Tap dancing icon Savion Glover will perform "Classical Savion," a nearly two-hour-long solo show, to an already sold-out crowd at McCarter Theater on November 16. Fusing Glover's trademark hoofing style with live classical and jazz music, "Classical Savion" has turned heads on its American tour since opening in January at the Joyce Theater in New York.
Glover is perhaps best known for the flashy, gritty tap style made famous by his Tony Award-winning choreography in Broadway's "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk." His tapping is characterized by hard-hitting rhythms and a loose — sometimes uncontrollably loose — upper torso. Fred Astaire, he is not. Performing in sweat-soaked t-shirts and shoulder-length dreadlocks, his resemblance to the tappers of old is limited to his feet. Tributes to these legends, however — notably the recently deceased Gregory Hines — are subtly evident in a few of the show's pieces.
Despite his reputation for ignoring the audience by concentrating his gaze on the floor or the musicians, Glover's performances regularly sell out across the country. This is due in no small part to the genuine enthusiasm he brings to his art and its music, which now includes a broad spectrum of classical works in addition to the jazz and big band styles often associated with tap.
Accompanying and challenging the virtuoso tapper onstage will be conductor Robert Sadin, a former member of Princeton's own music department. Sadin, the show's musical director, will conduct the casually dressed 10-piece chamber orchestra in pieces by Stravinsky, Vivaldi and Bach, among others.
The jazz quartet The Otherz will join Glover partway through the show to introduce jazz into the musical mix. Glover always delightedly introduces each of the band's musicians with a playful one-on-one "tapper versus musician" challenge. Excellent musicians in their own right, the Otherz often appear in Glover's performances outside of "Classical Savion." Their appearance in this show grounds tap in its traditional jazz roots and provides juxtaposition with the unusual presence of Sadin's classical orchestra. The musicians in this show — classical and jazz alike — maintain a relaxed air as Savion stomps away in the foreground.
Glover has been a regular on the national performing arts scene since his Broadway debut as the star of "The Tap Dance Kid" at age 10. Since then, he has moved between the stage and the screen with considerable success. Glover costarred alongside Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. in the film "Tap" at age 13, was later a series regular on Sesame Street and has choreographed music videos and television specials.
Though the McCarter show has been sold out for months, "Classical Savion" will make other tristate stops, concluding at the Apollo Theater in NYC on dates yet to be announced.
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