Edited by Azizi Powell
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that explores the influences on the performance of historically Black (African American) Greek letter stepping.
This post provides some information about the history of tap dance and soft shoe dancing and showcases The Berry Brothers (soft shoe dancers who were famous from 1929-1951 for their soft shoe dance routines with canes).
Three YouTube videos of The Berry Brothers are included in this post along with a few selected comments from the discussion thread of two of these videos.
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The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to The Berry Brothers for their dance legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT [revised September 6, 2018]
My interest in this subject was recently whetted by reading several comments in discussion threads for historically (predominately) Black Greek letter organizations [BGLO} that stepping, the custom of carrying canes (or staffs) and cane tapping/cane twirling during step performances came from African cultures.
My position is that African cultures weren't the direct source for BGLO stepping with or without carrying canes. That is to say, I don't believe that stepping was created as a result of historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities learning about or being taught one or more forms of African dance such as South African gumboot dancing. Stepping is a performance art that has evolved over time and continues to change within different organizations and different chapters and regions of those organizations.
For instance, what is now called stepping has changed since I first pledged a historically Black Greek letter organization in 1967 (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Gamma Zeta chapter). I don't recall ever using the term "stepping" or hearing that term used, but I do recall doing a dance routine in a vertical line and/or a horizontal line while singing adapted R&B songs that praised that organization.
That said, I believe that certain African dance forms -such as South African gumboot dancing- may have eventually influenced the performance BGLO stepping, but that performance style was probably influenced more by American military drills and Black drum major parade stances. It's obvious that some elements of certain African dance forms are quite similar to stepping, but I think that this can be attributed to the similar aesthetic preferences of Africans and of African Americans and other people in the African Diaspora.
More specifically, while it's true that a number of African ethnic groups have traditional dances that are performed with men and women holding sticks*, I believe that customs of tapping and/or twirling canes that are part of the stepping routines of certain historically Black Greek letter organizations [particularly Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.] can be more directly attributed to Haitian rara cane twirling customs, New Orleans (and other) African American parade traditions, and heavily African American influenced soft shoe and/or tap dancing with a cane performances.
*Some examples of African ethnic groups who have dances holding sticks are South Africans' Xhosa, Zulu, and Mpondo.
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I hold this opinion in spite of comments from some members of some BGLO organizations that stepping and/or strolling came from African cultures, and that stepping and/or strolling came from Africans who became members of their organizations.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/was-south-african-gumboot-dancing.html a pancocojams post entitled Was South African Gumboot Dancing REALLY The Main Source Of The Movements For Historically Black Greek Letter Fraternity & Sorority Stepping?
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/similarities-differences-between-south.html for the pancocojams post "Similarities & Differences Between South African Gumboot Dance Performances & Performances Of Black [African American] Fraternity & Sorority Step Teams".
Additional posts on this subject can be found by clicking the tags that are found at the end of this post.
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Disclaimer:
The statement that The Berry Brothers had/have a tremendous influence on historically Black Greek letter stepping with canes is the conclusion that I reached after watching videos of those performers and as a result of reading books and online comments about the early history (particularly the pre 1980s) history of predominately Black Greek Letter organizations (BGLO) stepping.
I want to be clear that I've never read or heard that any BGLO credits tap dancing or soft shoe dancing with or without canes as a contributor to the performance of stepping. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that stepping was influenced and continues to be influenced by these tap/soft shoe dancing. It appears to me that The Berry Brothers' cool, acrobatic style of soft shoe dancing with a cane particularly heavily influenced Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.'s style of stepping,* kane twirling, and other kane work.
That said, this influence absolutely doesn't include The Berry Brothers' big eye facial expressions that are shown in the video given as Example #3 below. That big eye expression was a ubiquitous racist staple of blackfaced minstrelsy and vaudeville that lasted long after those types of entertainments had officially ended.
I'd love to know if any historically Black Greek letter organization recognizes and acknowledges the influence that tap dancing/soft shoe dancing (with or without canes) has had on stepping traditions. Please share any information that you may have about this subject in the comment section below. Thanks!
*For comparison, a 2008 stepping video of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. is found in the Addendum to this post.
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SOME HISTORY OF TAP DANCING
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_dance
"Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. The sound is made by shoes that have a metal "tap" on the heel and toe. There are several major variations on tap dance including: rhythm (jazz) tap, classical tap, Broadway tap, and post-modern tap....
There are different brands of shoes which sometimes differ in the way they sound. "Soft-shoe" is a rhythm form of tap dancing that does not require special shoes, and though rhythm is generated by tapping of the feet, it also uses sliding of the feet (even sometimes using scattered sand on the stage to enhance the sound of sliding feet) more often than modern rhythm tap. It preceded what is currently considered to be modern tap, but has since declined in popularity."...
