Feel the Floor: Restoring the Life and Legacy of Jazz Choreographer Buddy Bradley

http://www.renaud-bray.com

http://www.renaud-bray.com

A stunning resurrection of one of dance history's most dynamic innovators, whose work was key to the Jazz Age transformation of how we move to music—in nightclubs, on stage, and in filmFor anyone passionate about jazz dance, Broadway's golden age, the Harlem Renaissance, cosmopolitan London, American vernacular dance, and African American historyBuddy Bradley’s story mirrors today's fight for recognition of Black contributions to transatlantic culture. His work in rhythm tap and jazz dance, and cross-pollination with classical ballet choreographers like Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine, didn't just influence dance—it created the movement language we still speak today. Bradley was also the first to fuse movement, character, and narrative in the theater, setting the stage for the integrated book musical and the careers of Agnes de Mille, Bob Fosse, and Jerome Robbins. Yet, Bradley often didn’t receive the credit he deserved.In Feel the Floor, Maureen Footer shows how Bradley's revolutionary moves electrified Broadway in the 1920s, conquered London's West End in the 1930s, introduced unsuspected nuance to tap dance, and even permeated classical dance.The white performers Bradley taught to move became legends: Eleanor Powell, Ruby Keeler, Adele Astaire, Clifton Webb. As his influence and opportunities in London grew, Bradley’s experiments in rhythm and staging would anticipate bebop and propel the book musical forward.Footer spent five years in prodigious research, crossed three continents, and enlisted private investigators to uncover Bradley's buried legacy. She tracked ancestral history in the Deep South, discovered lost films, and corrected false narratives. Feel the Floor reveals how one man's genius rewired the DNA of American dance, shaped modern ballet, and transformed musical theater.