Buddy Bradley (choreographer)
{{Short description|African-American dancer and choreographer (1905–1972)}}
{{infobox person
| name = Buddy Bradley
| image = Buddy_and_Dolly_1963_London.png
| caption = Bradley and his wife Dorothy in 1963
| birth_name = Clarence Bradley Epps
| birth_place = Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US
| birth_date = July 24, 1905
| death_place = New York City, US
| death_date = July 17, 1972 (aged 66)
| occupation = Dancer and choreographer, dance school owner and teacher
| spouse = Dorothy Pitchford
}}
Buddy Bradley (July 24, 1905 – July 17, 1972)[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0102091/ "Buddy Bradley (1905–1972)"], IMDb. was an African-American dancer and choreographer of the 1930s and later.Swinging into the Blitz: A Culture Show Special, BBC, February 16, 2013. He worked for more than 20 years as an artist and teacher in England, where he became influential in the world of ballet, film, and theater.{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017215713/http://buddybradley.taplegacy.org/biography/|title=Biography|website=buddybradley.taplegacy.org|access-date=October 29, 2024}}
Biography
Born as Clarence Bradley Epps in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he began his career in the United States, although he was often not credited for his early work because he was black. He also worked with Billy Pierce, his fellow African-American choreographer.
Bradley first went to England in 1933 and later settled there.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1017/S0149767700007312 | title='Oh, You Black Bottom!' Appropriation, Authenticity, and Opportunity in the Jazz Dance Teaching of 1920s New York | year=2006 | last1=Robinson | first1=Danielle | journal=Dance Research Journal | volume=38 | issue=1–2 | pages=19–42 | s2cid=193345640 | doi-access=free }}Hill, CV. 1992. "Buddy Bradley: The Invisible Man of Broadway Brings Jazz Tap to London". In Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference, Society of Dance History Scholars. He worked on many Broadway and West End shows.Bourne, Stephen, Black in the British Frame - The Black Experience in British Film and Television, London: Continuum, 2001. {{ISBN|0826455395}} He was the first black dancer to choreograph an all-white show in London. He often worked with Andrée Howard, including 1935's Let's Go Gay.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1080/01472529208569081 | title=The choreography of Andree Howard: Some further information | year=1992 | last1=Pritchard | first1=Jane | journal=Dance Chronicle | volume=15 | pages=77–87 }}
Bradley also ran his own dance school.
He returned to the US in the late 1960s. He died in New York City on July 17, 1972, aged 66.
Filmography
- Evergreen (1934), choreography
- Head over Heels (1937), as choreographer and dancer
- Gangway (1937)
- The Spider (1940)
- The Brass Monkey (1948)
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0102091}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20141017215713/http://buddybradley.taplegacy.org/biography/ Buddy Bradley] Tribute website.
- [http://www.streetswing.com/histmai2/d2budbrd1.htm StreetSwing.com entry]
- Annette Walker, [https://annettewalker.co.uk/2021/03/buddy-bradley-choreographing-british-film-and-theatre/ "Buddy Bradley: Choreographing British Film and Theatre"], March 16, 2021.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDuI-iFlu8s "TDRN UK Online Talk Series: Contextualising Buddy Bradley in British Film"]. Presentation by Annette Walker, via YouTube. September 7, 2023.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Buddy}}
Category:20th-century African-American people
Category:20th-century American dancers
Category:African-American choreographers
Category:African-American male dancers