Lisa La Touche

https://www.lisalatouche.com 

As a proud Canadian and New Yorker, Lisa’s credits are world renowned. She was an original cast member in Broadway’s Shuffle Along, choreographed by Savion Glover and Directed by George C. Wolfe, where she received both the Fred Astaire Award and the Actor’s Equity Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. Her TV credits include the 70th Annual Tony Awards and Amazon’s Original “Z, The beginning of everything”. Previous highlights have also included touring with the Savion Glover production, Stepz, and also performing with both New York’s Off-Broadway and the North American touring casts of STOMP. Since 2010 she has run her own performance company Tap Phonics and has been commissioned to present for such organizations such as The Brooklyn Museum, 92Y, Gibney Dance and Fall For Dance North. As an educator and Professor she has taught for PACE University, NYU, The School of Jacob’s Pillow, University of Calgary, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Rosie’s Theater Kids and member of the creative council for the American Tap Dance Foundation. Her most recent endeavor has been writing and directing her debut film TRAX encompassing her journey back to Alberta while discovering important local black history. Above all, her proudest achievement greatest inspiration, is the gift of being a mom.

Heather Cornell

https://www.manhattantap.org 

Heather Cornell is a Canadian artist Presently on faculty at Hope College in Holland, MI where she is working on creating a Percussive Music/Dance Minor. She is Artistic Director of a number of music/dance companies, most notably Manhattan Tap and CanTap. Recent projects:

“Making Music Dance” with Andy Algire, “Finding Synesthesia” with Andy Milne (commissioned by London Jazz Festival) and “Conversations (commissioned by Capilano Univ). 

A leader of the rhythm tap renaissance in NYC in the 80’s and 90’s; dubbed “the Oscar Peterson of hoofing” Globe & Mail, Toronto; known for her collaborations with world class musicians; mentored by jazz icon Ray Brown; choreographed for Broadway and numerous shows and companies worldwide; featured internationally at jazz, music festivals, theaters, clubs, TV, annual live radio on WNYC; her love is to teach artists to be bilingual in music and dance. Thank you to her mentors who inspired her with their living history and their passion, keeping them vulnerable in a difficult world. Improvisation is the conversation that heals. Her 9-hour oral history was recently added to the Dance collection at the NYC Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. 

Hannah James

https://hannahjamesmusic.com

Hannah James has been one of the key figures in the revival of English percussive dance in recent years. Renowned as one of the best accordionists on the British folk scene, her musicianship extends far beyond the tradition and flawlessly incorporates beautiful vocal stylings with both classic and contemporary applications of English clog dance. She amazed audiences across the UK showcasing all of these with her breathtaking one-woman show, JigDoll, when she unveiled it in 2015. Her most recent project, The JigDoll Ensemble, was critically acclaimed as “the highlight of the festival” at the Folk Expo Manchester in late 2017 when it was debuted, garnering a standing ovation from professional delegates from across the world.

A collaborative project which she featured in, Songs of Separation, won the BBC Radio 2 folk award for Best Album in 2017. Her vocal trio Lady Maisery have produced three critically acclaimed albums and have also been nominated for the Horizon award at the BBC folk awards, and her previous duo with Sam Sweeney gained a Best Duo nomination in 2013.

In 2016 she was asked to dance with Seasick Steve on stage at Wembley arena to 10,000 people, and joined him again on Jools Hollands’ Hootenanny which was broadcast nationally on BBC 2. Her music is rooted in the English Tradition but is also influenced by her travels and collaborations with many international artists and her time studying at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

Annette Walker

http://annettewalker.co.uk

Annette is one of the leading exponents of a generation of tap dancers taking the stage with grace, style, and above all, rhythm. She is a dynamic and multi-skilled performer and has appeared in a variety of shows, from theatre, circus and dance, to the concert stage, television and film. Annette is an alumni Trailblazer Fellow of the Dance of the African Diaspora (One Dance UK), a freelance writer, researcher and consultant, and was the specialist in tap dance for the Royal Academy of Dance’s pilot project of Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing. She teaches both music and dance and regularly leads the Renegade Stage, an improvisation workshop for tap dancers, at the bi-monthly London Tap Jam. 

In 2019 she featured as a tap soloist in the BBC Proms Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music concert at the world famous Royal Albert Hall in London, UK.

Annette often collaborates with other artists and is currently working with artistic director and award-winning jazz bassist, Gary Crosby OBE, of Tomorrow’s Warriors. She is particularly interested in the past and present relationship between jazz dance and music, improvisation, and the development of tap dance in the UK in relation to its historic American roots. 

