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Creator
American Tap Dance Foundation
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 513
Physical description
27.61 linear feet (74 boxes, 8 volumes, 3 tubes, 3 oversize folders); 9.42 terabytes (13,772 computer files)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
American Tap Dance Foundation records, (S) *MGZMD 513. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

The American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF) is a non-profit organization committed to establishing and legitimizing tap as a vital component of American dance through creation, presentation, education, and preservation. The ATDF records, dating from 1935 to 2019, document its history and activities, as well as the careers of two of its co-founders, tap dancers Brenda Bufalino and Tony Waag. It also illustrates the history and development of tap dance. The collection contains video and audio recordings, photographs, scrapbooks, administrative files, programs, clippings, promotional literature, and dancer photographs and biographies.

Biographical/historical information

The American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF) is a non-profit organization committed to establishing and legitimizing tap as a vital component of American dance through creation, presentation, education, and preservation. Its objectives are to perpetuate tap dance as an art form, to provide comprehensive educational programs in tap for students of all ages, and to preserve the artistry of the early generations of tap masters.

ATDF began as the American Tap Dance Orchestra (ATDO) in 1986. Founded by dancer/choreographer Brenda Bufalino with the help of Charles "Honi" Coles and Tony Waag, the ATDO created an original approach to tap dance with a concert orchestra of taps with new concepts, employing a wide spectrum of musical tones and rhythms in the manner of a conventional orchestra. It made significant contributions to theatre and dance by creating and presenting new works such as "The American Landscape," "Touch, Turn, and Return," "The Four Seasons/Jazz Version," "The Gershwin Suite," "Wrap Around Sound," and "Gertrude's Nose," a tap opera collaboration with the vocalist Jay Clayton.

The ATDO toured extensively in the United States and abroad, performing in Turkey, Cypress, Poland, the Baltic States, Bermuda, Germany, Rome, Italy, and Spain. It established Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center from 1989 to 1995, a studio designed exclusively for tap. Programs included ongoing youth and adult classes; workshops and tap intensives with master tap dancers; concert performances; tap jams; film presentations; and lecture-demonstrations.

In 1995, the ATDO created a sister organization, the International Tap Dance Orchestra, which had an multi-national membership and was designed to introduce tap on a world scale while expanding the original concept of the ATDO.

In 2001, the Orchestra was renamed the American Tap Dance Foundation, Inc. under the artistic direction and leadership of Tony Waag. In addition to continuing and expanding its educational and outreach efforts, ATDF produces the annual Tap City: The New York City Tap Festival, presenting professional dancers as well as students from its youth programs. Each year, the festival's "Hoofer" and "Tap Preservation" Awards are given to a tap dancer, educator and/or organization for their outstanding achievements and contributions made to the field. In 2002, the ATDF created the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame to honor legendary tap dancers by preserving their legacy. On January 2, 2010, the American Tap Dance Foundation opened the doors to its current home, the American Tap Dance Center.

Scope and arrangement

The American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF) records, dating from 1935 to 2019, document the history and activities of the ATDF and its earlier incarnation, the American Tap Dance Orchestra (ATDO), as well as the careers of two of its co-founders, tap dancers Brenda Bufalino and Tony Waag. It also illustrates the history and development of tap dance. The collection contains video and audio recordings, photographs, scrapbooks, administrative files, programs, clippings, promotional literature, and biographies.

In addition to performances by Bufalino, Charles "Honi" Coles, Waag, and other ATDO/ATDF dancers, the collection includes footage of the Copasetics, Mable Lee, Derick K. Grant, Michelle Dorrance, and other tap dancers and teachers from the 1980s to 2019. It also holds several documentary films about tap dance.

The collection is in three series: ATDF Files, Brenda Bufalino Papers, and Tony Waag Papers.

Series I: ATDF files documents the history and activities of ATDO/ATDF, in particular performances, rehearsals, classes, the annual Tap City festival, tours, galas, and other events produced by the organization from the 1980s onward. It includes video and audio recordings, photographs, scrapbooks, and administrative files.

Series II: Brenda Bufalino papers includes video of Bufalino's performances, lectures, and collaborations with other artists, as well as scrapbooks and clippings that cover her career, starting in childhood.

Series III: Tony Waag papers covers Waag's career and the ATDF through video, audio, photographs, and scrapbooks. Much of the video documents ATDF activities from the early 2000s to 2019.

The American Tap Dance Foundation records are arranged in three series:

  • Series I: American Tap Dance Foundation Files
    1935-2019 [bulk 1986-2019]

    This series documents the activities of the ATDO/ATDF from its beginnings up to 2019 through video recordings, audio recordings, scrapbooks, photographs, programs, clippings, publicity material, press releases, and business correspondence.

