Brenda Bufalino
In addition to dancing, each night she would sneak into these clubs after class and rehearsals to listen to the New Orleans jazz and bebop improvisation of saxophone players.
[4] Hayes and Bigfords Restaurant became the scene for avant-garde communities to meet and ended up giving Bufalino her first exposure to conversations over philosophy, literature, and art.
She was eventually invited to perform with the Copasetics, which included tap legends such as Ernest "Brownie" Brown, Chuck Green, Jimmy Slyde and Howard “Sandman” Sims.
She studied jazz from Matt Mattox, modern primitive and afro-cuban from Syvilla Fort, all the while being an active performer in the New York Vaudeville nightclub circuit.
This, in conjunction with frustration over the direction of the industry, caused Bufalino to flee the confines of the city in 1965 and moved to New Paltz, NY.
This period of her life was filled with experimentation, emphasis on interpretive dance, and led to Bufalino’s curiosity in how to combine her love for tap with the artistic world of concert art.
Her connection to the university opened up opportunities for Bufalino to experiment and create modern works such as, Watch the Bouncing Ball, Diary of Samuel and Rosalie, and a film entitled, Traveling.
In the early 80’s she toured with Coles and the Copasetics internationally in London and France, including festivals produced by Avra Petrides in St. Chinian.
Additionally, she became heavily involved in the tap festivals (Colorado, Portland, Boston, San Francisco, Houston) around America that were gaining immense popularity at the time.
They later premiered a three and a half minute PBS special performance, Haitian Fight Song, which launched the company into stardom.
Touch, Turn, Return created in collaboration with Carmen Moore premiered in the Judson Church Theater, and is considered Bufalino’s most critically acclaimed avant-garde work.
[5] From 1989 to 1995, the company also operated Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center & Inter Arts Space in New York City, and presented on-going classes, performances and related activities.
Bufalino experienced backlash for being a white woman in the tap industry and spent her entire career getting producers and technicians to be on board with her work.
