Jane Nedda Goldberg (born February 2, 1948) is an American tap dancer and historian. Jane founded the Changing Times Tap Dance Company in 1979. She is the author of "Shoot Me While I'm Happy: Memories of The Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side (2008)," an autobiographical work describing her experiences within the world of tap. Since 1977, Jane has received numerous awards for her tap dancing performances and productions, expanding the legend and lore of tap dancing into the community.

Early life

Jane was born in Washington, DC

Career

Jane began her career as a journalist, writing for The Boston Globe, The Patriot Ledger, The Village Voice, Dance Magazine and The New York Times, among other periodicals. During her fifty-year history as a tap dancer and promoter, Jane interviewed, worked with and learned from many of the greats including:

Honi Coles Charles "Honi" Coles (April 2, 1911 – November 12, 1992) was an American actor and tap dancer, who was inducted posthumously into the American Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2003. He had a distinctive personal style that required technical precisio ...

, Cookie Cook, Bubba Gaines, Bert 'Gip' Gibson,

Chuck Green Charles Green (November 6, 1919 – March 7, 1997) was an American tap dancer. Green was born in Fitzgerald, Georgia. He would stick bottle caps on his bare feet as a child and tap dance on the sidewalk for money. He won third place in a dance ...

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordi ...

and others. The year 1978 was a prolific year for shows, including Its About Time, Jacobs Pillow, Village Vanguard and Chappaqua Arts Center to name a few. During this time, she was employed as a dancer under the Cultural Council Foundation CETA Artists Project along with

Charles “Cookie” Cook Charles "Cookie" Cook (February 11, 1914 – August, 1991) was a tap dancer who performed in the heyday of tap through the 1980s, and was a founding member of the Copasetics. He was the dance partner of Ernest "Brownie" Brown, with whom he perfo ...

. CETA, the

Comprehensive Employment and Training Act The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA, ) was a United States federal law enacted by the Congress, and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973 to train workers and provide them with jobs in the public service. ...

, which funded 20,000 arts sector jobs nationwide, provided Goldberg with a steady salary as well as performance opportunities.

Awards

* National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowship in Choreography, 1977

References

External links

* * NYPL Archives and Manuscripts https://archives.nypl.org/dan/24828 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Jane 1948 births Living people American female dancers American historians American tap dancers American women historians Musicians from Washington, D.C.