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" I started as a drummer. The feet are an extension of that. "

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" I like to express myself inside of the work that is given, and I let the dancers do the same. "

" I search for different tonalities in my taps. But my greatest pleasure is hearing a note I haven't heard before, hearing a chord that sparks something new. "

" I did a production called 'Classical Savion,' where I did some Shostakovich, Mendelssohn, Bach, Vivaldi, and all these great pieces. "

" I come from a long line of people who express themselves through the dance. I come from a long line of people who create music through their feet. "

" My mom always had me and my brother watching old Fred Astaire movies. "

" What does genius mean? God has put us here specifically... every person has a job or journey to do. It's just a matter of finding what we're here to fulfill or execute. That's genius to me. "

" Authenticity is the most important thing. You have to know where it all comes from, study who pioneered it. "

" I'm thankful I am able to continue to share the joy and the inspiration tap brings. "

" The sound of tap is not 'clickety clickety tap tap,' this monotone thing. The sound of tap has depth. We want you to hear the different highs and lows, the bass, the trebles and the melodies, if you can. "

" I can produce any instrument, any sound that I can imagine; it may be percussive to the audience, but in my mind it may be a piano, a melody, or a tuba, or a harp, or a harmonica. My mission is to allow people to hear the dance in its purity and up against any other type of sound or music. "

" I was first introduced to dancing through the TV: I remember watching ballet, jazz and ballroom dancing when I was very little. But I felt no connection with it whatsoever: it was just like watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon. "

" I've come to realize that people dance for reasons of their own. "

" I don't deal in terminology, I deal with expressions: colors, shapes, tones, characteristics. "

Characteristics

" I wake up, and I'm in the zone... My performance is the continuation of my life. "

" Tap dancing is like... it's equivalent to music, not only for the African American community, but also for the world. Tap dancing is like language; it's like air: it's like everything else that we need in order to survive. I'm blessed and honored to be knowledgeable of the art form and to be a part of the art form. "

" There's a tendency to think tap's had its day, but 'Happy Feet' kept us in the race. That penguin is our Shirley Temple. "

" A tapper sticks to existing routines. Whereas hoofing... a hoofer pushes the art form. "

" I don't really care what the visual is looking like. I've gotten away from - not shenanigans, but spectacle. "

" I never really stop and think about should I put my hat on this way or that, not thinking that little JoJo down the street would be copying that. I'm more conscious about it now and tell the kids that it's not about the shoes or what kind of shoes... it's all about the dance. "

" You can go to see a singer and love the show, but you don't need to know all the songs. What you want to do when you leave is go and find out more about the music. "

" It wasn't until I did a musical revue in Paris in the 1980s called 'Black and Blue,' and met the great men and women responsible for the progress of tap dance, that my relationship with the dance really began. "

" What I'm trying to do is bring young people into doing tap so that the art form will keep going. "

" Just like a comedian has a certain joke or a jazz musician has a riff that they know will get the crowd, a tap dancer always has a step. "

" The youth coming up is interested in dance now, and they're coming to the shows. That's a blessing for those of us who create. "

" I'm just blessed, man. I'm just happy to share my art form with everyone. That's cool. "

" There are many different styles of, and approaches to, tap. My own leans towards a more intellectual view: tap dancing not just for the sake of entertainment but to educate and spark emotion. "

" I realized early on, I'm more interested in Baryshnikov than some dancer who wants to do a rock show with ballet. "

" Every performance is different because I'm different; my mood is different. "

" I try new stuff every time I perform. I have steps I do that I know are definite, and stuff I can make up right then and there and then forget. "

" I dance anywhere. I just start moving my feet. "