The Dancing Man – Peg Leg Bates

Restored and remastered in 2K from the original 16 mm film, this one-hour PBS documentary tells the remarkable story of Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, the famous one-legged black tap dancer and Catskill resort owner. Bates’ unusual career spanned minstrel shows to the early days of television, when he became a regular guest on the Ed Sullivan Show. At age 12, Clayton Bates took a job in a cotton seed mill, and fell into an open auger. His mutilated leg was amputated on his mother’s kitchen table. By age forty, Peg Leg Bates was an international tap dance star, and had founded an all-black resort which was an oasis for generations of African-Americans during segregation.

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. Additional onscreen commentary by Ruth Brown, Percy Sutton, Chuck Green, Lon Chaney and Buster Brown tells the story of Bates’ onstage genius as well as his business acumen. When other entertainers were living the high life, Bates saved his money and opened a Catskill resort that welcomed African Americans. “The Dancing Man” concludes at his nightclub on the final night before his retirement, when the greatest living tap dancers make the pilgrimage to perform for him and lift a glass. 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 television and the other was that Joe Louis was going to fight.”

With Gregory Hines, Honi Coles, Chuck Green, Ruth Brown, Lon Chaney, Buster Brown, and Percy Sutton.

Produced by Dave Davidson and Amber Edwards; Directed by Dave Davidson

Editor/Associate Producer Rick Smigielski; Director of Photography Jay Kent

Runtime: 57 minutes

SCREENINGS: PBS National Broadcast, Chicago International Film Festival, National Educational Film & Video Festival, Houston International Film Festival, Columbus International Film Festival, Amsterdam, St. Petersburg, Munich Film Festivals

Production Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting