Dianne Walker

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Dianne Walker is a world famous tap dancer known as "Lady Di." She began her dance training in Boston with Mildred Kennedy-Bradic and later studied with Leon Collins, Jimmy "Sir Slyde" Mitchell and Jimmy Slyde.

In 1979, she began a professional dance career under the watchful eyes of her esteemed mentors. She later performed with Collins & Company and became one of the Directors of the Leon Collins Dance Studio, Inc. in Brookline, Massachusetts.

She is considered a pioneer in the resurgence of tap dancing and is one of a handful of internationally recognized women in the field. Her twenty-eight year career spans Broadway, television, film and international dance concerts. Throughout the world of tap, she has been dubbed the "Ella Fitzgerald of Tap Dance." The Boston Herald has called her "America's First Lady of Tap" and in Dallas, she has been dubbed, “The Ballerina of Tap”. Savion Glover and his contemporaries affectionately call her “Aunt Dianne” in acknowledgment of her unique place as mentor, teacher and confidante. In appreciation of her personal style and elegance as a performer, as well as her eloquent and passionate commitment to the art of tap dance, her mentors and peers always refer to her as "Lady Di".

In 1997, she was presented with the “Tapestry Award” in Boston for excellence in teaching from Thelma Goldberg, of the Dance Inn in Lexington, Massachusetts. She was featured in the motion picture Tap, starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. and has been seen in the PBS production of BLACK AND BLUE directed by Robert Altman; PBS Great Performances- ”Tap Dance in America”; Documentary, “Honi Coles..The Class Act of Tap”; Documentary, “Songs Unwritten...Leon Collins” and most recently as the principal commentator in the PBS release, (WTTW-Chicago) “JUBA”.

In 2006, Dianne's lifetime achievements were honored at a luncheon in Flint, Michigan. This award ceremony was sponsored by "Tapology", Artistic and Excutive Director, Alfred Bruce Bradley and the Mott Foundation. In 2005, she received another lifetime achievement recognition (Rhythm Bound) from Director, Sas Selford of the Vancouver Tap Dance Society. In 2004, Walker received the "Hoofers Award" from Tap City NYC and was also presented with an award in Los Angeles, in memory of Gregory Hines. That same year she was presented with The "Humanitarian Award" from Jason Samuels Smith of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. On May 25, 2003, she received the “Flo-Bert Award” for Lifetime Achievement, presented by the New York Committee To Celebrate National Tap Dance Day. She received the “Savion Glover Award for Keeping the Beat Alive” in St. Louis, Missouri in 2000, and in 1998 she became the youngest dancer and first woman to receive the “Living Treasure in American Dance Award” from Oklahoma City University.

Often seen in Jazz clubs (and festivals) around the country, her most memorable was the Rainbow Room in New York City with Ruth Brown, Grady Tate, Al McKibbon and Sir Roland Hanna. Jazz Festival appearances include North Sea (The Hague), Pouri (throughout Europe), Chicago Jazz and Montreal Jazz Festival with Gregory Hines. Dianne was featured in both the original Paris production, and the two year Broadway run of Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli’s BLACK AND BLUE. She was the only female to dance in the famed “Hoofers Line” which included Jimmy Slyde, Ralph Brown, Buster Brown, Lon Chaney, Chuck Green, Bunny Briggs and a 12-year-old prodigy named Savion Glover.

While on Broadway, she performed “Memories of You”, a soft shoe choreographed by Cholly Atkins. She was also Assistant Choreographer and Dance Captain for the show’s Tony Award winning choreography and recently recreated choreography for the European tour of BLACK AND BLUE. She was featured in a thirteen-city Dance Umbrella tour, entitled “Fascinating Rhythms” with Jimmy Slyde and Savion Glover and bucket drummers “Drummin Too Deep”. She has appeared at the Smithsonian on several occasions honoring such distinguished artists as Cholly Atkins and Jeni LeGon, and most recently, a special lecture/performance entitled “Women in Tap”. She also completed a year long engagement of Savion Glover’s Concert Tour, entitled “Footnotes” with Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown and Cartier Williams. She is a frequent guest artist at Tap Festivals around the world including Italy, Germany, Prague, Finland, Chicago, St. Louis, Colorado, Portland, Minneapolis, Montreal, Atlanta, Texas, Vancouver and numerous others.

Ms. Walker, who holds a Master’s degree in Education, has taught at Harvard, Williams College, the University of Michigan, UCLA, Bates, Wesleyan and on numerous other campuses. She has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council Jacobs Pillow, and the New England Foundation for the arts. She was a participant in the Dance USA Task Force on Dance Education and in 1997 represented the United States as an adjudicator for the World Tap Dance Championships held in Dresden, Germany. She is on the board of several tap dance organizations and was appointed, by the governor of Massachusetts, to a seat on the board of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a post she has held from l996 until present.

She is quick to recognize her debt to many of the tap legends that have given to her so generously throughout her career, such as Honi Coles, Cholly Atkins, Eddie Brown, Nicholas Brothers, Peg Leg Bates, Steve Condos, Henry LeTang, Prince Spencer, Gregory Hines, LaVaughn Robinson and many others. Leon Collins passed away in l985, leaving Dianne to continue as one of the Directors of his school (1982-1995).

Dianne is currently Artistic Director of “TapDancin, Inc." located in Boston, MA, while working in conjunction with schools in both Minneapolis, Minnesota and Tokyo, Japan.