Bunny Briggs (February 26, 1922 – November 15, 2014) was an American tap dancer who was inducted into the American Tap Dancing Hall of Fame in 2006.
Briggs was born under the name Bernard Briggs in Harlem, New York on February 26, 1922. When asked about his nickname Briggs said "Well, I'm fast." At one point he thought about becoming a Catholic priest but his priest told Briggs that "God clearly wanted him to be a dancer." In the 1960s, Briggs was known to dance with the likes of bandleaders Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington, so much so that Briggs was deemed "Duke's dancer." In May 1985 Briggs performed on the NBC TV Special, "Motown Returns to the Apollo." He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1989 for his work in the Broadway show Black and Blue. He appeared on stage and in movies including the Gregory Hines film Tap in 1989. In 2002, Briggs received an honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts in American Dance by Oklahoma City University in 2002, honoring him as one of the nine doctorates of Tap Dance.
Early life
Although the exact date is unknown, Briggs went to see a show at the Lincoln Theater between the ages of 3 and 5. His aunt, Gladys, was in the chorus line and Bill Robinson was headlining. Upon seeing the famous Bojangles dance, Briggs knew immediately what he wanted to do, commenting that "[Robinson] was so calm. Everything he did was beautiful." Briggs was infatuated with Robinson's composure on stage and form of dress. While other black performers at the time wore bell hop costumes, Robinson always dressed his best in a suit. After that night, Briggs fell in love with tap dancing. Besides his mother's uncle teaching him a step or two, Briggs never took dance lessons. He learned the basics of tap dance by watching and mimicking other performers. At the age of 5, Briggs had the opportunity to dance for Robinson; immediately following Briggs' performance, Robinson invited Briggs to dance on tour. His mother declined the offer on the grounds of Robinson's reputation as a gambling addict.
Between the ages of 4 and 5, Briggs would dance the Shimmy and the Charleston outside of a record shop for money. Crowds would gather at the shop to listen to Amos and Andy on the radio. When the show ended, the shop would put on records for Briggs to dance to. He made up to $15 a day dancing for the crowds. Briggs was discovered on this street corner by a man named Porkchops who managed Briggs and booked him gigs at casinos for split commission. Not long after, Briggs and Porkchops became part of a tetrad with Junie Miller and Paul White. They performed for 5 or 6 years as Porkchops, Navy, Rice, and Beans, entertaining audiences in dance halls between halves of each show. They were known for dancing to cutesy, upbeat songs such as "Bugle Call Blues". While performing with the tetrad, Briggs was discovered in 1930 by Luckey Roberts, who invited him to perform for high society with the Social Entertainers: a black band that played for the Vanderbilt Set.
Briggs was known for his delicate, humorous tapping which he developed while performing for high society. Although tap is a dance form that incorporates sound, his wealthy audiences found too much sound unappealing. When asked about his style of dance in an interview, Briggs answered "I was always an improvisation dancer. I never danced the same time more than two or three times. My style is carefree. It's carefree and hard but I try to make it look easy". Briggs' charm, skills, iconically big eyes and baby face won him the hearts of high society. They began sending him chauffeurs to bring him to parties and they fed him all the food he wanted. The party attendees would sit on the ground in a circle and watch him dance. On one occasion at an Astor Pageant, Fanny Brice sat Briggs on her lap and asked him if he wanted anything he didn't have. He responded in saying he wished to have a bike. The following day, Brice bought him one. Aside from live performances, Briggs made his first appearance on screen in the 1932 short film Slowpoke.