♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Second Story Books celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

♪ (theme music playing) ♪ WENDEL PATRICK: "Artworks" is made possible in part by the Citizens of Baltimore County and by the Ruth R. Marder Arts Endowment Fund, the Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker Endowment for the Arts, the E.T.

& Robert B. Rocklin Fund, The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation Arts Endowment in memory of Ruth Marder.

BRINAE ALI: Tap dancing at its just bare bones is sound and movement.

(tapping).

Have having like a special shoe, you know, to bring about a specific sound through the metal, but also having a nice resonated wooden floor.

Some names people may be familiar with, like Bojangles, Bill Robertson, Bojangles.

BOJANGLES: Boy, I practice all the time, here's one I stayed up all night trying to do.

(tapping).

Get this.

(tapping).

♪ ♪ MUSICIAN: When the boat docks in Memphis, you should get yourself a job in one of the Beale Street cafes.

BOJANGLES: Boy, you've been reading my mind.

BRINAE: I mean, a lot of folks get, um, confused about what he truly was about, um, just because over time his character became a caricature.

You know, the janitor who was teaching this little White girl, Shirley Temple, how to tap dance.

And he, her butler that came later in life, he single-handedly changed the game from blackface to hear my regular blackface on TV, you know, as a solo artist in film and entertainment.

Black entertainers had to be in pairs or trio group, you know, they couldn't just be a solo act, and they had to be in blackface.

And he resisted that.

He was also doing movies where it was all Black production, like "Stormy Weather."

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Cab Calloway.

♪ CAB CALLOWAY: Way down in Charleston lives ♪ ♪ old Geechy Joe.

♪ BRINAE: You know, Lena Horne, like it was all Black production.

♪ LENA HORNE: There's no sun up in the sky, ♪ ♪ stormy weather.

♪ ♪ FATS WALLER: No one to talk with.

♪ ♪ All by myself.

♪ (tapping).

BRINAE: That's inspiring to know they were able to do that in the '30s.

♪ ♪ And the list just goes on and on and on, Gregory Hines, you know, Sammy Davis Jr.

My mentor, Mabel Lee, who was a wonderful vocalist she was mentored by someone like Eubie Blake and did like hundreds of soundies films.

And then there's Baby Laurence... ♪ ♪ Who, you know, for me definitely turned my ear around to say, wait a minute, this is like music.

(tapping).

You know, I always had this inquiry to know more about him and then to learn, oh yeah, 'cause he was the first tap dancer to have his own jazz album in the '50s, like that is, you know, innovative.

A lot of them just had all these different things going on with them that I felt like they, they give me permission to be who I am.

(tapping).

♪ ♪ WENDEL: So, Brinae is one of the most incredible artists I've ever met.

An equally incredible human being.

So there's an improvised hip hop collective that I co-curate, uh, here in Baltimore called the Baltimore Boom Bap Society.

I thought it would be amazing to bring Brinae to perform with us.

Brinae was down, and so, uh, she came from Flint and, uh, the footage from that performance still exists.

Uh, that was the first time that I actually hooked up Brinae's tap floor to a digital effects processor, and I remember when we, uh, first started performing her set and, uh, you know, she was dancing, and then all of a sudden the, the sound of her tap floor came through the digital effects processor.

And there's a, there is an audible reaction that brings a smile to my face, from the crowd, every time I see that, uh, that clip.

(tapping).

(audience cheering).

(tapping).

(tapping and clapping).

(tapping and clapping).

(tapping).

She, she fully immerses herself in whatever project she takes on.

Uh, and as a result of that, uh, and also her, uh, creative and artistic and generous spirit, it is very easy, uh, when you are asked to be a part of something that Brinae has designed or is putting together, it's very easy, uh, to say "yes."

(record scratching).

(tapping).

(record scratching and tapping) That, uh, that spirit and creativity that she has at all times is extremely contagious.

BRINAE: You know, when I talk about movement for myself, tap dance is the main expression, but there's other social Black dances that, you know, I'm, uh, exposed to and that come through my way of expression, 'cause that's how my dad was.

I mean, my father Alfred Bruce Bradley was a latecomer as far as putting on tap shoes and getting the information that way.

