The Cinematheque

New Restoration

“The films, which I consider the two best ever made about the art, didn’t just record tap history, they became part of it, helping to stoke a revival.”

Brian Seibert, dance critic, New York Times

Documentarian George T. Nierenberg’s joyous, ebullient 1979 film, intended as an elegy for the then-dying art of tap, actually proved instrumental in the dance form’s revival. No Maps on My Taps showcases legendary New York hoofers Bunny Briggs, Chuck Green, and Howard ​“Sandman” Sims, all still dancing up a storm (here, to Lionel Hampton’s music) as they approach their senior years. Great clips from the 1930s demonstrate the gifts of Bill ​“Bojangles” Robinson, John Bubbles, and others. Newly restored by New Jersey’s Milestone Films, the film is a toe-tapping treat throughout and (with all due respect to the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly) makes the case for tap as an important African-American art form. Nierenberg’s next project was the rousing gospel-music doc Say Amen, Somebody.

“No Maps on My Taps is back. The great, elegiac documentary on tap dance is restored.” Joan Acocella, dance critic, The New Yorker

followed by

About Tap
USA 1985
George T. Nierenberg
28 min. DCP

George T. Nierenberg’s 1979 hit documentary No Maps on My Taps arrived hot on the heels (pun intended) of Gregory Hines’s star-making turn in 1978’s Broadway smash Eubie! The two events are credited with reenergizing the art of tap. In Nierenberg’s sequel, Hines shares childhood memories of attending Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, and we meet dance greats Steve Condos, Chuck Green, and Jimmy Slyde.