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One of the country's leading authorities in jazz and tap, Buster Cooper is unsurpassed as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer.   He is held in high regard as a faculty member of all the most prominent dance organizations throughout the nation, and has conducted master classes at many colleges and universities all over the United States.  He has choreographed hit shows across the country and many of his students have professional careers.  His circle of influence in dance is enormous.  Mr. Cooper has taught more than 200,000 students in his 55 year career, and has choreographed more than 1,700 dance numbers over his lifetime.  As a choreographer, he has worked with shows in Las Vegas, Broadway, the Seattle World's Fair along side choreographing numbers for musicals, conventions, galas, recitals and competitions.

Commenting on his experiences with Buster, Tracy Jordan, former student and lead singer with Folies Bergere, Las Vegas, stated "In all my years of dance in show business perhaps my greatest frustration is that I have rarely encountered tap choreography that is anything near the challenge that Buster Cooper gave me in my years of study with him.  Just when you think you know where he will take the rhythm next, Buster throws it onto a beat you never expected, puts the weight on a foot you never anticipated, and takes the step out on a tangent you never foresaw...but that is totally right!  He can twist your brain, make your feet sing, and romance a rhythm like no other.  Buster Cooper.  He's the man!"

  
Buster Cooper has danced and taught jazz and tap around the world.  And his students have danced around the world too.  Some are famous, like Patrick Swayze, Sandy Duncan, Janis Paige and Allan Case.  Any one who has studied dance in North Texas knows that Buster Cooper is synonymous with dance.

Even in his seventies, Cooper dances.  He just can't stand still.  At age 3 he began his dancing career in Magnolia, Arkansas learning the Charleston and Black Bottom from the family maid, Delma Spears.  He remembers his first performance at a local grocery store and barbershop. "Delma would clap her hands while I danced.  Afterward we would pass the hat.  We had a thriving business going until my mother found us out and stopped our enterprise," says Cooper.

Today Buster Cooper is the Artist-in-Residence at Dance Traxx, owned and operated by Terry Wolter in North Dallas.  For 52 years Mr. Cooper owned and ran his own studio, The Buster Cooper School of Dance, and for more than 30 years, Mr. Cooper served as the head of dance at The Hockaday School.  In the late 1980's Cooper had six former students appearing simultaneously on Broadway, two with lead rolls in A Chorus Line, two in 42nd Street, and one in the Broadway Show Cats.  In March of 1983 Mr. Cooper did the Bob Hope Special featuring the Buster Cooper Dancers.  He has worked side by side with many talented artists including Agnes deMille, George Skibine, Lee Adams, Charles Strauss, Peter Gennaro, Alice Faye, Pat Boone, Pamela Tiffin, Bob Newhart, Tom Ewell, Jose Ferrer, Bobby Darin and Ann-Margret.

In 1996, Dance Masters of America presented Mr. Cooper with the prestigious Presidents Award in new York.  In 1997, The Dallas Dance Council recognized him with the Mary McLarry Bywaters Award, honoring his lifetime contribution to dance.  Most recently, Mr. Cooper received the 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award from Dance Educators of America in Las Vegas.  He is recognized locally, regionally and nationally as a Master Teacher and Choreographer.  Today, like in prior years, Cooper is active as a faculty member at meetings and conventions sponsored by Dance Educators of America, Chicago National Association of Dancing Masters, Inc., Dance Masters of America, Southern Dance Association, Texas Association of Teachers of Dance, Professional Dance Teachers Association and National Association of Dance Affiliated Artists.

He gained wide recognition as a choreographer for his shows in New York and in Las Vegas.  He was the original choreographer for "Bottoms Up," the longest running review in Las Vegas.  His Jazz ballet, "Percussion Suite" was presented at the Seattle World's Fair.

In the 50's Cooper was a partner in forming the recording company, Choreo, which provided music and choreography for dance teachers all over the world.

In the mid 70's he toured Europe, teaching at the University of Exeter in England and performing in England, Germany and Holland.  In the spring of 1977 he studied, taught and performed in Kanazawa, Japan as a cultural exchange director for the Buffalo, New York - Kanazawa Japan Sister City Goodwill Tour.  He also has toured Portugal, Spain and Morocco furthering his knowledge of dance.

During the summer of 1995 Cooper performed in "Dances to Celebrate," in Dallas.  Margaret Putnam, dance critic of The Dallas Morning News, wrote of his performance.  "Delightful, too, is Buster Cooper... With a grin so big it makes slits of his eyes, he claps his hands, shrugs a shoulder and spins about, all the while raining down soft, lightly inflected taps."

Anne Cooper, Buster's wife of 40 years, can attest to his dedication to dance.  Their daughter, Leslie Cooper, dances with the Buster Cooper Dancers, and they have a dancer granddaughter, Keira Leverton, who is continuing her education this fall at the University of North Texas.