New York’s Five Points was the country's densest, deadliest slum, and also its first integrated neighborhood, with Black and Irish families living side-by-side. Out of this unlikely stew of cultures, William Henry Lane, born to free Black parents, would rise to become one of the greatest dancers we’ve ever produced.

As a child and teenager in rough dance houses in the 1830s-40s, Lane absorbed the fast, percussive footwork of Irish clog and jig dancing, and fused that with African dance, called Pattin' Juba—a form developed after plantation drums were banned, emphasizing improvisation and complex rhythms. He used his heels for the bass notes, the balls of his feet for the treble. Though metal taps on shoes had not yet been invented, every tap dancer who has come since built on the fusion style Lane pioneered.

In 1844, performing as Master Juba, Lane defeated the celebrated Irish jig dancer John Diamond in a series of highly publicized contests, earning the title King of All Dancers. By his early 20s, he was touring Britain with the minstrel group Pell’s Ethiopian Serenaders, receiving top billing above the white performers. Dazzled Londoners struggled even to describe it.

Decades later, dancers began hammering pennies and hobnails into their soles to sharpen the sound, but it was not until the 1920s, in Harlem Renaissance jazz clubs and chorus lines, that dancers screwed on metal plates, finally giving hardware to a dance that turns the body into a percussion instrument. A drum kit with no drum.

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Links:

• William Henry Lane - Dance Mogul Magazine

  
  

• The missing scholarship of American tap dance - Constance Valis Hill, Oxford University Press, February 25, 2016

This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

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