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After a few unfortunate attempts to search on the phrase "bring in 'da noise, bring in 'da funk," we decided to go back to basics. Entering "tap dance" into the Yahoo! search box, we soon found ourselves at the appropriate Tap category (Performing Arts > Dance > Tap). Among the dozen or so sites, we found a promising lead at The Tap Dance Homepage, a general-purpose repository for all thing tap -- from videos to events listings to dancing supplies. Luckily, the site also includes a history lesson, in the form of a short essay by Paul Corrs titled "Tap Origins." By reading the article and the accompanying biographical sketches, we learned that the first recognized
practitioner of tap dancing was William Henry Lane, also known as "Juba," who lived from 1825 to 1852. The text goes on to note that Lane performed in New York, Boston, and even London, at one point challenging "champion Irish step dancer Jack Diamond" to a series of contests. Corrs' essays detail the lives and contributions of other notable figures in tap and concludes with a long list of books related to tap, its heroes, and history. Returning to the Yahoo! category, we spotted The Bojangles Museum, dedicated to memorializing a specific tap-dancing hero. Hosted by N.R. Mitgang, the museum pays homage to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in text, audio, and photographs. Although Robinson is regarded as a revolutionary figure in tap dancing,
he wasn't the inventor of the form. Still, the site is a nice multimedia portrait of a legendary figure.
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