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Dianne was in Boston, Massachusetts
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Diane contracted Polio at the age of 15 months. She spent three months in the hospital and several months in quarantine.
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As a form of physical therapy, Dianne was sent to study dance under Ethel Covan to help rebuild strength in her legs. Ethel's forte was in ballet, but Diane began to build interest in tap.
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At the age of 7 Dianne was referred to Mildred Kennedy who ran the Kennedy Dancing School in Boston.
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Walker's mother remarried and Dianne was forced to leave the Kennedy school at the age of 10. The family moved to the Edwards Air Force Base in California where she attended elementary and middle school.
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Dianne moved back to Boston and finished her schooling. At the age of 18 she married Rodney Walker and started raising a family.
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Walker was a mother of two living in Boston. She met Willie Spencer through her work. Willie referred Walker to the dance studio of Leon Collins. Leon took her under his wing and taught her his tap routines. Walker was soon teaching Collin's morning children's classes.
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Collin's & Company was founded by Collins, C. B. Hetherington, Pamela Raff and Diane Walker. Walker attended Jane Goldberg's festival in New York City the same year. Here Diane was saddened to see the stereotype and disadvantages placed on black dancers.
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Walker was not very focused on making "art" when it came to her tap career. She was more worried about making a connection with the younger African American population. She wanted to make these social connections with these kids who had not yet been ignited by the upcoming of rhythm tap.
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Collin's was too sick to travel to Rome for the International Tip Tap Festival in Rome. Dianne Walker went in his place and preformed his classical work of the bumblebee. This was Dianne's first solo tap performance.
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Walker appeared in the film "Tap!" as one of the Shim Sham Girls. She made appearances in certain shows and performances, but she was never a tap choreographer or director of a dance company.
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In 1989 Walker was featured on Tap Dance of America dancing a solo to "Perdido". Her elegant and radiance was displayed throughout the entire performance. During the performance she snapped into her iconic arms-open-wrists-dropped pose.
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Dianne Walker appeared in the production of "Black and Blue" in both Paris and Broadway. She worked as a principal dancer on both productions as well as an assistant choreographer in the Broadway production.
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Dianne Waker was the recipient of the Dance Magazine Award in 2012. She was presented the award on the grounds of her lifelong achievements in dance.
