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" Jimmy Slyde was more a musician than a dancer; Greg Hines was more musician than dancer. "

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" I've never looked at what I do as show business, I guess, because of my connection to the art and how I was introduced to the dance. "

" 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. "

" We need these figures who don't exactly go against the grain but create a new grain. "

" 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. "

" The spirituality of the dance, that's something that's evolved for me in the past ten years or so. I'm still trying to figure out where that's taking me. "

" I used to think I had this responsibility to carry on this tradition. Now I just feel like I have to keep the dance out there, keep it in the public eye. "

" My show mode is that the dressing room is like going into the cockpit. Going down the stairs is like going on the runway, and once we begin performing, it's flight time. I'm just floatin' on that stage. "

" When I'm on TV or whatever, I'm able to bring my instruments, my board, and my sound is intact. But other kids who are on TV, when they're doing tap, sometimes they're just on the regular floor. It's not as safe; it's not as sound-worthy as it should be. "

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

" I'm always inspired by music, things of that nature. Just life in general. I'm happy to be waking up and having another chance at it. "

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

Characteristics

" I grew up watching Gregory Hines banging out rhythms like drum beats, and Jimmy Slyde dancing these melodies, you know, bop-bah-be-do-bap, not just tap-tap-tap. Everyone else was dancing in monotone, but I could hear the hoofers in stereo, and they influenced me to have this musical approach towards tap. "

" 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'm committed to the purity of my art form. "

" My mom couldn't afford dance shoes, so she put me in these old cowboy boots with a hard bottom so I could get some sound out. I used them for seven months. When I finally got real tap shoes, I was nervous. I kept moving my feet, thinking, 'Oh, so this is how it's supposed to sound.' "

" I actually wanted to be a fireman when I was younger. "

" I see myself helping the next generation of dancers who come along, helping them to keep the dance focused, so we don't get into a position where they're saying in 2050, or whatever, that around 2001 or 2002 or something the dance died. "

" I like to be around dancers who are totally committed to the art form, totally committed to the men and women around them. "

" When you find real jazz on the radio dial, it comes in all static-y. It's just like tap dancers. You have to go uptown to find the real hoofers. We only come to midtown if we're called upon. "

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

" I'm a basketball freak. "

" If someone wants to be very tight about authenticity or ownership, it just sounds kind of competitive to me. "

" Tap is still the central driving force of my life. I think and talk in dance. "

" My style is raw; my style is '95. My style is what I live. My style is my story. "

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

" I want to share what I have, and I'd rather share it with people that are a little bit more open-minded. "

" I'm more a percussion instrument than a dancer. "

" I'm going to continue to tap until I can't move. "

" 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 used to think I could save tap. But tap was here way before I was, and it's going to be here after I'm gone. "