    The video and audio recordings include rehearsals, performances, and workshops conducted by Brenda Bufalino, Tony Waag, and the American Tap Dance Orchestra; performances and other events presented at the annual Tap City: The New York City Tap Festival (2003-2019); benefit galas; performances by the Tap City Youth Ensemble; performances by Honi Coles; interviews with Brenda Bufalino and Tony Waag; footage produced for promotional purposes; and the documentary film Thinking On Their Feet: Women Of The Tap Renaissance. Video and audio documenting the activites of ATDF from the early 2000s onward can also be found in Series III.

    The programs, clippings, and publicity material span the history of ATDF/ATDO, and also include coverage of Brenda Bufalino's work with Honi Coles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The scrapbooks contain programs, publicity literature and photographs, and span the history of the foundation to 2019.

    Photographs, both loose and in albums, document the Tap City festivals from 2001 to 2004; the life of Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center (1989-1995); and rehearsals, performances, and other events presented by ATDF. Also present is an album of photographs of over 100 historical and contemporary tap dancers, including Lynn Dally, Deborah Mitchell, Peggy Spina, Harriet Quicksand, Barbara Duffy, Bunny Briggs, Maurice Hines, Ernest "Brownie" Brown, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Carnell Lyons, Fred Astaire, Ray Bolger, Danny Kaye, Ann Miller, Steve Condos, Charles "Honi" Coles, Michele Ribble, Marion Coles, Roxane Butterfly, Yvette W. Glover, Savion Glover, Lynn Schwab, Heather Holohan, Jill Kenney, Brandy Blaha, Josh Hilberman, Max Pollak, Michelle Dorrance, and Baby Laurence.

    Other files in this series include correspondence, press releases, and documentation regarding National Tap Dance Day, Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center, ATDF's benefit galas, and information on tap dancers including biographies, programs, clippings, and obituaries. The series also holds monthly newsletters; financial statements; advertising files; board and staff agendas, meeting minutes, and handbooks; New York City proclamations honoring tap dance and ATDF; and posters advertising ATDF events, other tap dance events, and films featuring Ray Bolger and Donald O'Connor.

  • Series II: Brenda Bufalino Papers
    1941-2019

    This series holds video and audio recordings of Brenda Bufalino, and scrapbooks and clippings documenting her career.

    The video recordings contain solo performances, performances with other dancers including Honi Coles (but not generally including her work with ATDO); classes and workshops; television appearances; and Bufalino's documentary film Great Feats of Feet: Portraits of the Jazz Tap Dancer, as well as other documentaries about Bufalino and tap dance. The video includes such Bufalino works as Diary of a Racing Pigeon, Jump Monk, Minds Mingus, Kiss Me Kate, Sugar, and Tow The Line, as well as collaborations with Lynn Dally, Michelle Dorrance, Richard Bull, and Jay Clayton. It also contains Bufalino's appearances as a guest artist with other dancers and organizations; interviews;, and her lectures on tap techniques and history. The audio recordings include a performance of Bufalino and Jay Clayton, an interview with Bufalino, three commercially released recordings under Bufalino's name, and one by the bassist Joe Fonda on which she appeared as a guest artist.

    The scrapbooks hold photographs, programs, and clippings, starting in Bufalino's childhood in 1941 and continuing to 2019. The series also contains is also a transcript of a 1994 interview with Bufalino in which she discusses the Afro-Cuban influence in her work.

  • Series III: Tony Waag Papers
    1973-2019

    This series documents the career of Tony Waag, as well as the activities of ATDF. It holds video and audio recordings, photographs, and scrapbooks.

    Much of the video and audio documents activities of the ATDF. These consist of performances and promotional footage, as well as adult and youth classes, master classes, demonstrations of tap techniques, and other educational footage, such as . These include classes, lectures, and discussions with Mable Lee, who was active with ATDF in her final years. Also present are Waag's performances and appearances, some of them outside of ATDF; short video and film projects created by Waag; and interviews with Waag on U.S. and foreign television and radio.

    The photographs contain an extensive set of images of past and present tap dancers from the 1930s to 2019, arranged by name, as well as images from tours and events produced by ATDF. The scrapbooks contain photographs, programs, flyers, and other memorabilia from Waag's career, dating from the early 1970s to 2019.

    This series also holds presentations about tap dance created by Waag with Apple Keynote software. They contain audio and video recordings.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by the American Tap Dance Foundation in 2019.

Processing information

Processed by Matthew Snyder in 2020-2021.

Related Material

American Tap Dance Orchestra records, (S) *MGZMD 271. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Access restrictions

Inquiries regarding audio and moving image materials in the collection may be directed to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division (dance@nypl.org). Audio and moving image materials will be subject to preservation assessment and migration prior to access.