May is tapping out all over!

La MaMa e.t.c presents

Tap Gallery: Space, Time, Tempo

a tap salon curated by 

Laraine Goodman and Allison Plamondon

Wednesday, May 23

7:30-10:30pm

New York City's first Tap Gallery Salon presenting works and riffs on space, time and tempo. Variations on vaudeville, jazz tap, funk and more.

Tap dancers: Baakari Wilder, Hank Smith, Chikako Iwahori, Eric Robertson, Megan Haungs, Toes Tiranoff and more. Indian/Contemporary dancer Noah Damer. Robert Galinsky and Susan Justice, Mary Jo Lombardo, Susan Sherman and Maggie Craig

Musicians: Akayko Shirasaki, Debbie Kennedy, Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks, Heather Paauwe, Rachelle Garniez, David Conrad

La MaMa La Galleria
6 East 1st Street (between Second Avenue and Bowery), Manhattan

F train to Second Avenue or Broadway-Lafayette
N or R Broadway/Astor Pl
6 train Astor Place

Suggested donation: $15

For information and reservations, email: lamamatapgallery@gmail.com

Laraine Goodman: 646-263-7926

*****

And don't miss American Tap Dance Foundation's numerous 25th Anniversary youth program events and adult student showcase (May through June) leading up to this year's Tap City festivities in July. Information here.

For information on Writing on Tap (Saturday, June 23)--a special presentation of Collective for Dance Writing and New Media co-sponsored with American Tap Dance Foundation--click here. RSVP early!

Shim Sham like a butterfly

Shim Sham -- Tonight! 7pm! Free!

Hosted by Roxane Butterfly
Featuring the Theo Hill Trio

Curated by Rashida Bumbray

This jam is open to tap dancers of all levels and concludes with the famous Shim Sham Shimmy, the hoofers’ international anthem. So come enjoy the show or bring your shoes and join the jam!

Roxane "Butterfly"

Based in New York and Barcelona, French-born tap dancer Roxane “Butterfly” was given
her name by the late legendary be-bop hoofer Jimmy Slyde. Known for her Worldbeats projects that merge a range of musical influences including flamenco, Central African, Indian, classical, and experimental jazz with tap dance, Butterfly hosts this free open jam session in which some of the finest of New York City’s rhythm tap community come together to share and showcase their moves.

Having started her 25 year career in France, Butterfly has shared the stage with generations of tap greats including Slyde, Gregory Hines, The Nicholas Brothers, Tamango, and Savion Glover. She is known for her collaborations with musicians working in a range of diverse musical forms.

The Kitchen -- 512 West 19th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues), Manhattan (directions)

ATDC: floors now open for business!

Last evening, I dropped by the American Tap Dance Foundation's new hub, the American Tap Dance Center, over on Christopher Street where the wine was flowing and the tap shoes tapping and, for one breath-catching moment, all was right with the world. Congratulations, again, to the effervescent Tony Waag--mayor of Tap City and ATDF's artistic and executive director--and his board and staff for creating this charming, welcoming homebase for tap students of all ages.

ATDC is located in the far West Village at 154 Christopher Street (#2B), between Greenwich and Washington Streets. Travel options: #1/PATH/Crosstown M8 to Christopher. A/C/E/F/V/B/D to West 4th Street. Walk west on Christopher from any station. 

Coming up at ATDC

Saturday, February 13

6-7pm: Tap historian and author Constance Valis Hill will sign her Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History.

7-9pm: Tap Talks/Tap Films presents archival and rarely seen tap films plus a panel discussion moderated by Constance Valis Hill and including Brenda Bufalino, Derick Grant and other notable tap dance choreographers.

To get information on youth and adult classes (including ones for absolute beginners), intensives, the Winter Tap Jam (2/14) and other special events, click here or contact the center's office: registrar@atdf.org or 646-230-9564.

Waag taps out a space for tap

Tony Waag, director of the American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF), has signed a 10-year lease for a studio/rehearsal space exclusively for tap--the new American Tap Dance Center. The 3000 square foot space, located on Christopher and Washington Streets, will house three studios for tap classes and rehearsals, as well as the foundation's administrative offices.

"The reality is that for more than a century, tap has fought for its place on the legitimate stage," Waag notes. "Appropriate venues where dancers, both aspiring and professional, can perfect their craft are limited. Even necessities, such as the special floor and the shoes, add to the complexity of trying to legitimize the art form. There is also the deep-seated notion that tap lacks composition and, in turn, training and artistry, because improvisation is so much a part of the art form."

ATDF is one of only a handful of dance organizations committed to ensuring that tap's great performers receive recognition, alongside the masters of ballet and modern and jazz dance.

News of the lease-signing comes as ATDF swings into its wildly-popular New York City summer festival--Tap City. For further information on Tap City events and resources, click here.

Got that swing!

Brenda Bufalino
(photo by Lois Greenfield)

In a recent rehearsal at Stepping Out Studios, big swinging tap master Brenda Bufalino and her dancers were looking good as they worked through reconstructions of her works, supported by NEA's "American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius" grant.

Bufalino will be one of several awardees honored at the 2009 Tap City Awards Ceremony, July 8 (8pm), at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Bruno Walter Auditorium, 111 Amsterdam Avenue (65th Street).

Tap City 2009 opens this coming Monday, July 6 (9:30pm) with Jam@Joe's, a tap jam at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street. 212-967-7555

For the complete schedule of all Tap City festival classes, events and ticketing, visit the American Tap Dance Foundation site, call 646-230-9564 or email registrar@atdf.org.