DON'T
BURST THIS BUBBLE
Tap dancer-extraordinaire John Bubbles (real name:
John William Sublett):
formed an act with singer and stride pianist
"Buck" Washington in 1919.
In
less than a year "Buck & Bubbles" were
the toast of New York.
We've
got great video clips of Bubbles coming up,
-- just as soon as you've gazed at today's
featured items from our website:
Buck
& Bubbles made a handful of movies, one of
the first being "Varsity Show" in 1937:
Bubbles
performed solo, singing and dancing to
"Shine" in 1943's "Cabin in the Sky":
Back in 1935, he starred as the original
"Sportin' Life" in the legendary Gershwin
folk opera "Porgy and Bess."
Here's
rare footage from a 1960 TV show where
Bubbles performs "There's a Boat Dat's
Leavin' Soon for New York" from "Porgy and
Bess":
And, back in 1920, when Bubbles was just 18,
he was giving tap dance lessons to a
20-year-old Fred Astaire, who proclaimed
Bubbles to be "The best tap dancer of his
generation."
When
Astaire was making "Swingtime" in 1936, his
"Bojangles of Harlem" number wasn't really
about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson or
Bojangles' dance style or look. It was
actually a tribute to John Bubbles,
referencing his dance style while wearing a
costume that was pure "Sportin' Life":
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