Students react to Savion Glover’s performance in ‘STePZ’
November 18, 2013
By Kelli Phillips
Tony Award winning dancer and choreographer Savion Glover starred in the tap show “STePZ” on Saturday, hosted by the UK College of Fine Arts at the Singletary Center for the Arts .
Arts administration sophomore Hannah Zink said she found a new appreciation for tap as an art form after watching Glover.
“I grew up around Broadway and didn’t really think about how tap could expand into different genres,” Zink said. “After this show that was all tap dancing I was so amazed at the amount of things he could do with tap. I thought the performance was really impressive and definitely opened my eyes to different genres of dance.”
“STePz” has a cast of five performers, featuring dancers Marshall Davis Jr., Ayodele Casel, Robyn Watson and Sarah Savelli alongside Glover.
Glover held a free lecture at the Singletary Center on Saturday afternoon, where students got the opportunity to discuss with him different aspects of tap.
In his lecture, Glover talked about learning from other influential tap dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr.
“My whole life is a tribute or homage to them. There’s not a day that goes by or a moment I touch this wood that I don’t think about one of these great contributors,” Glover said.
The performers tapped on and off of an amplified platform, as well as two double-ended staircases during the show.
Glover said the use of staircases was inpired by the renowned tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
Glover, who is known for his improvisational style, said the show is a combination of choreography and improvising, with improvisation accounting for about 80 percent.
“I know I have a vocabulary of rhythms or steps but in what order they come out, I don’t know,” Glover said.
Also in the audience was Rachel Minogue, a pre-nursing sophomore. After the show, Minogue said she enjoyed the synchronization of Davis and Glover during the second half of the performance.
“My favorite part was when Savion and Marshall Davis Jr. performed acoustically on the stairs. Every single tap made the beat and it was so amazing to watch them ‘battle’ as well as dance together and not miss a beat.”