Savion Glover
Savion Glover was born on this date in 1973. He is a Black actor, tap dancer, and choreographer.
Glover was born in Newark, N.J.; as a young child, he displayed an enthusiasm for rhythms, and at age four, he began taking drum lessons. At age seven, he began taking tap lessons and quickly developed a passion for rhythm tap, which uses all parts of the foot to create sound. Glover is a graduate of Newark Arts High School.
While a student at Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan, his teacher arranged an audition for him with a Broadway choreographer. This led to his Broadway debut at age 10 in "The Tap Dance Kid." He debuted in 1989's "Tap," co-starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. In 1990, he joined the cast of the children's television series "Sesame Street."
He received additional public attention in 1996, starring in the George C. Wolfe-produced musical "Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk," for which he won the 1996 Tony Award. He also starred in Spike Lee's 2000 film "Bamboozled." In 2004, Glover partnered with spoken word artist Reg E. Gaines and saxophonist Matana Roberts in a John Coltrane-inspired improvisation session, "If Trane Wuz Here."
Savion has danced on concert stages worldwide, including the Moulin Rouge, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. He choreographed work for the Washington Society for the Performing Arts in association with the NEA and has received an Endowment Grant for Choreography, making him the youngest person in NEA history to receive this honor. He has won numerous other awards.
In 2005, he collaborated with a string chamber orchestra and his band, "The Otherz," in "Classical Savion." He is the motion-capture dancer for Mumble, the penguin in the Warner Bros. animated release "Happy Feet." Glover choreographed the musical Shuffle Along, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921, and All That Followed, which opened in 2016 at the Music Box Theatre. He has been nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography and a Drama Desk Award for his work on the musical.
