Channing Cook Holmes Lets His Feet Do the Talking

Channing Cook Holmes is the kind of tap-dancer who inspires new words, like “splickety-splatter” for the sound of his close-to-the-floor tattoos and “diggety-diggety” when he gets a traveling rhythm going. Never reckless, he packs his taps into dense phrases with the precision of a mosaic maker.

On Sunday afternoon, Holmes appeared in his own show at Zipper Hall at the Colburn School, where he got his start before moving on to the Jazz Tap Ensemble and several incarnations of “Riverdance.” At 22, he’s looking to expand his range.

Without a strong script (no writer is listed), some expansions worked better than others. Holmes’ relaxed, almost introverted demeanor meant that some of his transitional dialogue was thrown away, and he doesn’t have enough vocal command to hold the stage with a song. His drumming was fine, though it would be nice to see it more intertwined with his tapping. And some imitations need a sharper point of view: a blandly whimsical Gene Kelly was inconsequential compared to his Savion Glover--with the trademark dreads (a wig), the hanging head, and the slam-bam style Glover calls “hitting.”

If Holmes is looking for a style and structure for a one-man show, he’s just at the start. The premise this time--”At Home”--was an afternoon in Holmes’ living room, where three ace musicians have dropped by. Jerry Kalaf (drums), Domenic Genova (bass) and Donald Vega (piano) had great moments, but they weren’t really made part of the show. Nor has Holmes, for all his likability, found the particular groove that allows a more dynamic connection with the audience. The Colburn crowd, of course, loved him--there, he was really “at home.”