This enigmatic, top-hatted character appeared in a dream, performing a very solemn and dignified sort of dance. In dress and bearing he resembled some old-time hoofer like Bojangles Robinson or Sandman Sims, though it wasn’t exactly a tap dance, more a soft shoe / buck dance type of thing – anyway, it was a compelling and emotionally charged image which evoked something of my childhood immersion in old movies and my parents’ 78 records. A few years later he ended up as a character in my animated film Fishwife. For the Fishwife dance animation, I rotoscoped video of a contemporary buck dancer whose motion had the right vibe. His name escapes me, but I do remember that tracking him down to get permission was no small feat. He was a bit confused by my asking to use his roto’d likeness in the film, and he didn’t want his name in the credits. Happily he did say yes to the whole thing.