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<br />In New York, GeBauer (second from left) found himself In hit Broadway shows like the musical Sugorwith top talent such as tapper
<br />Steve Condos (center) Former students traveled from near and far to attend GeBautr's 75th Birthday Tap Bash in 2009,
<br />quickly. "I got a job with the Jewel Box Revue instead,
<br />which was (performed by] a troupe of female imperson-
<br />ators. I didn't know this until I got there and saw men
<br />onstage in heels," he says. "I didn't care. I so needed the
<br />job —and it was show business."
<br />The Jewel Box Revue did more than pay the bills; it
<br />gave GeBauer a new worldview. "In Salem there were no
<br />openly gay people and only one black family. And here I
<br />was dancing in a show with both. I'd said I needed to get
<br />educated in life. Well, this really helped," he says. "The
<br />people in the show became my best friends."
<br />After two years, GeBauer got a break —a job as a re-
<br />placement in Once Upon a Mattress, followed by a three -
<br />year stint with the original cast of Camelot, starring Julie
<br />Andrews and Richard Burton. GeBauer took acting lessons
<br />and eventually landed roles in No Strings, Sugar, Hello
<br />Dolly! and Oh! Calcutta! He shared the stage with Carol
<br />Burnett, Carol Channing, Robert Goulet, and Steve Condos
<br />and worked with choreographers Gower Champion,
<br />Hanya Holm, and Alvin Ailey.
<br />After 20 years in New York, GeBauer and his wife, play-
<br />wright Judy GeBauer, wanted a change of scene, so they
<br />returned to Salem to raise their daughter. "I was well known
<br />there and thought it would be a good place to start a school,"
<br />says GeBauer. The husband -wife team ran an acting, singing,
<br />and dancing school called The Players Center for five years
<br />before moving to the Midwest, where GeBauer simultane-
<br />ously served on the faculty of the University of Iowa as a tap
<br />teacher and earned a BA in theater arts at age 57.
<br />After graduation, GeBauer pursued learning Alexander
<br />Technique as a way to rehab a back injury that had
<br />plagued him since Hello Dolly! He found a training pro-
<br />gram in the Denver area and again taught tap to support
<br />his family while he studied. "But by the time I graduated
<br />three years later, I was enjoying tap so much that all I
<br />wanted to do was dance," he says. At 60, GeBauer decided
<br />to hang his hat exclusively on tap dancing —where he had
<br />begun more than 45 years before.
<br />Dance is for everybody
<br />GeBauer's teaching philosophy is rooted in his belief that
<br />dance is for everybody, not just the gifted. Calling tap "gen-
<br />erous- spirited," he recalls benefiting greatly from experi-
<br />ences with tap masters and wanting to pass his knowledge
<br />on as well. "I learned tap dance history, correct technique,
<br />terminology, many different styles, different footwork, ideas
<br />on counting, and stories about other dancers and teachers,"
<br />he explains. "Tap almost faded into oblivion at one time.
<br />Tap dancers, perhaps more than other dancers, need to
<br />pass it on in order for it to survive."
<br />Student Malissa Spero sees the value in this philosophy.
<br />"He keeps numbers alive by teaching works like the Joe
<br />Louis Shuffle— pieces I would never otherwise have the
<br />chance to learn." (According to GeBauer, the Joe Louis
<br />Shuffle was a shim sham number created by Leonard Reed
<br />for a nightclub act he did with former heavyweight boxing
<br />champion Joe Louis.)
<br />Another longtime student, Karen Long, agrees. "In a few
<br />lessons I realized I would learn technique and rhythms I
<br />had never seen before, and that I'd be taught choreography
<br />that he had learned from the greatest tappers of all time."
<br />Although GeBauer has done workshops with almost
<br />every tap master of note, including Savion Glover, Ted
<br />Levy, and Brenda Bufalino, his personal approach is "back
<br />76 OANCE /r ikUFE • dedicated to quality dance eduratinn • March /April 2812
<br />CON
<br />AJ KUNB
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