The Revenge of the Shim Sham
The latest collaboration of Mr. Leonard Reed, the gentleman who never forgot a step or detail throughout his 97 years, and Ms. Rusty Frank is Fabulous! Not only does it detail the Shim Shams, there is wonderful extra footage of interviews, photos and performances with Leonard Reed. As usual, with Ms. Frank's work, the production values are excellent; the teaching is most clear and detailed. Get this DVD for the extraordinary footage of Leonard Reed, who is now on a far bigger and celestial stage. Thank you for this gift. --Zelde MalevitzRusty Frank has outdone herself producing two new tap DVDs that provide instruction, entertainment, art and uplift. One is her homage to the late Leonard Reed and presents his Revenge of the Shim Sham, material he choreographed in his very active nineties. The other has Sam Weber teaching Eddie Brown's BS Chorus and is a sheer delight. It includes some wonderful footage of the late Eddie Brown. Hats off to the multi-talented Rusty Frank! --Judy PritchettOne can easily enjoy this video just for the great archival footage of Leonard Reed, and the interviews. This is a very big video and covers an awful lot of ground. The lessons, though, which I bought it for, are specatcular. Rusty teaches the steps with the camera aimed at her heels. This is because she singles out and emphasizes the heel taps, steps most videos on tap leave you to figure out for yourself as best you can. Rusty's approach has added precision to my attempts to learn tap dancing. Things I was 'getting away with,' I've had to slow down and perfect in order to execute Reed's intricate choreography. I highly recommend this video to anyone interested in the history of vernacular American dance, and to the intermediate and advanced tapper who will, I'm sure, find these lessons sufficiently stimulating. --Patricia King