The American Tap Dance Foundation is awarding George T. Nierenberg the Tap Preservation Award at Tap City 2014. The annual Tap Preservation Award is given to an outstanding individual or organization in the field, for the superior advancement of tap dance through presentation and preservation. George T. Nierenberg is a director and producer, known for Say Amen, Somebody (1982), a documentary displaying the lives and work of Gospel Choir pioneers, That Rhythm, Those Blues (1988), featuring Ruth Brown and Charles Brown, and No Maps on My Taps (1979, this was his Emmy-winning film on jazz tap dancing, which received a theatrical release before airing on PBS, cable and international television. No Maps was then followed by About Tap, a PBS special featuring Gregory Hines, which, by looking at three tap legends, Jimmy Slyde, Chuck Green and Steve Condos, explores how an artist finds his/her own style. At a time when tap dancers had begun to wax elegiac about the demise of their beloved art form, No Maps and its subsequent tour sparked a resurgence of interest from the general public. About Tap helped solidify this positive trend. No Maps creates an indispensable historical record of the form, told by those who forged that history, telling the story of tap as an expression of black heritage and culture; About Tap furthers the tale as more of those history makers – guided by Gregory Hines – also examine the question “How does an artist discover his/her own individual style?” For Chuck Green, character makes the dance performance work: You have to say something. You give it a personality.” Both films are widely hailed as critical contributions to this uniquely American art form. Mr. Nierenberg has also been leading film producer and director in other films, and has worked in many other aspects of camera and film. Michael Sragow, from Rolling Stone, quoted George T. Nierenberg... builds his movies around multifaceted characters who serve both to involve the audience and really ’open up’ the material. Mr. Nierenbrg has sparked imaginative thoughts and interest from his audience not only through preserving tap dance in film, but also his simple brilliance with a camera and film.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:59:29 +0000
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