Savion Glover

Savion Glover was one of the most recognized tap dancers of the later 20th Century and perhaps one of the great dancers of all time. Born on November 19, 1973, Glover was a tap dancing prodigy. Even tap dance legend Gregory Hines, who was one of Glover's teachers, once stated that Glover was "possibly the greatest tap dancer that ever lived." Glover made his Broadway debut at the age of 12 in "The Tap Dance Kid" in 1985. Four years later, he made his feature film debut in "Tap" (1989), which starred Hines and legendary Rat Pack member Sammy Davis, Jr. In the same year, Glover became one of the youngest performers nominated for a Tony for his role in "Black and Blue" (1989). At fourteen years old, Glover was himself teaching others the art of tap dance and continued to find new ways to put the spotlight on his chosen medium. Glover made his first of several appearances in the influential educational series "Sesame Street' (PBS 1969-) in 1991. He broke through to a wider audience with the Off-Broadway show "Bring In da Noise, Bring In da Funk" in 1995, which won Glover his first Tony Award for choreography after it moved to Broadway in 1996. Glover accepted the honor to perform for President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala after his reelection in early 1997. In 2000, Glover scored his highest-profile film role in Spike Lee's controversial media satire "Bamboozled," in which he co-starred with Tommy Davidson as an African-American team who revived blackface performances for a modern TV audience. When the Winter Olympics arrived at Salt Lake City in 2002, Glover was tapped to perform at the Games' closing ceremony. Glover started his own tap school, The Hooferz Club, with the aim of educating a new generation about the art of tap dance.