By word of foot I, tap masters pass on their tradition, Albert Gibson, George Hillman, Mable Lee, and Peg Leg Bates
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Title
By word of foot I, tap masters pass on their tradition, Albert Gibson, George Hillman, Mable Lee, and Peg Leg Bates
Collection
Names
Gibson, Bert (Teacher)
Hillman, George (Teacher)
Lee, Mable (Teacher)
Bates, Peg Leg (Teacher)
Ramirez, Ram, 1913-1994 (Instrumentalist)
Cook, Charles, 1917-1991
Brown, Ernest (Dancer)
Briggs, Bunny (Dancer)
Goldberg, Jane, 1948- (Interviewer)
Changing Times Tap Dancing Company (Presenter)
Gibson, Bert (Interviewee)
Gibson, Bert (Dancer)
Hillman, George (Interviewee)
Hillman, George (Dancer)
Lee, Mable (Dancer)
Bates, Peg Leg (Dancer)
Date / Origin
Date Created: 1980-10-13 - 1980-10-18
Table Of Contents
Morning and afternoon classes taught by Albert [Bert] Gibson (ca. 24 min.) / recorded on October 14, 1980 ; contains footage from *MGZIC 9-5740 and *MGZIC 9-5755 ; Gibson discusses his early career, and teaches a soft shoe and the tango twist. |||| Class taught by George Hillman (ca. 19 min.) / recorded on October 14, 1980 ; contains footage from *MGZIC 9-5754 and *MGZIC 9-5752 ; Hillman reminisces about his early career, answers questions from participants, demonstrates virtuosic steps from the 1930s and 40s, and teaches. |||| Class taught by Mable Lee (ca. 3 min.) / recorded on October 18, 1980 ; contains footage from *MGZIC 9-5765 ; Lee and her former partner George Hillman dance a duet to "Tea for two" ; pianist, Ram Ramirez. |||| Class taught by Peg Leg Bates (ca. 15 min.) / recorded on October 13, 1980 ; contains footage from *MGZIC 9-5749 ; Bates tells how he learned to dance on his "peg" ; dances the shim sham with Charles "Cookie" Cook and Ernest "Brownie" Brown, and "I got rhythm" with Cook, Brown, Bunny Briggs, Albert Gibson, and others ; and talks about his long association with Ed Sullivan.
Library Location
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Shelf locator: *MGZIDF 7490
Subjects
Tap dancing
Tap dancing -- Study and teaching
Dance
Shim sham (Dance)
Genres
Filmed Performances
Filmed Dance
Interviews
Notes
Content: Title provided by Jane Goldberg.
Content: Original container labeled Bert Gibson, Peg Leg Bates.
Content: For the completed documentary on this workshop, see *MGZIC 9-5600 By word of foot I.
Venue: Videotaped at the Village Gate, New York, in October 1980.
Physical Description
Extent: 1 videocassette (U-matic SP) (62 min.) : sound, color ; 3/4 in.
Abstract
Compilation of footage from various tapes documenting the week-long tap dancing workshop By word of foot I, presented by the Changing Times Tap Dancing Company on October 13-18, 1980.
Languages
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: NYPY98-F3139
NYPL Catalog ID (bnumber): b13873421
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 68bb2370-833c-0138-98b7-04beda0eaed1
Rights
The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
Type Of Resource
Cite this item
MLA format
Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "By word of foot I, tap masters pass on their tradition, Albert Gibson, George Hillman, Mable Lee, and Peg Leg Bates" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1980 - 1980. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/68bb2370-833c-0138-98b7-04beda0eaed1
APA format
Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (1980 - 1980). By word of foot I, tap masters pass on their tradition, Albert Gibson, George Hillman, Mable Lee, and Peg Leg Bates Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/68bb2370-833c-0138-98b7-04beda0eaed1
Chicago/Turabian Format
Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "By word of foot I, tap masters pass on their tradition, Albert Gibson, George Hillman, Mable Lee, and Peg Leg Bates" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed December 11, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/68bb2370-833c-0138-98b7-04beda0eaed1
Wikipedia citation
<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/68bb2370-833c-0138-98b7-04beda0eaed1 | title= (moving image) By word of foot I, tap masters pass on their tradition, Albert Gibson, George Hillman, Mable Lee, and Peg Leg Bates (1980 - 1980) | author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library | accessdate=December 11, 2025 | publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>