May 17
Born Today:
James “Buster” Brown
Tap dancer James “Buster” Brown (1913-2002) was inspired to dance after seeing Albert "Pops" Whitman (1921-1951) perform. Brown formed a solid performing group called the Speed Kings 2 around 1933 and moved to New York around 1939. They appeared in the movie Something to Shout About (1943) and shortly afterwards, Brown moved back to New York and began working solo. In the 1960s, he joined The Hoofers group and began attending their tap jams and touring internationally. He joined the Copasetics Club (a group honoring Bill “Bojangles” Robinson) and participated in the tap renaissance of the 1980s. He also appeared in the Bubbling Brown Sugar dance tour and the movie The Cotton Club (1984). One of his last gigs was in 2000 with Savion Glover (1973-), a prominent member of the next generation of tap dancers.
Also Born Today: Ballerina Lidija Franklin (1917-2019) performed with the Jooss Ballet until the 1940s and is best known for working with Agnes de Mille(1905-1993) on Broadway in Bloomer Girl (1944) and Brigadoon (1947) before relocating to Venezuela and founding a ballet school. Dance writer Jill Johnston (1929-2010) was an early and articulate advocate of postmodern dance in the 1960s and 1970s, writing primarily for The Village Voice publication. Indian Kathak dancer Kumudini Lakhia (1930-) performed with Ram Gopal (1912-2003) and in her own work she moved away from performing Kathak as a solo dance performed alongside traditional stories, to focus on presenting Kathak as a group dance form utilizing modern themes. Ballerina June Brae (1917-2000) studied alongside ballerina Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991) as youngsters growing up in Shanghai and performed with the Royal Ballet. Ballerina Cynthia Harvey (1957-) danced with ABT in the 1970s and the Royal Ballet in the 1980s. Ballet dancer Damian Woetzel (1967-) danced for NYCB from 1985-2008 and appeared in the movie Center Stage (2000). Ballroom dancer Derek Hough (1985-) appeared on Dancing with the Stars from 2007-2016.