He was in his 30s, um, but he was very much into social dance.

I wanted to do everything that he did.

Um, so he was already acting, singing all the time, doing a lot of community events.

My father was starting to learn how to tap dance, even though he was already doing, like, off-Broadway shows, people in the show were tap dancers, and he felt like he needed to catch up.

So I kind of learned while he was learning.

The minute he started to introduce tap dance in our household by doing, you know, private lessons and so forth, I wanted to do it too.

And then I started to see through his practice and approach how, you know, it really can, you can do wonderful things and magical things, um, innovative things, you know what I'm saying?

That can leave an impact forever.

I think at the end of the day, uh, for me, when I think about art and artistry, it's communication.

It's a connection to a higher source that's literally using your body, the vehicle to communicate to the world or to whomever, something, and whatever that thing is, it's going to come out and be expressed like this or like that.

But tap dancing, for me, it connects and has impact on specific genres of music, and the reason why tap and jazz are right there together, because when we talk about culture and movements, especially with Blackness and African, you know, uh, rooted music and dance, they are always together.

There's, you know, it's not like you dance over there to the wind and you play your drums over here just for each other.

There is physical movement, you know, it's simultaneous.

When you're able to see and hear tap dancers in a room with jazz musicians, there is a conversation happening.

There, the sound of bebop is here because of the inspiration of tap dancers.

I mean, the drummer, Kenny Clarke, who invented that bebop sound, the dropping bombs, that's from the heel drop that he was listening to from tap dancing.

People like John Bubbles, how he played his music.

And that kind of changed that feel of the music through a dance.

And I mean, if you think about it, most Black social dancers are like that.

Half, I mean, we here in Baltimore, y'all got Baltimore Club, the music is just as impacted by the dance as the dance is the music.

WENDEL: Brinae Ali, it's great to see you.

BRINAE: Yeah.

WENDEL: So, so glad to have you here on "Artworks."

BRINAE: Yeah, I'm happy to be here.

Thank you for inviting me.

WENDEL: Absolutely.

So, um, so how did we meet?

How did you and I meet, do you remember?

(laughs).

BRINAE: Yeah, um, we met in Flint.

Um, you know, I was organizing this event called Beyond Words, and Ursula Rucker and Jessica Care More had this show called Hustle and Heart that they, um, pitched to me to bring to something.

And I told her I was doing these shows, curating these shows in Flint, and they mentioned you and said, "You gonna wanna work with 'em, I, I promise."

And I was like, "Okay, all right, I believe you."

And then, um, you know, when you came down to Flint, I was like, "Oh!"

And everybody in the room was like... (gasps).

And so, you know, that's kind of like my reaction to you and how we met.

And I was like, "I just wanna work with this guy."

And, um, yeah, and that was just like, the next day, I'm in Detroit, and then you got to see me do my thing.

(laughs).

WENDEL: Yep.

BRINAE: And so I feel like that kind of confirmed, you know, like "Yeah, more to come."

WENDEL: Yeah, well, you know, what was funny about that was when, when I got to Flint, uh, you know, I was, I was honored to have been asked by Jessica, uh, and Ursula, I hadn't met Jessica yet.

Um, so I met Jessica on that, on that trip.

But, you know, you, you had us come out, and I remember meeting you, and you know, you, you just seemed, you know, really kind, and you had organized this event.

And, um, and I remember Ursula said, said something to me just about you artistically.

And, um, and then the next, it was the next day that we did the, the Sidewalk Festival in Detroit.

And, uh, you know, we had another great show, Ursula and, uh, Jessica and I, and then you were performing afterwards.

BRINAE: Mm-hmm.

WENDEL: And I remember your sister was performing, and I still rem, I still remember the sound of the, the, the, the drone sound that, that started.

And I remember, you know, I think I had just finished packing up and had some friends that, uh, were there.

And I remember doing like a, like a double take.

And you were just like, I, I just remember being blown away and being like, "Oh, that's what Ursula was..." uh, uh "was talking about."

Because, you know, I didn't, I didn't know, you know, from the day before.

And so, um, yeah, it's, it's been a, a pleasure and a joy to know you all of these years.

And, um, I think it's, it's fitting that that first event was a community event that you were putting together because you have been such, uh, a, a force in every community that, that, that I've seen you in.

