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 film
For anyone passionate about jazz dance, Broadway’s golden age, the Harlem Renaissance, cosmopolitan London, American vernacular dance, and African American history
Buddy 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 5 years in prodigious research, crossed 3 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.
“Finally! A meticulously researched biography of Buddy Bradley, the visionary choreographer who revolutionized jazz and tap dance, electrified Broadway, and transformed London’s West End. With passionate narrative drive, Maureen Footer restores Bradley’s rightful place in dance history, tracing influences from across geographies, performance genres, and shifting social circumstances. A celebration of artistry, resilience, and cultural legacy, this book is essential reading for anyone passionate about dance, history, and the fight for recognition.”
—Thomas F. DeFrantz, author of Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey’s Embodiment of African American Culture
“With exemplary research and insights into the life and work of Buddy Bradley, one of the legends of the dance world, Maureen Footer places into the spotlight an innovative yet often overlooked choreographer. Feel the Floor is an engaging, informative, and accessible biography that will appeal not only to anyone interested in the history of dance but also musical theatre and cinema.”
—Stephen Bourne, author of Black in the British Frame: Black People in British Film and Television 1896-1996
“Descended from free, landowning Southern Blacks, Buddy Bradley claimed his territory as an innovative jazz tap dancer and choreographer. He began in Harlem Renaissance New York, then, when segregation dwarfed his ambitions, he moved to London. There, artists and audiences were eager to see a multilingual choreography, which joined jazz tap to ballet and musical theater. His work was brilliant and wide ranging. So is Maureen Footer’s biography. With historical rigor and narrative elegance, she restores the life and art of an American dance genius.”
—Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland
“Feel the Floor tells the rich, layered story of choreographer Buddy Bradley and his journey from Alabama to Harlem and on to London’s West End. Maureen Footer weaves a compelling tale, showing how Buddy Bradley’s influence on dance on both stage and screen spread across the Atlantic and brought the dance culture of the Black American South to the world.”
—W. Ralph Eubanks, author of When It’s Darkness on the Delta
Introduction
PART 1: SOUTHERN RHYTHMS, 1838–1920
CHAPTER 1
Ancestral Whispers
CHAPTER 2
Fathers and Sons in the Black Belt of Alabama
CHAPTER 3
Post-Reconstruction: Explorations Beyond Home
CHAPTER 4
An Observant Child in Birmingham
CHAPTER 5
Crossing the Mason-Dixon Line to Harrisburg
PART 2: NEW YORK JAZZ, 1921–1930
CHAPTER 6
Harlem Chorus Boy
CHAPTER 7
Celebrity Dance Instructor on Broadway
CHAPTER 8
A Black Choreographer on the Great White Way
PART 3: LONDON CALLING, 1931–1932
CHAPTER 9
Ever Green and Affirmation
CHAPTER 10
Appraising London
CHAPTER 11
Expatriation
PART 4: THE EXPANSIVE YEARS, 1932–1938
CHAPTER 12
On Pointe with Frederick Ashton and Noël Coward
CHAPTER 13
Ballyhoo to the Folies Bergère
CHAPTER 14
Seduction and the Camera’s Eye
CHAPTER 15
The Gauguin of the Dance
CHAPTER 16
Dancing on the Ceiling
CHAPTER 17
Top Hat and Tails
CHAPTER 18
Follow the Sun to Happy Returns
PART 5: SHIFTS IN RHYTHM, 1939–1960
CHAPTER 19
Dancing in the Blitz
CHAPTER 20
All That Jazz
CHAPTER 21
Jazz Maestro
CHAPTER 22
Troupes, Tours, and Baby Laurence
PART 6: RESOLUTION, 1961–1972
CHAPTER 23
The Swerving Sixties
CHAPTER 24
Back to the Future
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Notes
Bibliography
Image Credits
Index