Bill Bojangles Robinson in " King for a Day"

From the movie King for a Day (1934) directed by Roy Mack
Mr. Brown refuses to allow tap dancer Bill Green (Bill Bojangles Robinson) to audition for his vaudeville show, "Brown's Black Orchids." Green knows that Brown has a weakness for crap games and challenges him. Green and Brown keep rolling the dice until the only thing Brown has left to offer is his show. After one last roll of the dice, the show is renamed "Green's Black Orchids", with Green as a featured performer. Other black singers and dancers also perform.

[@tonygloster3483]

An amazingly talented man he makes it look so easy and thoroughly enjoying himself

[@SevenRoses2]

The father of tap dance ... and still the greatest. Timing, rhythm and energy "on point" for the whole duration of the dance. Tap sounds ... clean, crisp, in perfect time. It's like listening to a drum cadence in drum & bugle corp. I am obsessed with this video!

[@littlemissgroove]

Me too

[@mickberry164]

Yeah, it's crazy there are only four thousand seven hundred views. This guy was IT. Unbelievable grace. Beautiful rhythm. Exquisite style. So natural and flowing. Can't get enough of it.

[@brownbat74]

+Mick Berry such distinct taps. Clear and light.

[@guitarslimNOW]

yep--and the coherence of his rhythmic phrasing....this kind of tap is playing percussion.......no less than drumming.......check out Chuck Green

[@guitarslimNOW]

and Buck and Bubbles

[@madchuck]

The blackface in the background ruins it

[@dnettles]

WOW! He was the greatest! What a talent!

[@PatriceNarveza]

Wow he was one of the best dancers I have ever seen so clean. He was soo empecably talented !!!🎆🎆🎆🎆 I miss tap !!!

[@drlovie]

Mr Bill Robinson you are more than a king for a day..you are a king for always and forever!

[@paracletusrevelation4080]

Impressive how easily he does that dance

[@jadezillamanila7]

I first saw this man tap when I was about 3 and I always wanted to tap myself but for a long time we weren't able to get me into lessons. I finally got lessons when I was 10 and I'm 16 now and have excelled into advanced levels and just wanted to thank this man for being my inspiration to my passion:)

[@instagramliveevideos24.79]

MerJade congrats honey

[@face2158]

RIP Bill Robinson Mr Bojangles. You were a true talent.

[@bigpeaches1744]

He is the king of tap.

[@vestibulate]

This is a beautifully developed performance. Yes, it's a shame about the racist background, but Bill Robinson had little choice if he was to work in show business at the time. His dancing is characterized by a superb sense of rhythm and musicality. There is no strain, no reaching awkwardly for effects. He remains graceful, sharp, contained and fully expressive. And there is a real joyousness in his deft approach to the material. Thanks very much for giving us this glimpse of Bill Robinson's artistry.

[@GertrudeJekyllfan]

And he floats. Weightless. He is a joy to watch.

[@lexfiddle]

Well said!!!!!!!

[@xxxcop113]

Old school tap dancer .. A very talented entertaining man .. His charm and good personality shine .. Love watching him dance with Shirley Temple too

[@NathanThePrezPretlow]

Bill Robinson was as good on his right as his left it's like his feet had a mind of it's own. Amazing that he was tap dancing with so much energy in his late fifties in 1934.

[@natashastarnes7880]

He makes it look *easy* and *effortless*. Thats true mastery. And I know their active years barely line up, but I wish Bill Robinson and Gene Kelly had gotten to dance together. That would have been a truly *epic* dance.

[@marwwa56]

there were a lot of great tap dancers in that time, but simply he was the best ...RIP bill robinson

[@nancyanderson5310]

I love this guy. My favorite dance team all my life, Bill and Shirley. This man had it all, artistic genius, courage, social conscience, generosity, humility and greatness of soul. Thank God for these glories!

[@angielopez-zb9nk]

Fabulous could watch it over and over . So happy go lucky RIP bill x

[@jinnymudlark1815]

There are only 'four thousand seven hundred views' because increasingly people are becoming less knowledgeable about or interested in anything much beyond their mobile phone screens and often their own images before, and impacts (as they'd like to think it) upon the world, whilst any 'world' is really non-existent for them much beyond their own with them at the centre. Thank you for posting - cheers from Australia.

[@beansforsalewahoo]

Or maybe because people just prefer watching things that interest them, and though it's a shame that fewer people are looking into tap, it's nothing to hold against them. They have different passions.

[@judithin6598]

The fantastic Bill Robinson - a friend and mentor to the equally fantastic Eleanor Powell! Thanks so much for posting this clip.

[@woodsofwindsor5116]

Amazing talent and work! Americans have been greatly inspired by Bojangles and his dancing for generations. Thank you for sharing this part of our heritage; it's helped make modern dance who we are today!

