Tap Dancer Savion Glover Performs Magical Feats, Teams Up With Jazz Musician Jack DeJohnette

Savion Glover

By Darlene Donloe

Tap dancing sensation Savion Glover never uttered a word as he took the stage last night for An Evening With Savion Glover & Jack DeJohnette at the Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, located on the campus of California State University, Northridge (CSUN).

In actuality he didn’t have to articulate a thing.  Everything he needed to say – was heard loud and clear as he tapped his heart out – allowing his feet to do the talking for him.

What he said through his interpretive brand of tap is up for debate. But, what isn’t up for debate is the caliber of Glover’s sensational footwork.  He’s mesmerizing! He’s innovative! He’s brilliant!

With his signature long dreads draped atop his head and donned in black slacks, a black short-sleeved tee, a striped red and white shirt and, of course, his beige tap shoes – Glover, 42, showed exactly why he is considered a master of his craft. He’s the man who took tap to new heights and made it cool and popular again.

Glover (The Tap Dance Kid, Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk) performed magical feats with his feet. He tapped fast, he tapped slow, he slid across the stage, he hopped, he jumped, he doubled his timing, he tripled his timing. He did the thang!   

The 2016 Ambassador of Dance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Glover left it all on the stage. Drenched in his sweat, the hoofer, who recently choreographed the Broadway musical, Shuffle Along, starring Audra McDonald and directed by George C. Wolfe, performed with an inexhaustible abandonment, never easing up in his efforts.

Glover is a bad boy! It doesn’t get any gooder than Glover’s bad!

Joining him on stage for a tap off and as an added attraction was former Star Search winner Marshall Davis Jr., who has danced with Glover for years, including in Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk.

After Glover’s first set, Grammy winner Jack DeJohnette took the stage with bassist Jerome Harris and pianist George Colligan.  The trio’s jazzy, melodic sound engulfed the Valley Performing Arts Center with songs like Blue.

The blending of Glover’s tap and DeJohnette’s drumming proved to be a hit, as the appreciative crowd, which included beloved actor and hoofer Dick Van Dyke, frequently hooted, clapped and gave several standing ovations.

Jack DeJohnette

The real treat of the evening was when Glover and DeJohnette, who is considered one of the greatest drummers in the industry, did a challenge.  Glover would tap and DeJohnette would follow on drums with the same rhythm.  Later Glover, Davis, DeJohnette, Harris and Colligan all performed together in a jam session crescendo that brought down the house.

An Evening With Savion Glover & Jack DeJohnette was a fulfilling and incredible evening of theater.

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent) An Evening With Savion Glover & Jack DeJohnette gets an E (excellent).