Join the Coronado Island Film Festival for a special screening this Friday, March 25, 2022 for an anniversary screening of the documentary of “Dancing Man – Peg Leg Bates.” The screening event will take place in the Winn Room in partnership with the Coronado Public Library from 4 to 6 pm. A conversation and Q&A will follow with filmmaker and author, Amber Edwards. Released originally in 1992, a new remastered 30th edition will be shown, sharing the story of world-famous Peg Leg Bates.
At 12 years old Bates had his leg amputated on his mother’s kitchen table. At 40 he was a world renowned tap dancer and a regular on the Ed Sullivan show. He is “The Dancing Man” – Peg Leg Bates.
As a disabled African American, Clayton Bates fought discrimination on two fronts, eventually rising to become jazz dance royalty. Stunning archival film clips and commentary by tap greats such as Honi Coles and Gregory Hines demonstrate that Peg Leg Bates was far more than a novelty act. Determined to be financially independent, Bates saved his money and opened a Catskill resort that welcomed African Americans. R & B legend Ruth Brown sums up his influence on African American culture in his time: “In those days, there were two great things for Black people. One was that Peg Leg Bates was going to be on TV, and the other was that Joe Louis was going to fight.”
The film originally screened at the annual Coronado Island Film Festival (CIFF) in November 2021 to rave reviews. If you missed it then please plan to join CIFF for this encore screening and meet Amber Edwards.
Edwards is a multi-talented powerhouse: as co-producer and co-director at Hudson West with Dave Davidson, she has produced several award-winning documentaries, an episodic series for PBS and, during her tenure at New Jersey Public Television as Senior Producer and Host of the long-running weekly series “State of the Arts,” received 13 regional Emmy Awards. She recently released her first novel, “Forty Days and Forty Nights”—a thriller set in the Mississippi Delta, co-authored with her husband Justin Scott—published in October 2021. Publishers Weekly declared it a “gripping thriller” fueled by “a plausible and chilling scenario…with a large and vividly rendered cast.” In her “spare” time she is an accomplished singer and appears on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack of the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”
The afternoon promises to be a lively one! The screening is free and open to the public. We are requesting attendees to RSVP @ www.goelevent.com/CIFF/e/TheDancingMan-PegLegBates
Seating will be on a first come basis once doors open at 3:30 pm. RSVP will help us determine the headcount for the event. CIFF Benefactor Members will have reserved seats, please contact Nick Curtin to RSVP at [email protected].
Source: Coronado Island Film Festival