Annette is currently a PhD student in performing arts as part of the Black History of British Musical Theatre project at the University of Wolverhampton.

Jess Murray is a dance artist interested in the relationship between dance and music, or sound and movement and improvised performance. Her eclectic music background and interest in visual and performing arts have led her to collaborate with a wide range of different musicians and artists, performing in theatres, music venues, festivals and street performances. She works collaboratively with musicians to create original performance work such as the  Arts Council England funded projects SoundMoves and Sound Catchers and is currently an associate artist with QuestLab Network at Studio Wayne McGregor which explores the uses of creative technologies in dance and performance.

Jess is known in the UK for her work as a Tap Dance performer, teacher and tap jam host (Tap Rhythm Jam Nottingham/ Manchester, London Tap Jam, Tap Dance Festival UK). She coordinates Tap Rhythm Project which has delivered community Tap Dance activities in Nottingham and Manchester in the UK since 2006. She has appeared at numerous venues and festivals including the Purcell Rooms as part of London Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scotts in Soho, Band on the Wall in Manchester, Glastonbury Festival and the Olympic Opening Ceremony for the North West of England. She is currently working as choreographer for Tappin In’, a mass participation tap dancing and storytelling extravaganza taking place in Birmingham as part of the Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme.

Jess is currently undertaking a practice research Ph.D funded by Midland4Cities at De Montfort University researching ‘Improvisational Dramaturgy for Dance and Music Collaboration’. 

Thelma Goldberg

Thelma Larkin Goldberg recently received her PhD in Educational Studies from Lesley University. She founded The Dance Inn, a suburban private sector dance studio serving more than 400 students weekly, in 1983. She teaches regularly at dance teacher events including the Dancelife Teacher Conference, the American Tap Dance Foundation’s Tap Teacher Training Program, and the Beantown Tap Fest. She received the 2015 Dr. Michael Shannon Dance Champion Award from the Boston Dance Alliance for “her sustained excellence in teaching and passionate advocacy for the art of tap dancing.” Her research centers around the experience of the tap dance educator in the private sector dance studio and she shares teaching tools and her books through Thelma’s Tap Notes. 

Thelma Larkin Goldberg grew up in Cambridge, MA, where she studied dance at Bates School of Dance in Central Square. After earning her B.S. in Special Education from Lesley College in 1974, she taught in the Boston Public School system, earning her Masters in Special Education from Regis College while starting a family and relocating to Lexington, MA. After founding the Dance Inn in 1983, in the dining room of her home, Thelma eventually found her way to the rich tap scene in the Boston area, studying at the Leon Collins Studio in Brookline and meeting many of the friends and associates who have continued to inspire her since then. In 1997 she started Dance Inn Productions, a nonprofit organization producing annual International Tap Day Festivals that honored master tappers with the Tapestry Award for Teaching. Among the dancers she has celebrated are Dianne Walker, Brenda Bufalino, Sarah Petronio, Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde and Billy Siegenfeld. 

She has one published article in the Dance education in Practice Journal titled “Release, Relax, Ready: A Rhythm-First, Holistic Approach to Teaching Tap Dance” (17-24). Included here is the link to the article: “Release, Relax Ready” 

Travis Knights

www.travisknights.com

Travis Knights is a Tap Dancer. Born in Montreal, Canada, Travis was introduced to the rich oral tradition of Tap by his teacher Ethel Bruneau at age 10. He went on to travel the world spreading his love of rhythm across 4 continents, touring with Tap Dogs, Tapestry Dance Company, and the self-produced Tap Love Tour.   He is the 2020 recipient of the Jaqueline Lemieux Prize for outstanding contribution to dance in Canada.  In December 2021, in partnership with Dance Immersion, Travis, along with renowned Tap Dancer Lisa LaTouche, created and directed Legacy Series: Tap Dance Symposium which aimed to re-introduce Tap Dance to the local Black community in Toronto.  He currently lives in Brampton, Ontario and hosts The Tap Love Tour Podcast, available on spotify, soundcloud and apple podcasts, (make sure to subscribe) featuring interviews of a myriad of inspiring tap dance artists.

Simeon Weedall

https://wellmadenoise.com  

Simeon studied at London Studio Centre and graduated with a BAHons in Jazz Theatre Dance and the prestigious Tap Award. His performance career includes Chicago International Tour, Chicago West End, Dorrance Dance New York, co-creater of About Time tap company London. He was a tap soloist for Coca-Cola, The Liam O’Conner Show, the Jiving Lindyhoppers, Will Gaines 80th Birthday Celebration, Tap World, and has formed musical collaborations with multiple jazz artists across the world. He then collaborated with Lee Payne and Theseus Gerard to create Percussive Feet tap company. Simeon joined STOMP London in 2007 and after a world tour and three U.S tours he then resided in the New York Production and totaled 15yrs in the show. Simeon was the drummer for Paradise Rocks the musical and plays for various dance classes. More recently he created a short, self-filmed percussion movie – One Man, Many Rhythms.