[@sirbentleyschannel]

Mr. Bojangles, come back and dance, dance, dance please dance!

[@carlosrobertobacila7814]

The book “Bob London The Boy Who Read The Classics “ has Mr. Bojangles as the soul of the story

[@michaelklein5242]

Astaire did a fine take on Robinson's tap style in his tribute to him in Swing Time. This is great!

[@nickthemarauder]

it’s sad we will never see anyone like him ever again

[@ronmonroe5253]

EVERY TAP ON BEAT AMAZING 100 YEARS LATER NO ONE CAN TAP LIKE HIM CANT BE IMITATED SORRY THE BEST WHO EVER DID IT SOME TRY BUT DIDNT SUCCEED ,,RIP BOJANGLES ROBINSON,,,

[@littlemissgroove]

Always makes me smile Rip Bill x

[@curlyz9460]

Wow this was 2012...im watching this on 2021

[@carolinedewey6838]

Took so much energy, talent. Very good! Excellent!!!

[@ronmonroe5253]

BEST TAP DANCER EVER LIVED EVERYTHING ON BEAT AMAZING LISTEN CAREFULLY..

[@pameladavenport1647]

Magnificent!!! No one can touch him !

[@mrbojangles977]

My idol now and forever.........

[@herbsnead5092]

Gitinwhereufitin...a mans gotta do what he's gotta do. RIP MR BOJANGLES !

[@RandyDrayton]

Even Fayard of the Nicholas Brothers said Bill was his favourite and THE goat! That really tells you all you need to know lol.

[@jessicabolt8856]

AMAZING! I.........NEED.........MORE!!!!

[@feliciamurphy2189]

He's feet be singing. Absolute legend.

[@winstoncorrigan4309]

He stole my moves🎶🍉

[@carlosrobertobacila7814]

The book “Bob London The Boy Who Read The Classics “ has Mr. Bojangles as the soul of the story

[@rosslarsen6144]

Its so great. like `hey, what's my foot doin now'

[@rachelk5720]

both he and Fred Astaire are why I learned how to tap dance as a child. Amazing dancers!

[@nairejihan7674]

Wow he killed it🎊🎉🎉🎉

[@mathematicus3141]

Beautiful!!!!

[@autumnschild6629]

If I were around in those days I would have had a crush on him forever!! All around perfect gentleman, period. This is the real definition of a good black man plain and simple. Go Bojangles Go!!

[@LindseyWoolsey]

WOW f'ing wow, that was a really talented brotha no doubt. enjoyed that clip for sure

[@wjb4578]

So entertaining to watch a master at his craft. Makes it look so easy.

[@cindymaes9468]

I never knew the real Bojangles Bill Robinson was so handsome, and talented.

[@geraldjohnson848]

May 25: National Tap Dance Day: Celebrates and promotes tap dance as an American art form; Happy birthday Dancer-actor-singer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Thank you and God bless. Thanks for the upload, TheHooferz. RIP and blessings, Mr. "Bojangles."

[@kentcurtis2336]

Ardizonne sends his regards Mike 🎉

[@heybooitsme6016]

If I could choose to have the talent of Bill Robinson or Fred Astaire, I would by far choose Bill Robinson.

[@BuckyBrown-lt4ry]

He MAY have been a better tap dancer than Fred but as an all-around dancer - there is no contest. FACT. Ask the experts(people who know about these things).

[@byHexted]

Awesome

[@Anointed012]

wow he's amazing.

[@henryratajczak7806]

AMAZING TALENT!

[@ブシェー華バナナ]

I love it!

[@rememberourmusic53]

How wonderful of you to feature Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Today, May 25th 2016 is the 138th anniversary of his birth. Please check out my youtube channel honoring Robinson and other great African-American artists like Robert Johnson, “King of the Delta blues singers”; Ernest Hogan, “Father of ragtime”; James Brown, “Godfather of soul” and Patti LaBelle, "Godmother of Soul" - all born in the month of May.

[@talkissues]

Remember Our Music how do we get to your page?

[@jaykhan6524]

Astaire, Kelly can't even polish his shoes ... in a class by himself way far above ... his bad luck was that he was a black man in the white master's world. Mr. Bojangles ... dance. 🙏

[@Hope4MeAndYou]

It's beautiful to watch him dance. I wonder how he felt having to work with men dressed in black face.

[@susanyates8038]

He didn’t let the stupidity stop him!

[@striderhiryu2]

He did not care.He was focused on dancing and Being awesome

[@kohashiguchi9671]

He was either 55 or 56 when he filmed this!!

[@mrbojangles977]

my idol ...

