Reggio McLaughlin: Tap Dance of Life

Reggio McLaughlin Tap Dance of Life is an autobiographical account of the fascinating life of Reggio ＂The Hoofer.＂ Every chapter can teach you something about the ups and downs of life. At the young age of seven, Reggio saw tap dancing for the very first time and knew this was what he wanted to do. Fate will take him through a course of events before becoming a tap icon. Reggio grew up in a large family on the tough streets of Chicago’s south side. He was given an ultimatum that led to the decision to drop out of school at the age of fifteen to play in Chicago’s blues clubs and travel as a professional bass guitar player for Brunswick Records. One thing led to another--from hanging out in San Francisco’s historic Haight-Ashbury district on ＂Hippy Hill＂ to tap dancing in Chicago’s subways, on the streets of New York and traveling to Spain to study flamenco with the Spanish Gypsies. Reggio has used the magnificent and powerful art form of tap dance to tell amazing stories and connect with people all over the world. The book includes many beautiful full page color photographs that enhance each chapter and the text is a fun and interesting read.

Reginald McLaughlin, better known as Reggio ＂The Hoofer,＂ danced his way out of the subways of Chicago and into countless schools, museums and libraries in the early 90’s, when Urban Gateways, an award-winning educational institution for the performing arts, recognized his talent as a tap dancer and promise as an educator. Reggio has developed dazzling, diverse, multicultural performances for Old Town School as well as being a faculty member for over 21years. Reggio has earned numerous awards, including, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Rockefeller Foundation’s MAP Fund, and The Joyce Foundation, for his collaboration with the celebrated ragtime pianist Reginald Robinson and the Grammy Award winning string band, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, for their musical production of ＂African-American Roots in Vaudeville＂. He is a 2011 recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Professional Development Award and just recently, he was awarded the 2014 prestigious Flo-Bert Award. Putting him on the list of others recipients as Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Gregory Hines, Savior Glover etc. As an ambassador for the arts, Reggio continues to use his unique style of hoofing, to promote and preserve, traditional tap dancing, as a true American art form. His achievements have been profiled in books, television, radio interviews, magazines, newspapers and documentaries, making him a Chicago tap icon.