death_date death_place years_active birth_place children nationality relatives name parents birth_date notable_works spouse article_title birth_name occupation
20 september 1996 woodstock , new york 1932 - 1990 florence , italy pamela , susan , kate american ruth draper aunt raimund sanders draper brother paul draper muriel and paul draper 25 october 1909 sonata for tap dancer heidi vosseler paul draper -lrb- dancer -rrb-
 paul nathaniel saltonstall draper tap dance choreography
paul draper -lrb- dancer -rrb-

paul draper -lrb- october 25 , 1909 -- september 20 , 1996 -rrb- was a noted american tap dancer and choreographer .
born into an artistic , socially prominent new york family , the nephew of ruth draper was an innovator in the arts .
his passion and unique style led him to international stardom .
one signature piece was `` sonata for tap dancer '' , danced without musical accompaniment .
draper was a natural dancer .
he took six tap dancing lessons at tommy nip 's broadway dance school in 1930 before performing solo in london in 1932 .
he enrolled in the school of american ballet and realized the possibilities of combining tap and classical ballet , forming his unique style .
by 1937 , he was performing at such venues as the persian room at the plaza hotel and the rainbow room .
carnegie hall followed , then broadway and a film version of william saroyan 's `` time of your life '' -lrb- 1948 -rrb- .
in 1940 , he teamed up with larry adler , a virtuoso harmonicist .
the two became a world-famous act , performing together until 1949 .
they appeared as regulars at city center in new york .
the act disbanded when they were blacklisted as communist sympathizers .
in response to these false charges , adler moved to the united kingdom .
draper moved to geneva , switzerland for three years .
when he returned to the us , draper performed on broadway and in other venues from about 1954 .
draper taught in the theater department at carnegie mellon university in pittsburgh , pennsylvania from 1967 to 1978 as the andrew mellon chair in the school of drama .
his live performances decreased during this period of teaching , but he did occasionally show up at american dance festival .