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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.britannica.com/art/tap-dance
"Tap originated in the United States through the fusion of several ethnic percussive dances, primarily African tribal dances and Scottish, Irish, and English clog dances, hornpipes, and jigs. Until the last few decades of the 20th century, it was believed that African slaves and Irish indentured servants had observed each other’s dances on Southern plantations and that tap dancing was born from this contact. In the late 20th century, however, researchers suggested that tap instead was nurtured in such urban environments as the Five Points District in New York City, where a variety of ethnic groups lived side by side under crowded conditions and in constant contact with the distinctly urban rhythms and syncopations of the machine age.
In the mid- to late 1800s, dance competitions were a common form of entertainment. Later called “cutting contests,” these intense challenges between dancers were an excellent breeding ground for new talent. (One of the earliest recorded such challenges took place in 1844 between black dancer William Henry Lane, known as Master Juba, and Irish dancer John Diamond.) Dancers matured by learning each other’s techniques and rhythmic innovations. The primary showcase for tap of this era was the minstrel show, which was at its peak from approximately 1850 to 1870.
During the following decades, styles of tap dancing evolved and merged. Among the ingredients that went into the mix were buck dancing (a dance similar to but older than the clog dance), soft-shoe dancing (a relaxed, graceful dance done in soft-soled shoes and made popular in vaudeville), and buck-and-wing dancing (a fast and flashy dance usually done in wooden-soled shoes and combining Irish clogging styles, high kicks, and complex African rhythms and steps such as the shuffle and slide; it is the forerunner of rhythm tap). Tap dance as it is known today did not emerge until roughly the 1920s, when “taps,” nailed or screwed onto shoe soles at the toes and heels, became popular. During this time entire chorus lines in shows such as Shuffle Along (1921) first appeared on stage with “tap shoes,” and the dance they did became known as tap dancing.
[...]
According to the producer Leonard Reed, throughout the 1920s “there wasn’t a show that didn’t feature tap dancing. If you couldn’t dance, you couldn’t get a job!” Nightclubs, vaudeville, and musicals all featured tap dancers, whose names often appeared on the many marquees that illuminated New York’s Broadway. Stars of the day, including Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele, brought yet more light to the “Great White Way” with their elegant dancing. Bill Robinson, known for dancing on the balls of his feet (the toe taps) and for his exquisite “stair dance,” was the first black tap dancer to break through the Broadway colour line, becoming one the best-loved and highest-paid performers of his day.
Because this was an era when tap dancing was a common skill among performers, a tap dancer had to create something unique to be noticed. The Berry Brothers’ act, for example, included rhythmic, synchronized cane twirling and dazzling acrobatics. Cook and Brown had one of the finest knockabout acts. King, King, and King danced in convict outfits, chained together doing close-to-the-floor fast tap work. Buster West tap-danced in “slap shoes”—oversized clown-style shoes that, because of their extended length, slapped audibly on the floor during a routine—and did break dancing decades before it had a name. Will Mahoney tap-danced on a giant xylophone.
The “challenge”—in which tap dancers challenged one another to a dancing “duel”—had been a major part of the tap dancer’s education from the beginning. It filtered into many theatrical acts. Possibly the finest exponents of the challenge were the Four Step Brothers, whose act consisted of furious, flying steps, then a moment when each attempted to top the others.
From the outset, tap dancers have stretched the art form, dancing to a wide variety of music and improvising new styles. Among these innovative styles were flash (dance movements that incorporated acrobatics and were often used to finish a dance); novelty (the incorporation into a routine of specialty props, such as jump ropes, suitcases, and stairs); eccentric, legomania, and comedy (each of which used the body in eccentric and comic ways to fool the eye and characteristically involved wild and wiggly leg movements); swing tap, also known as classical tap (combining the upper body movement found in 20th-century ballet and jazz with percussive, syncopated footwork, a style used extensively in the movies); class (precision dancing performed by impeccably dressed dancers); military (the use of military marching and drum rhythms); and rhythm, close floor, and paddle and roll (each of which emphasized footwork using heel and toe taps, typically of a rapid and rhythmic nature).”...
-snip-
I added italics to highlight this sentence.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE BERRY BROTHERS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_Brothers
The Berry Brothers were an African-American "exotic, acrobatic soft shoe dance" trio, active in the entertainment business for over 30 years.[1] The trio was composed of Ananias (Nyas, "King of the Strut"), James and Warren Berry.
Biography
Ananias "Nyas" Berry and James Berry were born in New Orleans, in 1913 and 1915 respectively. As early as 1919 the two brothers already performed in Chicago and then in Denver where the family settled and the younger Warren was born in 1922.[2]
In 1924 the family moved to Los Angeles where as child actors Nyas, James and then Warren appeared in several films.
