27148332
Whether at Broad and South streets or D.C.’s Kennedy Center, LaVaughn Robinson danced with a unique style of movement and rhythm.
His body was his instrument, with smooth tap moves learned in the kitchen of his family’s South Philly rowhome that were showcased on local streets and in nightclubs, where he performed for loose change.
"He grew up trading tap steps on South Philly streets," Susan Glazer, director of the School of Dance at the University of the Arts, said. "He used to talk about that a lot, he was very proud of that."
According to www.tapdance.org, South Street was a popular spot in the 1930s and ’40s to watch young dancers trot out the newest steps. Robinson recalled in the book "Tap! The Greatest Tap Stars and Their Stories," street-corner competitions were all the rage and Broad and South was where the best met. But, buskin’ (performing on the streets for money) was not all Robinson did.
"During New Year’s, the Army/Navy game and holidays, Philadelphia tap dancers were invited up to rooftops for parties. I had my regular route," LaVaughn said on www.tapdance.org, "which included spots like Palumbo’s and the Two Bit Club."
Going professional in ’45 after his graduation from Ben Franklin High School and a stint in the Army during World War II, his skill put him on stages with the likes of Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald during the heyday of tap from the ’50s to the mid-’60s. He traveled the world performing through the mid-’60s, returning to Philadelphia to give private lessons. In ’82, he was hired by Glazer for the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, now the University of the Arts, as their tap teacher.
Retired from teaching in 2002 and dancing in ’03, he hung up his tap shoes for good Jan. 23 when he died of heart failure at Albert Einstein Medical Center. He was 80.
"In asking LaVaughn about his accomplishments in life, he said the greatest accomplishment was his family, the second greatest accomplishment was being a professor at U Arts," Glazer said.
But his accolades surpassed his humbleness. In ’89, the National Endowment for the Arts named Robinson a "national treasure" and awarded him several Choreographer’s Fellowships. He was the recipient of two Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Apprenticeship Awards and the 2000 Artist of the Year Award by Gov. Tom Ridge.
Moreover, Robinson was respected as a teacher, especially at the university where Glazer said he showed up every day for the 20 years he taught there.
"He was so passionate about his work. He never missed a day, was never out sick, never called in. He had 100 percent commitment because he loved his work so much and he loved his students so much," she said.
"Not every master in the arts has a big enough heart to want to share their mastery with others, but that was the case with LaVaughn," Richard Lawn, dean of the university’s College of Performing Arts since ’02, said. "That’s something I remember him for, he really took personal pleasure in sharing this art form that he had helped to create with young students and they took him seriously and that’s what made the relationship."
Robinson, who was born in ’27, toured the country and later the world, performing off and on throughout his career, according to published reports. First he partnered with Henry Meadows, who grew up at 17th and Fitzwater streets, when the two cemented their act near 17th and South.
By the ’50s, the duo ended their run and Robinson returned to the area to instruct others, but his student, Germaine Ingram, inspired another go at performing. Their Philadelphia Tap Dancers graced the stages of the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as in Europe, Africa and Israel. Ingram, a former Philadelphia School District executive, and Robinson appeared on TV’s "Gregory Hines’ Tap Dance in America."
Many credit Robinson for bringing tap back by offering it at University of the Arts, especially since his style was like no other.
"I don’t think there was another institution in the country that offered academic credit for tap dance. LaVaughn built the tap program here. He started with one or two classes per week and very steadily built it into one of the best tap programs anywhere," Glazer said. "Students came to study with him from everywhere. He was a fantastic teacher, a man who could teach anyone to tap."
Robinson used a specific style called "hoofing," where he’d position himself low to the ground and move his shoes — with a single tap rather than the split heel/toe combo — at a very fast pace, mostly to no music.
"He tapped in silence — he loved the sound," Glazer said. "The instruments were his feet."
The sound that came from his dancing closely mimicked jazz with the rhythm coming from Robinson, whom Glazer said had an internal connection between music and dance.
"His feet would go so fast, they were a sophisticated rhythmic instrument that the jazz musicians would come to hear. Music students would come to his classes to listen. They would tell me the rhythms were so complete, even in jazz music [Robinson] could hear everything and [the music students] admired the music he made with his feet."
Robinson created a similar energy and chemistry with others off-stage as well. Many times he could be found in the university’s Terra Building at Broad and Walnut streets when he wasn’t teaching.
"LaVaughn used to like to sit on a stool there and sort of unofficially meet-and-greet with students getting on the elevator and kibitz with them," Lawn said.
"He used to hang out with the security guards downstairs that were also from South Philly. They were some of his best friends," Glazer added.
A resident of Mount Airy at the time of his death, by the time he retired from the University of the Arts in ’02, Robinson had a full schedule of classes, and regular shows he was choreographing for his student ensemble.
"He was the first person to put tap into our concerts," Glazer said. "He got a tap ensemble where all the kids always wore white shirts and black pants — that never changed in 25 years — and the piece was always called ‘On Tap.’ There were other things that came and went and changed and mutated and morphed, but never LaVaughn’s tap ensemble."
All would agree, student or not, simply seeing Robinson perform was memorable.
"He sort of made of you smile just to watch him, something about the way he moved across the floor was so in touch with his body and the rhythm going through his mind — the music going through his mind that sort of transferred to his feet," Lawn said.
"Sometimes he danced with [his ensemble], sometimes not, but he made the most incredible musical rhythms with his feet. People would scream, ‘Encore!’" Glazer said.
Robinson is survived by wife Edna; sons LaVaughn Jr., Gregory and Shelton; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A funeral was Jan. 29 at Church of the Redeemer Baptist Church, 1440 S. 24th St., where many of his family members are parishioners. Burial was at Chelton Hills Cemetery.
