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Question:

What is a Time Step? Susie

Answer:

A Time Step is a rhythmic tap combination which is repeated again and again in time, the very basic Time Step to which all other Time Steps are derived from has a rhythm that can be instantly recognised ie 'one two and three and four', which is a 6 beat phrase with an accent on the fifth beat 'and".

Question:

My daughter is doing a project, and needs to know who was Ernest Browns Tap Dancing partner,in the Harlem Nightclubs. It is a project on Famous African American figures. Please, any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance, Frank Pelikan...

Answer:

ERNEST "BROWNIE" BROWN - Mr. Ernest Brown, 70-something, began to dance professionally as a child. With long time partner, Charles "Cookie" Cook, he was half of the celebrated vaudeville duo Cook and Brown. During the 30's and 40's, Mr. Brown headlined at New York's Roxy, Radio City Music hall and the Cotton Club, and at London's Palladium and the Latin Casino in Paris. Broadway veteran of "Kiss Me Kate", Brownie was a member of The Copasetics and appeared in the film "The Cotton Club." He has taught at Chicago's "Human Rhythm Project" tap festival.

Alice Bernstein of The Harlem Times Ernest "Brownie" Brown and Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin
photo: David M. Bernstein