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To say Jabu Graybeal is a tap dancing wunderkind would not be an exaggeration. Starting at the age of 13, Jabu began dancing with tap master Gene Medler, and he has not stopped dancing since. Since leaving North Carolina, Jabu has danced with prominent companies in New York and has been on tour nationally and internationally. On top of his massive talent in tap dancing, Jabu is also a budding musical artist. There is no stopping this talented dancer and musician – he is most certainly on the road to stardom.
Tell me about yourself.
I was born in Texas, adopted at two months old, and grew up here in Pittsboro. As a kid, I was always drumming on anything I could get my hands on, like pots and pans. I also really liked to dance. At the age of six or seven, my mom was like, “I feel like tap dancing might be a perfect fit for this kid because it’s both rhythm and movement.” She put me in a class right here in Pittsboro, and I instantly fell in love with it. I’ve been doing it ever since.
I spent a year at that dance school in Pittsboro. I was the only boy dancer at the school, which I didn’t really care too much about, but I definitely wanted to be around more guys. That’s when I found out about the ballet school in Chapel Hill, and the tap teacher there, Gene Medler. I had a few friends who were also taking tap there. At first we were wondering whether the 30-minute drive to Chapel Hill every week would be worth it, but I tried it, and I discovered that Gene was amazing, so I committed to it. At first it was once a week, but then I auditioned for the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble there, and I got accepted. I joined when I was 13 and danced with them until I was 18.
I didn’t spend too much time in Pittsboro growing up since my dance studio was in Chapel Hill. My mom [Louise Omoto Kessel] runs a summer camp called Clapping Hands Farm in Pittsboro, so I was there every summer, when I wasn’t dancing.
Where did you go to school?
I was actually homeschooled. It was nice, especially when I started traveling more for dance because I could take my schoolwork with me on the road. I was in the Youth Tap Ensemble in Chapel Hill for six or seven years, and after that, I was asked to dance with a company called Caleb Teicher & Company, based out of New York. I danced with them for about two years.
While I was in the youth company, I went to tap festivals every summer. At these festivals, you get the chance to take classes from all these master teachers from all over the world. They’re also a great way to meet new dancers. Going to these festivals and different workshops really strengthened me as a dancer and helped me build some really valuable connections.
You mentioned briefly that you were the only boy in the class when you started out. If a young boy came up to you today and told you he was interested in tap, what advice would you give him?
For me, it wasn’t the end of the world that I was the only guy in the class, mainly because I loved dancing so much. But if I had to give a boy interested in tap some advice, I would tell him not to worry about being the only boy. If you’re taking it seriously and you’re a guy, you definitely stand out, in a good way. I mean, it’s easier said than done, but try not to worry about what other people think or say, just do you. I know there are a lot of stereotypes about boys dancing in terms of sexuality, but it really doesn’t matter what your sexual orientation is, or your race for that matter. It’s all art for everyone.
What do you love about tap?
Definitely how musically influenced and rhythmic it is. It’s like playing drums with my feet. I also love the community behind tap dance. It’s not too popular of an art form, so the family’s very small. It’s cool because we all know each other.
Who inspires you in the dance world?
At the top of the list is Michelle Dorrance, who’s also from North Carolina. She has a company called Dorrance Dance, based in New York. Also Derick Grant, another master of the art form. He’s been in big Broadway shows like Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk. And obviously my first teacher, Gene Medler.
How do you think tap has evolved over the years?
Originally tap and jazz were hand-in-hand. There was always a tap dancer who accompanied a jazz band. Over the years, we lost that; you started to see fewer and fewer tap dancers with bands. But recently, tap dancers have started dancing to other types of music, other genres, including hip hop mixed with the tap. I would say Chloe Arnold is a big leader in pushing forward that new contemporary form of tap dance. Today you see more tap on TV and in movies. I would say the biggest thing is that tap dancers are starting to dance to different music.
Do you think your tap style changes depending on what music you’re dancing to?
I tap dance to express myself, first and foremost. I definitely feel like I can express myself on a deeper level when I dance to jazz, as opposed to hip hop, or even classical music. But it’s still fun. I still really enjoy dancing to hip hop, but I do feel like I can connect with the art form on a deeper level and express myself better when I dance to jazz.
I saw you’re going on tour again. Tell me a little bit about that, and about the group you’re touring with.