[@catmanglatky6346]

what a great tap dancer

[@JohnDoe-yo2pj]

you can tell this where sammy davis jr was mentored by in Sammy's youngest work you see some of these dance moves incorporated in his Rountine.

[@DoxieGirlzSinger]

I have loved him since I was about 3 years old. Seeing the black face makes me so sad and upset tho.

[@alextepe4309]

I understand. It was a different era, but no less offensive. I personally think that Bojangles was the greatest and even a lot of bigots would look past his skin color and appreciate his great tallent. After all these years, still the greatest tap dancer of all time.

[@namco003]

The men in blackface are black. Black people did blackface as a sort of get back at and for authenticity reasons. You can watch people pretend to be black minstrels or get black minstrels. The shows were better. It's like PF Changs is good, but i'll go to my local Chinese joint over them any day. You should watch Stormy Weather

[@MultiWayland]

just oustanding

[@dbmnfinity1]

He has crazy mad skillz

[@melbrooks1192]

Taught them all what to do.

[@DeacysHairFluff]

pov you are watching this only because you have to do this dance for rhythm revival

[@antonellaarru8014]

Eccezionale!

[@wakafeek]

At 3:07 it looked like he was defying gravity. Wow!

[@evangelinel]

King for a Day? Mr Bill Bojangles Robinson is the King FOREVER. Ps. Can anyone tell me where to find this rendition of Swanee River that he's dancing to? Who's the orchestra?

[@borisnesic1545]

He is effortless compared to Astaire, Kelly any of those guys.

[@joefagan6244]

I could tap dance in my regular men's dress shoes.

[@CapAnson12345]

Would you believe in his mid 50s here?

[@clementinepelletier422]

Good dancing

[@terryasheim9038]

Very copacetic.

[@Vinniegret]

Love it! I think Cab Calloway coined that phrase (though I'm not sure). What a rich history we have of our African American singers and dancers even though they had to endure prejudice, discrimination and a lot of ugliness. Their talent shone through.

[@SuperBalders]

i came here because i watched the video of Alice Barker, who was one of the dancers in the back. when i was a pupil, one of my classmates convinced our sports teacher to do the tap dance with our class. i've been maximum demoralized about this idea, wanted to practice rather ruff sports than dancing. i had no idea what i've missed. because i've never seen any good tap dances back then. now i am thirtyfive. is it to late to give it a chance and join Mr. Bill Robinson in a dance? ;-)

[@RandyDrayton]

Stormy weather however was THE breakout movie.

[@rhiannonzaleski995]

So many great talents should have been given more and better opportunities to shine even brighter, but were held back by segregation and racism. Such an amazing dancer!!

[@sauzimer]

Eu Também fasso sapateado

[@leifnelson-melby1512]

im only watching this for a report for school on him

[@tjkeegan470]

You guys really like these type of videos don’t you? Lmfao

[@adelgonzales8439]

This is like 1940s to 1950s and miss barker is there

[@lewisner]

I wonder how those guys felt about having to put white makeup on their mouths ?

[@bheadh]

+lewisner Not very good. They're called "minstrels."

[@susanlynch1966]

Whilst I love watching Bill Robinson dance, having the black performers behind him essentially wearing "Blackface" make up is horrifying. Still his class just shines through in this clip.

[@kentcurtis2336]

C'mon Smokey u look like u been crying ❤

[@thinthin54]

What is the name of the tune that played near the end of the performance.

[@edgarperez-lopez2634]

3:15

[@utuber1a]

That was when they were entertaining, and not violet.

[@luizantonio63]

Mas o nome do cara é Bojangle ou é um apelido?

[@adamm8152]

Who's here from Jon sandmans video

[@jopgjfervcgz]

Wer war nochmal Michael jackson?

[@selinturk6761]

lol

[@Pilon2015]

Tanto racismo de 💩 y nosotros los 🖤 somos los mejores en todo!!! Cantantes/Deportistas/peleadores etc!! Algún día dominaremos el planeta!!

[@winstoncorrigan4309]

That ain’t the wahtootsie,

[@GenoBossTDKWTLL]

Blackface was terrible.

[@beckton11]

Fred Astaire used to steal his moves I like fred but Bo was the original

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

At 4:02, doesn't Robinson do the early version of the famous Michael Jackson moonwalk? And why, fer God's sake, do black media and hip-hop and rat sh*t, I means ratters, wrappers(?) I fergits what, think is so totally awesome when they is walking home....?...

[@annameadowshelvie5714]

Ack. Such an amazing talent and bright star, but how literally nauseating it is to see the awful minstrel makeup on the other performers...all of them amazing talents in their own right, and I'm sure glad to be making movies in that day and age. But damn. *Fuck racism.*

[@michaelguerrero9393]

such a lost talent