Thursday, September 21, 2006

Broadway Dance Steps

This is what you glimpsed near the top of yesterday's photo. For 4 blocks along Broadway on Capitol Hill you can follow the lovely tile trails on either side of the street to find 8 wonderful bronze sculptures embedded in the walkways. These eight different dance steps (pictured here is the Lindy Hop) are the work of artist Jack Mackie. In 1989 the city tore up the sidewalks on Broadway to put overhead wires underground. Mackie created these very popular, whimsical pieces to be included in the neighborhood "redux." Read more about the Rumba, Mombo, and other Broadway Dance Steps by clicking the link.

17 comments:

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Cool!

Kim said...

Hey, that's Michael's line! Oh well. He doesn't get to visit from Paris here very much, so you can use it, Chad. ;^) thanks,
-Kim

Ame said...

Well, we missed each other's childhood but we can make up for lost time NOW! Thanks Kim, mutual is feeling as my Dad always says! LOL! And you just have the COOLEST (credit to Michael, LOL!) stuff on your sidewalks...I should start looking down more often...I'm afraid I won't find much more than ABC gum & the occasional dog turd tho! Great post! ;-)

photowannabe said...

What an awesome street sculpture.

~tanty~ said...

Very interesting! I've never seen this before. Great post Kim!

Daniele Marioli said...

Truly amusing these shot!
Ciao!

Anonymous said...

cool!

Olivier said...

un rain dog de plus, cette photo est superbe et surprenante.

Kim said...

Thank you for your kind comments! And Olivier, what is a rain dog? I've heard of sun dogs. . . . So nice of each of you to visit and leave a comment. It is much appreciated. This one is dedicated to my dear dance partner.
-Kim

Alex said...

Very creative and REALLY COOL. I love it. Do you know what dance it is? If 1, 2, 3, 1,2,3 -- Quick, quick, slow. Quick, quick, slow, is Rumba, what is this step pattern? Tango? Have you seen people dancing on it?

Anonymous said...

What a great idea.. you can dance down the street now.

Anonymous said...

did u try the steps, kim?
i was imagining in my mind :)

Steve Reed said...

I visited this part of Seattle years ago and danced on these very footprints! It was great to stumble onto them again on your blog!

Steve Reed said...

...and stumble is the appropriate word, believe me!

Meg said...

What a greaet idea. (But why do women have to wear tiny heels all the time?)

Anonymous said...

Cool pics, but this is actually incorrect - I first encountered these my senior year of high school - 1984. So, they're at least that old.

Kim said...

I stand by my source for their installation as part of the sidewalk remodel, the artist himself. Perhaps he created a set or more earlier or they were re-installed with the project, but the year noted is from an interview with the artist.
-Kim