James buster brown biography

James "Buster" Brown was an American tap dancer active from the 's to Brown started his career in African-American dance circuits while still in high school and went on to perform internationally, accompanying acts like Duke Ellington and dancing with Savion Glover. Having appeared in numerous films and documentaries, including Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club , he has been described as an inventor of the tap dance art form and one of the most prominent figures in the world of tap dance.

James buster brown biography: James "Buster" Brown ()

He was the only boy, with seven sisters. His father William Brown, an oyster shucker, died when he was six years old, leaving his mother to raise the children. Brown graduated Frederick Douglas High School in After graduation, the performers renamed their act The Speed Kings, The act was a mix of tap, acrobatics and jive [ 3 ] that featured speed and precision dancing.

The act opened with soft-shoe dancing, then moved into a rhythmic precision dance. In the s, the Speed Kings 2 went to Broadway on the T. A circuit. When he wasn't working, Brown frequented the Hoofer's Club.