In 1929 Nyas and James formed the dance duo "The Berry Brothers" and began performing in vaudeville, in New York (at the Cotton Club) and London.
Around 1935 Warren joined his brothers and the duo became a very successful trio of dancers.
In 1938, at the Cotton Club there was a face-off dance competition between the Nicholas Brothers and the Berry Brothers. It has become a legendary confrontation, a sort of dance-fight for supremacy. By some accounts the Berry Brothers were more athletic but the Nicholas Brothers were better overall performers – better at pleasing the crowd.[3]
At the peak of their success, in the 1940s, the Berry Brothers also performed their routines in some Hollywood movies.
The experience of the Berry Brothers came to a sudden end when Nyas died in 1951 of heart failure.[4] James and Warren continued to perform together or individually for a few more years. James died in 1969, and Warren in 1996 after working for over 15 years as a film editor.[5]”...
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Berry Brothers - Dance Act - 'Panama Hattie' 1942
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Fapresto1983, Published on Mar 5, 2011
This video is from the motion picture 'Panama Hattie' (1942). The clip is probably most famous because of the 'balcony scene'. Remember The Berry Brothers is the only dance act who could rival... the Nicholas Brothers!
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Example #2: The Berry Brothers
docludi2, Published on Feb 7, 2012
The amazing Berry Brothers dance trio.
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Trevor Dance, 2015
"Style, skill, stamina, superb !!!"
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2. thebes50, 2017
"These guys were so cool!"
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3. Oran Payne, 2017
"somebody said Nicholas brothers WHO? The Berry Brothers could out dance the Nicholas brothers Fred astaire and Gene Kelly put together. I have never in my life seen a better dance rotine than this one. this is better than the Nicholas brothers on stormy weather. please rolling with canes hitting flips and splits altogether. just mind blowing."
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4. PlainJaneDoe, 2018
"They are very good but The Nicholos brothers are outstanding!"
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5. Fuzzyscarfandmittens, 2017
"It's a shame that groups like this and the Nicholas Brothers are virtually forgotten nowadays.
These guys were legitimate performers and they did it in tudexos as well which couldn't have been easy."
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6. lonnietta duhon, 2018
"The cane throwers had to be just as precise."
-snip-
Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia page for The Nicholas Brothers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Brothers
"The Nicholas Brothers were a team of dancing brothers, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold (1921–2000), who performed a highly acrobatic technique known as "flash dancing". With a high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many to be the greatest tap dancers of their day. Their performance in the musical number "Jumpin' Jive" (with Cab Calloway and his orchestra) featured in the movie Stormy Weather is considered by many to be the most virtuosic dance display of all time.
Growing up surrounded by vaudeville acts as children, they became stars of the jazz circuit during the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance and went on to have successful careers performing on stage, film, and television well into the 1990s."...
-snip-
The Nicolas Brothers didn't dance with canes.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/various-meanings-of-word-jive-cab.html for a video of the Nicolas Brothers' famous tap routine with Cab Calloway & his orchestra's rendition of "Jumping Jive" in the 2012 pancocojams post entitled "Various Meanings Of The Word "Jive" & Cab Calloway's "Jumpin Jive".
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Example #3: The Berry Brothers tap dance trio.
docludi2, Published on Feb 7, 2012
'Bilko' introduces the Berry Brothers.
--snip-
Here's one comment from this video's discussion thread
Dee Wilson, 2017
"There are no taps on their shoes. It's called soft shoe dancing."
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ADDENDUM-
For comparison's sake, here's a Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. video:
KAPPA ALPHA PSI Step Show Stomp The Yard
UnitOneMedia, Published on Jan 6, 2008
The VISION of the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation:
To become the premier Greek letter Foundation in its resources and services to the community.
The MISSION of the Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation:
To provide support for Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated members and others in service to communities with particular emphasis on African-American communities.
The Kappa Alpha Psi Foundation, Incorporated exists as the philanthropic arm of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. The Fraternity was founded in 1911 with the motto of "Achievement in every field of human endeavor." The Foundation was established in 1981 as a non-profit, tax exempt, publicly supported organization as described in Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code. Its purpose is to assist the community service efforts of the more than 600 active undergraduate and alumni chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi. The Foundation currently supports scholarships, after-school programs and national projects such as Habitat for Humanity
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/information-about-kappa-alpha-psi.html for a 2018 pancocojams post entitled "Information About Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc's History Of Stepping With Kanes & Videos Of Kappa Kane Masters".
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-video-of-history-of-phi-beta-sigma.html for a 2018 post entitled "A Video About The History Of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. & Videos Of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Cane Twirling".
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