Simeon’s tap dance and body percussion teachings expand across every major dance school in the U.K. the U.S.A and continue to inspire the next generation of tap dancers worldwide through his online teaching school – wellmadenoise.com. He has contributed to raising money for multiple charities across the globe through his tap solos.

Lee Payne

https://www.bruckfeetproductions.com 

After 7 years of training in the arts and entertainment industry, Lee started of working with small rep companies within the swing and Lindy hop circuit. He then ventured on to music videos and stage performances for such artists as Enrique Inglesias, Garielle, Wyclef Jean, Brian Harvey, Steps, S-Club 7, The Honeyz, The Appleton Sisters and many more. Completing 2 years of touring with singers and this experience under his belt, Lee was asked to become a tutor in performing arts for 2 year in Birmingham. Learning more about himself from teaching it was then time for Lee to move on. Lee took the opportunity to head across to stage productions, Singing in the Rain, Riverdance and Magic of the dance. Fruitful and fore-filling, Gathering knowledge on route, Lee then stepped away from theatre to work in film, music and Animation. Currently a creative director for his own performance company with many works looking to be produced in 2023, Lee has also taking the time to help inspire and develop students at the Institute Of Contemporary Theatre Brighton.  

With the percussive sounds of tap dancing, Lee began has created music and work in international bands to develop his skills. Staying in the creative and education field, Lee is now working to create new platforms within in all areas in the arts for professionals and new graduates. 

“Art is passion, and passion is life. Never let that flame be extinguished”

Ademola Junior Laniyan

http://www.juniorlaniyan.com/bio

Born and raised in South East London, Ademola Junior Laniyan has tap danced on stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall with the recording artist Robbie Williams; with the Canadian Tap Pioneer Heather Cornell in Finding Synesthesia for both the London and Salzberg Jazz Festivals and in The Purcell Room for Out of the Blues with his tap Mentor Tobias Tak. His credits include Riverdance, the Tony award winning Broadway show After Midnight as well as Los Sones Negros for Suma Flamenca, La Serena Festival Internacional de Jazz, and the Michele Drees Jazz Tap Project (London Jazz Festival and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club).

Tap choreography credits include Net A Porter’s online Autumn Winter shoes campaign, Sky 1’s Louis Spence’s Show Business, a commercial for Zain in Lebanon and Tap Dance consultant for London’s 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. He was also commissioned by The Space to choreograph a tap number in collaboration with British Jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch.

Ademola Junior Laniyan has also taught extensively within the UK, continental Europe and South America. In his efforts to share his love of the dance with others, he co-founded the London Tap Jam, a regular opportunity for tap dancers to jam with each other supported by fantastic live musicians in the heart of London.

Jack Evans

Jack trained at Bird College – Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre, graduating with distinction and as one of two recipients of the Doreen Bird Award. Whilst studying, he also trained with Tap Attack and in 2010 won the Adult Duo category at the IDO World Tap Championships with his own choreography. This achievement precipitated an early creative career and lead to an additional five choreographic world titles for Team GB. Alongside choreography, Jack is an established filmmaker for dance, most notably as the writer, director and choreographer for ‘DATELEAP’ (Short Film). Other short form works have garnered millions of views and viral successes online. For the theatre, he has written and directed ten original multi-genre dance short stories, and is the writer of ‘Feet Keep Me Flyin’ – a full length, narrative driven tap dance show. Other choreographic credits include ‘SKIN Fashion Show’ (Canary Wharf), ‘G-Star RAW’ (Kyiv / TV), and ‘Game of Talents’ (ITV). 

Trish Melton

Trish is a tap dance educator, researcher and choreographer. She runs a community-based dance school and a tap dance performance group: The Kerry Tap Ensemble. Trish also runs a global project management consultancy. A professional background in teaching and training in project management is entirely transferable to all aspects of her professional life.

Her key research area is tap dance pedagogy. She completed an MA (Distinction) in dance education with the RAD/Bath University. Her research explored the narratives of tap dance teaching: the oral history passed down through the Tap Masters and reviewed what this means for teaching today through practical action research.

Her current research interests continue to be tap dance pedagogy with one area of focus being the use of tap dance repertory in teaching and how the historical and cultural perspectives can enhance the learning experience. She is currently a PhD researcher in Tap Dance Pedagogy at C-DaRE, Coventry University.