And I remember, um, a few years into our friendship when you mentioned the possibility of moving to Baltimore, and I dunno if you remember my, like, my reaction, but my internal reaction was like, "Oh, oh, snap!"

You know?

I think I was just like, "Oh yeah, you should, um, you should, you should strongly consider that."

BRINAE: You did.

WENDEL: Yeah, yeah.

BRINAE: Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, you totally did.

(laughs).

WENDEL: Yeah.

Um, so I've learned so much from you over the years, just about tap dance and the world of tap dance, and, um, where did, where did that world first open up for you?

BRINAE: Um, well, like I said, at home, you know, like, I feel like, well, I don't know if home is the right place, 'cause home was kind of like a spaceship.

My sisters and I call it like an artistic spaceship.

So we had our own world happening all the time, from music to visual art to, you know, random things, creatively just going on, my dad reciting lines from a play like that was just always happening in my house.

But, um, I think when, when we, my, my, my "Bong, I gotta do this, I really wanna do this," started to, uh, started to really realize the, the value of being like a strong tap dancer.

We would go to dance like competitions and be the only Black kids there.

And we were the only ones that could tap, so we would win.

We were winning all the time, but it wasn't just about winning it, it gave, it made me feel good about, you know, who I was and our culture.

Um, and then we were in New York City competing, and we had the opportunity to see "Black and Blue," which was a Broadway show that was a, a, a jazz review.

Um, and it was all tap dancers, and it was very intergenerational.

So you had, at the time, Savion like a teenager, and you had, um, Bunny Briggs and Jimmy Slyde, and Dianne Walker, and Little Dormeshia at the time, like, like such a spectrum of people, um, and one of them was my dad's friend who he had learned how to tap dance from that, was in it.

And so I started making all these connections, then I felt like, well, I wanna do that.

Like, I really wanna do this, you know, to see it in that type of format.

Um, and, and then get exposed to some of the behind-the-scenes of jam sessions that used to happen in people's apartments.

Like that communal aspect was so familiar to me.

I, you know, just kind of gravitated towards that idea.

And even though, you know, I grew up in a dance studio being exposed to ballet, jazz, it's like, you know, "The foundation of dance is ballet."

And I never really like, believed that.

(laughs).

And so, you know, the more I became exposed to, you know, like true tap dancing, especially by the pioneers, like, I just wanted to do the same thing.

WENDEL: Mm-hmm.

So tap dancing has taken you all over the world.

BRINAE: Mm-hmm.

WENDEL: You've traveled extensively.

Um, how has being an ambassador for the art form shaped your thoughts about the art form?

And the second part of the question is, um, how has, um, putting down roots in Baltimore, uh, affected your relationship to the art form?

BRINAE: Um, so as an ambassador of this art form, um, and having had the opportunity to travel the world, um, there's a, a level of responsibility that I carry, you know, with a lot of pride and dignity, integrity is the word I'm looking for, um, because, you know, one: the dance is so magical in the sense that it's really like the type of thing that people can listen to, but not always see exactly what you doing, you know?

Um, and then, and then it, it has, it, it just offers opportunity for joy.

And so I feel like, um, you know, as someone who's of African descent, Native American descent, descent, and tap dancing, being born on the soil here in America, and to be an advocate and ambassador of that and take that around the world, transforming people's perspectives, um, you know, it, it, it, it's, it deeply impacts me to stay true and connected to my history, to, um, to my ancestors.

Um, you know, because there has been such, so many efforts of erasure, um, that we often get left out or put into the mars, pushed into the margins in a lot of dance spaces, a lot of musical spaces.

Um, and we are just, I'm just talking about like tap dancers, you know, so that we had, you know, even though the dance began with Black dancers, you know, it's going to, we, you know, naturally African people, we share, we give, um, we pass on and, and it's for anybody.

Um, and I get to be that, you know, it's an honor to, um, have that type of stewardship that I can bring out and nurture something in other people, you know, the good to also maybe emote and, um, yeah, just educate.

Like, I love to bring information to people, and I love to learn from other folks as well.

And because tap dancing is very nonverbal, um, it's audible, and it's visual, you know what I mean?

