to call that genius.

[jaygillette71]

bojangles be my main nigga

[friendsfamilyaccount]

the man made music with his feet alone....

[hajune]

Bill created this dance when getting an award from the King of England. He did it on the spur of the moment. Wow! Truly amazing to have created it on the spot. He was an amazing athlete. Had the world's record for the backward 75 yard dash.( 8.2 seconds) Over 32,000 at his funeral arranged by Ed Sullivan. A million listened to it on the radio. He was the mascot for the N.Y. Giants and owned the N.Y. Black Yankees. He made $3500 a week and was an easy touch to give it away. He died penniless.

[77eilatan]

I wish I were born in the thirties! i could have been famous! Well, hey! How says i can't be famous now! But old time Hollywood is the best!

[Blackjesus3]

wth happend2 dance

[osusannarosen]

Bojangles is so much an instrument in this music, it's hard to imagine the song without hime now.

[MsLongwhitecloud]

Wow, wow, wow. This is nothing short of brilliant!. Its mesmerising, fantastic, awe inspiring. Tap dancing at its best

[soprano1actress]

this is tap dancing, but the name of the actual dance is "the step dance" because he is using steps.

[TheGuitarist365]

Screw the drummer, if you had this dude he could drum like a pro while dancing!

[JLogic72]

True, this isnt real "Step Dancing" but i think the person who posted this mean it as in dancing on STEPS. Never the less...Jangles is genious.

[MrGoodprimate]

this isn't step dancing...it's tap dancing. step dancing is a white country thing more like a variation of a highland fling or something.

[rolandangler]

He was 54 years of age when this was filmed.

Thanks for posting - a wonderful and inventive routine with no tricks. No wonder he was a very big star in his day.

Didn't I see somewhere that a million people came out for his funeral?

[legacyofarcon2]

what year was this?

[JCPUTT]

1934 .....I think.

The hight of the great depresion.

[7roach]

the video itself says "1932". definitely during the great depression.

amazing how some of the best art, music, and dancing come out of hard times.

[chrisaclark]

oh my god that's fantastic

[usermac1300]

thanks!!

[elmoisfuzzy00]

Amazing :)

[mothgirlwings]

It's his birthday today. Thank you to the person who uploaded that - so great!

[7roach]

Shoot, wish we could've had a bojangles party!

You're very welcome! =)

[phyllodendron]

Louis Armstrong's favourite performer, and it is easy to see why. Like Louis, Bojangles lit up the stage everywhere he went. Talent to burn!

[AtomicGarden1983]

Us humans are some idiosyncratic breed. I mean seriously - imagine some alien species visiting our planet earth and watching us getting all exited about Bill Robinson walking up and down a flight of stairs... Then again, it's just so much fun!!! :-) (and a spotless, inspiring performance by the way!)

[maestros05]

thats art!

thanks

[savista]

A faultless performance...... rare as. Thanks so much for posting

[skaleewag]

Nice post Roach. Thanks.

[ToppaCat]

i never been s excited to see someone walk up and down a flight of stairs

[Thistledove]

This incredible man literally made music with his feet!!

[fhr331]

He was about 54 when he did this routine -- imagine what he must have been like in his 20s... too bad movie musicals weren't around 20 years earlier

[aimeemacdn]

Bo Jangles must be the best and earliest tap dancer

[TigerRocket]

William Henry Lane (1825-1852), known as Master Juba, was an early-mid 19th century African-American dancer. He began his career at 16 years of age and became world famous as one of the best at performing jigs, break down, and tap.

[aimeemacdn]

The most perfect tap dancer of all time in my opinion, all taps could be heard and amazing control. What an accomplishment considering he had a shitty life. His parents must have been descended from slaves.

[jebsievers]

Brings my step aerobics instructor down a peg.

[winsome1235]

His balance is amazing.

[7roach]

i'm amazed that someone designed that set of stairs to have just the right amount of steps.

[hey1hey1hey1hey1]

its not step dancing its tap dancing lol

[sophisticatedsoles]

wow,

amazing.

[sb6613]

A tremendous clip. I never realised how good he was.

Many thanks

[icemoney11]

Untouchable

[RafiqaS]

I love it the late Gregory Hines did an excellent job portraying him.

[aimeemacdn]

Yes, I agree Hines did a great job with his film biography, It was so sad though, I cried my eyes at the end. Hines was a brilliant dancer and did BoJangles proud. Tragic.

[05017299]

Dance on Bill Robinson- watching you puts air in my feet!

[7roach]

Beautiful, complex, yet so simple =)

[jozefsterkens]

This is one of the few clips who show what a great artist he was, thank's.