As you may have gathered from some of the other choices in the SK Dance Studio best dancers of all time list, we just LOVE percussive dance styles so there’s plenty of tap dancers in our top 10 list. And when it comes to tap-dancing in particular, Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson was the absolute godfather.

Bill’s signature dance style was so relaxed and understated, it was virtually horizontal. Apart from a natural swing of the arms and the odd tilt of his hat, the upper-body hardly featured in his choreography at all and to be honest, why would you want to take the focus off your feet when you can dance like Mr Bojangles?

Born in 1878 as Luther Robinson (a name he apparently didn’t like so swapped names with his brother – strange I know), Bill was dancing from a very early age. As a child, he worked as a “hoofer” – a sort of dancing busker, then dropped out of school to pursue his dance career with a travelling company, which eventually led to huge success on Broadway.

Bill’s career was propelled to the big time thanks to the ingenious “stair-dance” routine he created for the 1928 Broadway revue, Blackbirds. And if you needed justification for Bill’s number two spot, then watch this routine for yourself. With no set, no costumes and no big band to distract you, all you can focus on is the quality and rhythmic brilliance of the tap dancing. I mean, how many beats can you possibly cram into a riff or wing? It’s ridiculous and absolutely, utterly mesmerising!

Click here to watch Bill Bojangles Robinson’s mesmerising stair tap dance.

Bill was still amazing audiences in his fifties thanks to a successful screen pairing with Shirley Temple in a series of smash-hit musicals. Through this endearing partnership, Bill got to recreate his famous stair-dance routine in “The Little Colonel”, as well as make social history by becoming the first African American male to ever dance with a white girl on film.

Bill… we salute you.