{"product_id":"feel-the-floor-restoring-the-life-and-legacy-of-jazz-choreographer-buddy-bradley-9780807045244","title":"Feel the Floor: Restoring the Life and Legacy of Jazz Choreographer Buddy Bradley","description":"\u003cb\u003eA stunning resurrection of the visionary choreographer Buddy Bradley whose contributions to rhythm tap and jazz dance in the 1920s and '30s indelibly transformed the way we move to music\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eFeel the Floor\u003c\/i\u003e, Maureen Footer shows how Bradley's revolutionary moves electrified Broadway in the 1920s and conquered London's West End in the 1930s, introducing new inflections to the era's tap and jazz dance. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHis experiments in rhythm and staging would anticipate bebop, and his influence even permeated classical dance, cross-pollinating with ballet choreographers like Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMirroring today's fight for recognition of Black contributors to transatlantic culture, Buddy Bradley's story isn't just one of influence. He \u003ci\u003ecreated \u003c\/i\u003ethe movement language we still speak today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe white performers Bradley taught to move became legends: Eleanor Powell, Ruby Keeler, Adele Astaire, Jessie Matthews. 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn post-war Great Britain, as Black American dancers and jazz musicians flocked to London (and a congenial base at Bradley's dance school), he danced and choreographed with Baby Laurence, Pete Nugent, Frankie Manning, and Mabel Lee, among others. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFooter spent five years in prodigious research, crossing two continents, tracking ancestral history in the Deep South, and enlisting private investigators to uncover Bradley's buried legacy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eFeel the Floor\u003c\/i\u003e corrects the false narratives that have erased Bradley's influence, revealing how one man's genius transformed musical theater, shaped modern ballet, and rewired the very DNA of American dance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Maureen Footer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Beacon Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/12\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.42lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.26w x 1.26d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807045244","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46428596273289,"sku":"9780807045244","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_3e3dfc1b-35b8-4223-a28b-dc8705bcd1b3.jpg?v=1778013689","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/feel-the-floor-restoring-the-life-and-legacy-of-jazz-choreographer-buddy-bradley-9780807045244","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}