I’m touring with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. Postmodern Jukebox started with Scott making these little YouTube videos in his basement in New York. He started out doing covers of jazz songs, or just songs he liked. Then one day he decided to start rearranging and remixing pop songs to make them sound like Ragtime music from the early 1900s. Scott’s videos blew up on YouTube. I think he has about five million subscribers now. One of the cool things about the production is they always have a tap dancer for all the shows. It really brings back the old style of having a tap dancer with the jazz music, but it’s also modern pop music. It’s kind of the best of both worlds.
How did the pandemic affect your career? Were you on tour?
At the beginning of the pandemic, I think most of us were just trying to figure out what was happening. As COVID started to spread in the US, I was on tour in Florida. We had a few shows there, and then we were supposed to be on our way up to Charleston, South Carolina, and then travel to New York. After the Charleston show, I got a call from the band leader saying that they’re stopping the tour completely. It was kind of crazy. At that point, we knew it was getting serious.
I left Charleston and went home to Pittsboro. I was home for about four months, making music and dancing at home. As things went on, I started working on this new Broadway show called Attention: the Universe, which was about the invention of Morse Code. Unfortunately the show crashed and burned, mostly because of the pandemic.
That brings me to my next question. Tell me about your music.
I was always drumming and making music, but I actually started producing beats when I was about 13, which was about the same time I started taking tap dance seriously. I used to get on Garageband on my mom’s computer, making beats. I did that for about three years. It was just for fun. I didn’t really do much with it at the time. But when I was 16, I started to record myself, to see how it might sound. I made my first song around that time and put it out on SoundCloud. It’s always been something I’ve enjoyed, but I haven’t really put my full energy into it to try to make it into a career.
My music is a totally different side of me. Tap and music are both very much part of me and who I am. I can’t really have one or the other; I like to do both. I’m definitely trying to figure out ways to combine my music and tap dance because they’ve been separate for so long. I’m thinking about making videos of my songs with my dancing. I would also love to tour around with a live band, singing and tap dancing, or even recording taps on an actual track. It could be fun. I’m still brainstorming.
I saw you had a partner for your music. Tell me about him and your collaboration.
His artist name is JLAV, but his real name is John Brewington. He’s from Valley Stream, New York. We met in 2017 when we were both in a jazz program at the Berkeley School of Music. I went as a tap dancer, and he went as a saxophone player. We didn’t really connect too much during the program, but we connected on social media afterwards and discovered that we both like to make music. 2019 was the first time we hooked up for music and made a few songs. We’ve been working on an album, and hopefully we’re putting it out this year.
What do you think the future holds for you?
I honestly don’t know. I just go with the flow. I do want to do more movies.
You were in a movie? Tell me about that!
I was in Boston last year for six months, filming a movie that will come out this Christmas called Spirited. Will Farrell and Ryan Reynolds are in it. It was a lot of fun, and it made me love film and acting. I definitely want to explore that more. I also want to start trying to do my music and make music videos for that. And of course, continuing to dance whenever and wherever I can.
Tell me more about the movie and how that opportunity came to be.
Chloe Arnold, an African American choreographer and tap dancer, runs a tap festival in Washington, DC that I attended one summer. After we met there, she became a mentor, not only for dance, but just life in general. She’s the choreographer for this movie, so she called me up and said, “Hey, I’d really like you to be part of this movie. You need to move to Boston for six months.” Of course I said yes. That’s really how it came to be. It just shows how important connections are; they’re the key to opportunities.
Working with celebrities was surreal, though. I felt like I went from watching them on my couch at home to shooting a scene with them in a day. Ryan and Will are awesome. They’re really down to earth people. It was also cool to see how much work is put into movies, between the crew, the set design, wardrobe, and makeup. It really takes a village to make those big productions work.
How many dancers were in the cast?
There were about 25 to 30 core dancers, and then throughout the summer we had additional dancers come in to make each scene look bigger and more full. I was part of the core dancer group. There were tap dancers, hip hop dancers, jazz dancers, and ballet dancers. There’s a lot of tap dancing in the movie.
Let’s finish by talking about Big Night In. Did you do your own choreography for your Big Night In performance?
I just improvised. That’s probably my favorite thing about tap dancing is how rooted the art form is in improvisation. When I’m on tour, I am able to do something different every night. I just go out there and express myself how I want to. I enjoy just going out there, doing whatever feels right, and leaving it on the floor.
Don’t miss your chance to watch Jabu perform during Big Night In on March 10 on WRAL or at wral.com at 7 p.m. It’ll be a performance to remember!
Photos of Jabu at Chatham Mills by Andrea Akin.
Jo Sanders says
Really enjoyed this great interview with Jabu!