Art Form: tap dance
Location(s): Flint (Genesee County)
Alfred Bruce Bradley
Portrait of Alfred Bruce Bradley
Alfred “Bruce” Bradley has worked to support tap dance for 40 years and communities in both Flint, Michigan, and nationally for over 20 years. Tap dance, a traditional art that emerges from the Black history, continues to have a rich resonance for communities of color. Bruce teaches, organizes, and presents performances of tap dance especially accessible to Black communities in the greater Flint area, especially in urban schools and neighborhoods. Though initially gaining recognition as a theater performer, Bruce Bradley came to tap dance relatively late. Despite only beginning to study tap dance in his 30s, he went on to study with Kevin Ramsey (a protégé of renown tap dancers Chuck Green and Henry LeTang) as well as the co-founder of the Detroit-based tap legends The Sultans, Lloyd Storey, who danced with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Between time spent touring and visiting his mentors, he continued to live in Flint and was thereby largely self-taught. He performed widely, from New Orleans to Zürich. However, he always brought his new repertoire back to his students in Flint.
Bruce has also developed his own pedagogy. During classes he invites his students to demonstrate newly-acquired material on their own upon a 3x3 foot square platform at the front of the classroom. Each student is given an opportunity. During their time on the board, their classmates and Bradley bestow undivided attention. He shared that the board's purpose is not only to check the retention of repertoire but also to demonstrate the benefits of hard work, building leadership, and confidence.
As a presenter and curator, Bruce Bradley initiated a tradition of gathering around the art of tap dance at the first Tapology Festival in 2001. This event, which occurs annually in Flint, is a summit of nationally-acclaimed tap artists. The event is also a rallying point for tap dance artists and students of tap living in Michigan. The Tapology Festival comprises lectures, workshops, performances, conversations, and jam sessions, all of which celebrate the Africanist roots and branches of tap dance, jazz, and other Black cultural forms. Through the act of gathering (virtually or in-person) Bruce has empowered his community to direct their energies through tap dance as a mode of expression, a means to teach American history, a cultural celebration of Blackness, and an uplifting dance of self-actualization. Bruce’s tireless work teaching combined with his work presenting the Tapology Festival has proven to be exceptionally effective in training these young dancers. As a result, many of his students, including members of his family, have become professional tap dance artists who continue the tradition of performing, creating, teaching, and sharing tap dance with others. The Tapology Youth Ensemble, a performance group, represents Bradley’s commitment to creating opportunities for performance and empowerment through the medium of tap dance performance.
- Micah Ling and Nic Gareiss, 2024
