One good turn deserves another

It’s been said that the late Ann Miller could tap 627 times a minute. Jason Samuels Smith, a lightning-fast tapper himself, isn’t likely to match that speed any time soon. But with his long dreads flying and his feet pounding out rhythms of Einsteinian complexity, the 23-year-old is following in the, well, footsteps of Savion Glover to help define a new generation of this quintessential American art form.

The youngest tapper to perform the lead on Broadway in Glover’s Tony Award-winning “Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk” in the late ‘90s, Samuels Smith now is directing the second annual L.A. Tap Fest, along with partner Chloe Arnold.

The event, one of about 24 tap festivals held annually around the world, begins Monday at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and includes master classes, lectures, two dozen instructors and a panel discussion. It ends with a performance Aug. 14 featuring tap masters such as Arthur Duncan, Skip Cunningham, Fayard Nicholas and Dianne Walker, as well as Samuels Smith’s group ACGI (Anybody Can Get It).

“I’d been participating in tap festivals in New York, Amsterdam and Brazil,” Samuels Smith says, “so when Debbie suggested doing one at her studio, I thought about how many great dancers were already living here.... We could invite them and promote L.A. and the tap community.”

Last year’s celebration, which was to have featured Gregory Hines, instead became a tribute to the entertainer, who had died of cancer the week before.

Although Hines’ death was a huge blow, Samuels Smith says, it also proved “a blessing, bringing attention to the art form.”

Indeed, the festival was a cross-generational hit, with participants coming from 15 states (and as far away as Japan), ranging from 6-year-olds to nonagenarian Leonard Reed. (Creator of the shim sham shimmy, Reed, who died in April at 96, managed to teach class with a broken foot.)

“Our mission,” says Arnold, another tapper with sizzle to burn, “is to connect dancers from all over the world, to unify tappers of different styles, genres and generations.”

The dance gene is obviously at work in Manhattan-born and -bred Samuels Smith, whose parents, Jo Jo Smith and Sue Samuels, were professional jazz dancers and teachers. As a youth, Samuels Smith originally wanted to play drums and began tap only after his sister started class.

“Tap dance was the best alternative,” Samuels Smith recalls, “because it was the same idea of creating rhythm and music with an instrument, except your instrument was your feet and your body.”

As an 8-year-old, he studied with Glover, then 15, who invited him to perform on an episode of “Sesame Street.” After Glover achieved fame with “Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk,” Samuels Smith joined the cast.

Beginning in 1996 at 15, Samuels Smith was with the show for three years. He eventually snagged a major role, performing the lead as an understudy about 10 times.

“Being in ‘Noise’ made me realize it was possible to have a steady income as a dancer,” Samuels Smith says. “Savion was so generous in passing on his knowledge, which he’d gotten from Gregory and other masters, like Jimmy Slyde, that that was an inspiration too.”

Allen, who is slated to teach five master classes at the festival, saw Samuels Smith perform in “Noise/Funk.” In 2002, she invited him to teach at her then-new Culver City school. Currently instructing 300 students weekly in 15 classes, Samuels Smith is also a deft organizer.

“Jason’s a master,” Allen says, “and what he can do here is wide-open territory. He’s so young and already understands how to make a festival work. It’s important with his talent that this is happening now because L.A. should be a center for the art of tap dancing.”

The hard work paid off when Samuels Smith received an Emmy nomination last month for choreographing the opening number on Jerry Lewis’ 2003 Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

Still, Samuels Smith’s ability to rock a room with his dancing is what continues to draw the most attention. Whether he’s vamping in a mercurial solo, improvising with partner Arnold or trading polyrhythmic riffs with the legendary Duncan, the spring-release floor gives under his atomic footwork.

At a recent Tap Fest rehearsal, he and Duncan, who danced on “The Lawrence Welk Show” for 17 years, talked about their collaboration. It has extended beyond the festival, with the two starring in a short film, “Tap Heat,” made last year. The film, written and directed by veteran TV producer Dean Hargrove, screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June.

“I was born 40 years too soon,” jokes Duncan, 70, about the age difference between him and Samuels Smith. “But we’re having fun because Jason’s style takes tapping to a different level.”

Replies Samuels Smith: “If it weren’t for people like Arthur, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. We have so many hidden treasures in L.A., and the Tap Fest is a way to learn from these artists who have contributed a lifetime of creativity, as well as to pay homage to them.”

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L.A.’s tap timeline

1900s to 1920s: Vaudevillians such as Leonard Reed hoof at the Orpheum Theatre. Silent films feature dancers performing precursors to classic tap steps.

1930s to 1940s: Hollywood films make tap the most popular dance form in the U.S. One of the first times it could be seen and heard is in the 1929 short “Hello, Bill,” starring Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

In 1933, Fred Astaire makes his cinematic tap debut with Ginger Rogers in “Flying Down to Rio.” Also tapping up a storm: Eleanor Powell, Ann Miller, Ruby Keeler and the Nicholas Brothers.

Early 1950s: Musicals continue to flourish, as Gene Kelly wins a special Academy Award in 1951, a year before “Singin’ in the Rain” teams him with Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor.

Late 1950s to early 1970s: Tap dancing and movie musicals go into decline. Motion picture choreographers such as Danny Daniels (“The Night They Raided Minsky’s,” 1968) find work teaching in L.A.

Late 1970s to early 1980s: Tap begins its comeback in Southern California as Lynn Dally founds Jazz Tap Ensemble in 1979. She works with old-time hoofers such as Jimmy Slyde, Charles “Honi” Coles and Howard “Sandman” Sims, as well as with Gregory Hines, who receives three Tony nominations from 1979 to 1981 as tap also makes a return to New York’s Broadway.

Back in L.A., Linda Sohl-Donnell founds Rhapsody in Taps in 1981, presenting solo tap veterans in concert, including Bunny Briggs and Arthur Duncan.

Late 1980s to early 1990s: Hollywood rediscovers the form, with Hines starring in the 1989 film “Tap” alongside many veterans and a 16-year-old Savion Glover -- who would go on to reinvent tap.

Late 1990s to present: “Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk” opens on Broadway in 1996, winning four Tonys; it bows at the Ahmanson two years later but without Glover, its creator, choreographer and original star.

At the movies, the tap-heavy “Chicago” wins six Oscars, including best picture of 2002. Earlier this year, Glover dances at Cinespace, the Knitting Factory and the Playboy Jazz Festival.

-- Victoria Looseleaf

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L.A. Tap Fest

What: Classes, panel discussions and seminars

Where: Debbie Allen Dance Academy, 3623 Hayden Ave., Culver City

When: Monday to Aug. 13

Price: Individual classes, $25 to $45; packages, $460 to $560

Info: (310) 280-9145; www.latapfest.com

Also

What: Performance

Where: Hamilton High School of Performing Arts, 2955 S. Robertson Blvd., L.A.

When: 7 p.m. Aug. 14

Price: Adults, $45; students, $25