The Newark-born tap legend returns to the city for the world-premiere of a new one-man show
A live performance is part of the past as soon as it happens.
So using the stage as history seems a kind of paradox.
For Newark-born tap dance extraordinaire Savion Glover, though, putting history into his shows has been a kind of mission. "[That's] basically been the story of my life," says the acclaimed dancer/choreographer.
Glover has had an extraordinary run this year. In April, he returned to Broadway for the first time in nearly two decades, as choreographer of "Shuffle Along," a critically acclaimed musical that recounted the story of an influential, all-black 1920s stage show. (Despite stellar reviews, the show -- for which Glover earned a Tony nominee -- shuttered earlier this summer, in part because of star Audra McDonald's unexpected pregnancy.)
Savion Glover instructs a cast member of "BRiNG TiME BaCK," which played last month at NJPAC. Glover returns to the venue for the autobiographical "Chronology of a HooFer" (Photo by Noah K. Murray for NJ.com) Last month, Glover directed "BRiNG TiME BaCK," which featured 45 young performers aged 6 to 18, in a performance at NJPAC.
And on Oct. 8, also at NJPAC, Glover will premiere the autobiographical dance show "Chronology of a HooFer." In many respects, it will bring the 42-year-old Glover -- who has been a professional since childhood, and who counts among his mentors and inspirations Gregory Hines, "Buster" Brown, Spike Lee and George C. Wolfe -- full circle.
The NJPAC shows, Glover says, are "what we refer to as edutainment. Education or entertainment.
"It's everything. This was just right on time."
In "BRiNG TiME BaCK," set in a fictional Club Denim, the young performers danced, acted and sang songs that include jazz standards such as "Summertime" and "Take the 'A' Train," pop songs "You Send Me" and "Natural Woman," and blues standards such as "The Thrill Is Gone." Not to mention the odd spiritual.
"We need to bring time back," says Glover. "We have the youth singing these songs of the past. They are informing their peers and generation, but also reminding the older generation of what once was."
Relating to kids comes naturally to him.
He remembers what it's like to be both keyed up for rehearsal and a little tired after school. Before rehearsal for a new show begins, Glover can usually be found wailing on drums with the band.
Guitar player and singer Ricky Persaud Jr., 16, enjoyed that jam with Glover. "He keeps you on your toes for the band, and acting. He told me to be more open, and be yourself when performing," he says.
"It's rare somebody as talented as he is has that much time to give, and is as patient and generous with his talent as he is with our kids," says NJPAC President and CEO John Schreiber. Schreiber encouraged Glover, already a board member, to become NJPAC's dance advisor in 2015.
Glover in rehearsal with a group of "BRiNG TiME BaCK performers. The Newark-born tap legend says his new show, "Chronology of a HooFer" is still a work-in-progress. (Photo by Noah K. Murray for NJ.com) Performing in Newark means a lot to Glover.
Though he lives in Warren, he runs his business in Newark.
"This is my home," he says. An international success for a long time, especially following his Tony win for 1996's "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" (with lyrics and book by New Jersey's reg e. gaines), Glover could live anywhere. And he loves to travel.
But, he says, in Newark, "The vibe, it's just different. Being home, being here. I feel safe. I feel comfortable. I feel very much myself. My grandmother Anna Lundy Lewis who was minister of music at several different churches ... people say hi to me of all walks, all ages, 'Oh tell your mother I say hi.'"
Vangela Crowe, who wrote the script for "BRiNG TiME BaCK," is a Newark girl too: she was a high school class-mate of Glover's at Arts High School. "He was tapping, I was singing," recalls Crowe a laugh. She teaches at the Sussex Avenue School.
"You know what it is? Savion and I lock into each other's energies." This was her first project with Glover, and her first time at NJPAC, and she sometimes can't believe it: "It's almost like I'm trying to do part of a legacy of greatness that has entered this building."
"Chronology" originated as a kind of talk-back with demonstration and pictures in California.
Dave Rodriguez, executive producer of NJPAC, asked Glover when he became dance advisor, "what project he was thinking about that he hadn't had a chance of doing."
The answer was "Chronology of a HooFer." It's different enough from the earlier piece that Glover calls this a premiere.
Rodriguez describes the coming production as one that will use dance, spoken word, and video. The production will take the viewer from Glover's childhood performance in "The Tap Dance Kid" in 1984 to now. Glover is unusual, Rodriguez says, has touched base with so many important dancers historically: Jimmy Slide, Gregory and Maurice Hines, Howard "Sandman" Sims.
Will it be just Glover onstage? Other dancers? Some of the kids? It's not clear yet: "I met a drummer the other night who was a rock and roll drummer, and asked him if he'd like to come over and do some stuff, so I might have him," Glover says with a laugh.
Staging his own history and the history of tap matters because "these things aren't being taught in schools and what not. We don't learn anymore. You've got to go to some secret place to learn about Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. Great institutions like this, they still provide kids with that information."
Savion Glover's "Chronology of a HooFer"
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
1 Center St., Newark
8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 8
Tickets: $65-85, available at www.njpac.org.
Gwen Orel can be reached at gwen.orel@gmail.com or via Twitter at@GwenOrel1. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.