River Campus tap dance show Friday will be without music

Savion Glover will make music with his feet Friday. There will be neither a band playing nor recorded music blaring, as in previous shows.

Instead, tap will be "exposed as an acoustical instrument," said Amanda Thornberry, marketing manager for Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

Dancers Glover, Marshall Davis Jr. and Maurice Chestnut will make a Halloween appearance at the River Campus with the show "Bare Soundz."

"Savion Glover is probably one of the most famous, well-known tap dancers in the world. He's been at tap dancing since he was 10, and that was in the early '80s. He's danced with all the greats," said Robert Cerchio, the assistant director of the school of visual and performing arts who booked Glover.

Cerchio said he tries to bring diverse performers to campus. Over the summer, a group of minority students formed a council to advise campus administrators about programming and issues that affect students of color.

Dr. Vida Mays, their adviser, said in July administrators wanted to respond to the common complaint that "there's nothing to do." They sought students' opinions, learning that the minority students wanted to "see more speakers that look like them or more programming that was of interest to them," Mays said at the time. Glover, who was already booked, was used as an example of what the students wanted to see more of.

"We try to bring in artists of diverse backgrounds or minority artists so we can expose people to different cultures, different points of view and different interpretations. That was a bonus with Savion Glover. I booked him knowing his career and how good he is," Cerchio said.

Glover's film career began when he was 13 and starred in the movie "Tap" with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. He also performed in the movie "Bamboozled" and was the tap choreographer for the movie "Happy Feet." Glover won a Tony Award in 1996 for his Broadway choreography in "Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk."

Bare Soundz will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast's River Campus. Tickets can be purchased at the River Campus box office at 518 S. Fountain St., by calling 651-2265, or online at www.metrotix.com.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

388-3627

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