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Spectrum Magazine (Scotland
on Sunday), UK - July 23, 2006
INTRODUCING...
James Devine, tap dancer
Photograph: Phil Wilkinson
JAMES DEVINE is the world's fastest
dancer. With an unbelievable 38 taps per second,
the Irishman danced his way into The Guinness Book
of Records in 1998.
He grew up in County Clare, and it
wasn't long before his talent was spotted by his
mother - who had herself been a champion dancer.
While she was using her typewriter one day, she
noticed her six-year-old son repeating the rhythm
of her typing with his feet. "I was able to
keep in time with my mother's typing quite easily,"
says Devine.
"She taught me some basic rhythms
by tapping them out on the back of my hands, which
I'd repeat." Remarkably, he was just 14 years
old when he achieved the 'grand slam' - winning
the Munster, all-Ireland, British, American and
world dancing titles.
He went on to work with Michael Flatley
on a global tour of Lord of the Dance, before moving
to Australia. While there, he choreographed, directed
and took the lead role in the world tour of Gael
Force - the first large-scale Irish dance show to
feature live tapping.
His talent is hard to ignore, but
38 taps in one second? "There's the possibility
of hitting your tap shoe eight times in different
spots in one move," says Devine. "My subconscious
mind is so trained that it has become second nature
to me."
Devine recently moved to Edinburgh,
where he will perform the world première
of his show Tapeire next month, as part of the Festival
Fringe. Tapeire, he says, is "a rhythmic and
musical journey that displays the speed, fury and
phenomenal precision of modern Irish tap."
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