Whether people can speak English or I go to China and don't know how to speak Mandarin, they, we still can relate on some level through that expression.

And that has been, um, that, that impacts me a lot, you know, and, and thinking about my intentions when I put my shoes on, and I move and do what I do.

WENDEL: Mm-hmm, yeah.

BRINAE: Now, Baltimore.

(laughs).

WENDEL: Yeah.

Well, let, let me ask you this, uh, about Baltimore, so, um, right now we're here at the Eubie Blake Center, um, we've got the light rail that goes by here, you know, we can hear it.

Um, but the streetcars... BRINAE: Yeah.

WENDEL: You know, used to come up and down here.

And, uh, this is a, a historic building, um, historic neighborhood.

Uh, and of course, Eubie Blake is, um, at the center of what so many of us do artistically.

Um, yeah, talk a little bit about what it, what it's meant for you to, to, to be here in Baltimore to put down roots here, uh, and some of the work that you do here at Eubie Blake.

BRINAE: Yeah, um, so again, I just, I just try to be obedient to whatever the spirit is telling me, you know, to do.

If I'm supposed to go here, then I'm gonna go there.

And I don't, may not know exactly why, but I know it's connected to something, um, that is gonna bring about community that is going to, you know, allow me to, um, feel liberated and to help other people feel liberated in the moment.

Um, and being here in Baltimore, you know, I've been able to learn so much and feel the spirit of Baltimore.

And, and also I felt deprived that I didn't know as much about Baltimore as I do now, because, you know, when we think about entertainment, jazz, dance, culture, like Baltimore in my opinion, does not get talked about as much, like a New York or Chicago, you know, um, or St., St.

Louis or something like that, when you think about the beginnings, um, and I, you know, have come here and first, first and foremost have having done "Shuffle Along" on Broadway and knowing that like Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle were the ones who wrote the first musical on Broadway, not just Black musical, but Broadway as we know it today, started from these men, you know, and it had me wanna know more about Baltimore as well, plus he being a mentor of my teacher, Mabel Lee, um, I just felt like I needed to know more.

And then there were folks who were already here that were, that are strong cultural ties, have strong cultural ties and roots in Baltimore that, you know, it just felt like, yeah, this is where I need to be.

And then being in this space at the Eubie Blake Center, um, it's like such a precious and sacred space.

Um, every room that I would go into to just dance, you know, it just felt freeing.

It felt sacred.

Um, and then I started to learn about the multiple programs that were going on here, and I said, this is where I'm supposed to be.

Um, and, you know, they have, Derek Price has been very, very supportive.

WENDEL: Love Derek.

BRINAE: And I mean, like, very, very supportive, um, down to becoming a fiscal sponsor for, you know, my productions, um, through Destination Forever, and so I've been able to kind of build around the history of tap specifically through the lens of Baby Laurence because of my partnership with the Eubie Blake Center.

I mean, I don't, I believe I wouldn't even have been awarded the Billie Holiday Center, uh, you know, Community Arts Fellowship had I not come to an event here that they, um, put on talking about archives.

And I just had a, a curiosity about wanting to find more stories or information about Baby Laurence, who is in my mind, the, the greatest to I've ever lived, to do what he did.

And then, you know, it was just like, "Oh my gosh, this makes sense.

It makes so much sense with the history of this city."

You've got Thurgood Marshall, you know, like so many Billie Holiday, like so many amazing leaders and innovators of Black culture and American everything, American everything... (laughs).

...right here in Baltimore.

So it's, it's, it, it is, hmm, it's, it's a, it's a privilege.

It truly is, it's a honor.

WENDEL: Well, speaking of honor, it's, uh, it's a great honor and a privilege to be able to collaborate with you artistically and, uh, and also to be your friend.

So thank you for everything, and thank you for being a guest here at "Artworks."

BRINAE: Thank you.

It was my pleasure.

(music plays through credits).

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Second Story Books celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

♪ (theme music playing) ♪ WENDEL: "Artworks" is made possible in part by the Citizens of Baltimore County and by the Ruth R. Marder Arts Endowment Fund, the Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker Endowment for the Arts, the E.T.

& Robert B. Rocklin Fund, The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation Arts Endowment in memory of Ruth Marder.