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The centuries-old tradition of passing down tap skills and technique continues today with festivals like the Chicago Human Rhythm Project. There, students have the opportunity to study with some of the greatest living tap dancers. The artists who are featured in the film include:
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Lane Alexander, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project's Founder and Artistic Director, is known for his original interpretation of Morton Gould's Tap Dance Concerto, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Symphony Center and at venues throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Alexander, the first and only tap dancer to receive an Illinois Arts Council Choreographic Fellowship, has toured internationally with the National Tap Dance Company of Canada and Austin On Tap. He has co-founded festivals in Minneapolis, San Antonio, and Heidelberg, Germany. |
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Van "The Man" Porter of Riverdance has collaborated with such greats as Tito Puente, George Benson and Wynton Marsalis and made appearances for former President Bush at the Kennedy Center Awards and at the Lincoln Center Jazz Program. |
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Dianne "Lady Di" Walker remains one of the handful of internationally acclaimed women in tap. Her work includes Broadway's Black and Blue and the feature film Tap. She has performed with tap masters Gregory Hines, Steve Condos and Jimmy Slyde, and her television credits include the PBS special "Great Performances: Tap Dance in America." |
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Mark Mendonca of Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk currently co-directs Los Angeles-based Dance Electric. Mendonca was also the first tap dancer to receive the Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship for Promising Young Artist and has appeared in such renowned theaters as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Apollo Theatre. |
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Sam Weber studied at the Julliard School then went on to dance with the Joffrey Ballet. One of the most sought-after teachers of tap dance in the world, he has distinguished himself as a tap virtuoso in concert tours internationally. Weber received the 1994 "Bessie" in New York for excellence in dance performance. |
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Ernest "Brownie" Brown, former member of the Copasetics and the vaudeville duo Cook and Brown, has performed for over 70 years and headlined at New York's Roxy, Radio City Music Hall and the Cotton Club. He is a Broadway veteran of Kiss Me Kate and appeared in the film The Cotton Club. |
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Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin, "Brownie's" somewhat younger partner, is a respected performer and teacher in Chicago. He has recently performed starring roles in The Sammy Davis Jr. Story and Beggar's Holiday in Chicago. Reggie is a member of Chicago's First Lady Maggie Daley's Gallery 37 project, which brings the arts to inner-city residents. |
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Michael "Shoehorn" Conley combines his unique brand of tap with his virtuosity on the saxophone. He has used his Tappercussion™ electronic tap dance instruments in performances and recordings since 1983. |
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Linda Sohl-Donnell is artistic director and choreographer for Rhapsody in Taps, a Los Angeles-based touring company founded in 1981. She has been awarded numerous fellowships, including four Choreographer's Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Since 1978 she has been on the dance faculty at Orange Coast College and has toured throughout the United States, Asia, France and Germany teaching and performing. |
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Fred Strickler is the founder of Jazz Tap Ensemble and Eyes Wide Open Dance Theatre. He is a featured soloist and choreographer for Rhapsody in Taps, and directs his own pickup company, Fred Strickler and Friends. An active choreographer, he has created more than 100 dances and has received six NEA Choreographer's Fellowships as well as a California Arts Council Arts Fellowship. |
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Barbara Duffy is a founding member, featured dancer and dance captain of Brenda Bufalino's American Tap Dance Orchestra, which presents ensemble tap in orchestral form. The dancers' feet are the instruments; using their feet, they create a spectrum of musical tones and rhythms in the manner of a conventional orchestra. |
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Rhythm I.S.S. is a Chicago-based female trio founded in 1995. Their director, Idella Reed, comes out of the Sammy Dyer School, one of the oldest tap dancing schools in the country. Their mission statement reflects the values of jazz-tap, to "preserve the history and authenticity of rhythm tap, educating and entertaining audiences worldwide through lecture-demonstrations, concert performances and tap workshops." Rhythm Rhythm I.S.S. members are Idella Reed, Sarah Savelli and Sharon Rushing. |
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The North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) serves to entertain, inform and preserve tap through their wide performance range. Gene Medler, who is also the artistic director, founded the troupe in 1983. The NCYTE members in the film are Danielle Purifoy, Meighan Osborn, Emily Shoemaker, Tipton Isenhour, Whitney Goodman, Jared Grimes, Jack Gaskins, Erica Bava, Aftan Freeman, and Kelly Dodson. |
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Prince Spencer is a living legend whose career has spanned eight decades. He was a member of the tap dance team the Four Step Brothers for 39 years. Early innovators of the acrobatic tap style, the Four Step Brothers were recognized for their contribution to the art of tap dancing with a Life Achievement Award in 1985 and by receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1988. Spencer received an honorary Doctorate of Dance from Southern Methodist University. |
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