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Tap Extravagnza
T.A.A.P
Live at Swing46 May 21st, 22nd and 23rd @ 7:30pm Tkts $25 In Advance - $30 @Door
T.A.A.P. The Art & Appreciation of Percussion, combines the unique talents of 8 New York City based Tap Dancers, accomplished Musicians, and a Spoken word artist in order to celebrate their common praise of "percussion" and the way in which it is embedded into the very fabric of their art.
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Alexandria Bradley, a Theater/Acting major at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, was inspired to take up tap dancing at the age of 3 by her father who was learning how to tap dance at the age of 33. A majority of her training took place over the course of 15 years at the Creative Expressions Dance Studio, a studio co-owned by her father, Alfred Bruce Bradley in Flint, Michigan.
Other credits include the Tap Extravaganza "2000" in Town Hall, the St Louis Tap Festival and The Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony in Cannes, France. She is also the co-creator and producer of Bradley's Flintstone Hoofers Tap Festival.
Alexandria is currently a member of Savion Glover's performing group TiDii with appearances in the Jerry Lewis Telethon, Savion Glover with TiDii at the Beacon Theater and in the Winter 2002 Olympics at Abravanal Hall. She has also been featured as a Soprano-Alto in several productions including the Art Blakey Review in New York City's own Jazz nightclub favorite, Birdland.
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Ayodele Casel, is a native New Yorker, began her professional training at New York University. Currently studying acting under William Esper at The William Esper Studio in NYC. Ayodele was a student at the Lee
Strasberg Theatre Institute for six years.
Television credits include Third Watch and Law and Order. In the summer of 2000 she completed filming BOJANGLES for ShowTime Television
with Gregory Hines.
Ayodele has appeared on the cover of The Village Voice, American Theater
Magazine and has been featured in Dance Spirit, In Theater, B. Smith
Style and most recently Paper Magazine named her one of " 50 Beautiful
People".
Ayodele who has been tap dancing for the past seven years is a member of
Savion Glover's N.Y.O.T.s (Not Your Ordinary Tappers). The group has
appeared on television in The Jamie Foxx Show, In Performance at the
White House, Savion Glover's Nu York, Monday Night Football '97, and
on an Off Broadway stage in Savion Glover Downtown: Live Communication.
In 1998 Ayodele co-choreographed and performed a tribute to Rogers and
Hart for PBS Great Performances, as well as recording a tribute album
to Duke Ellington with members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
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Baakari Wilder is a native of Maryland where he was a member of the American Tap Dance Orchestra and a founding a member of Tappers With Attitude. From an early age, Wilder has been a member of the Queen's Chapel United Methodist Church Music Ministry and continues to sing with the male chorus wherever his schedule permits.
Wilder was an original member of the Bring in the Da'Noise, Bring in Da'Funk at the Public Theater and progressed with the show as it traveled to the Broadway stage.
He is the recipient of several awards from the National Foundation for the Advancement In the Arts for performance and choreography and the Bessie Award from the Dance Theater Workshop for his performance in "Noise/Funk".
His choreography has been presented by the Smithsonian Associates at the Smithsonian Institute, Quincy Jones at the Washington D.C. Millennium Celebration on the Mall, and at the ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival in Vienna. Wilder was a featured dancer in Spike Lee's Bamboozled and has taught throughout the United States and beyond.
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Chloe Arnold, was only 10 years old when Savion Glover shared and passed on his love and wisdom of tap dancing, making it the core of her life.
Thereafter, Debbie Allen inspired her, not only in dancing, but also in acting, singing/rapping, and directing. She has performed in Debbie Allen's Soul Possessed starring Patti LaBelle, Brother's of The Knight starring James Ingram, and was in her AMC documentary Cool Women. She has also performed in industrials for Bill Gates' Microsoft, Hip-Hop Conferences, and the National Tour of the Legacy of Cab Calloway.
She teaches at Broadway Dance Center, NYC and Debbie Allen's Dance Institute. She is also a graduating senior as a Theatre/Film major at Columbia University, and has recently co-created a short film, which emphasizes the musicality of tap dancing, as it is the soundtrack for the narrative. Thank you to my fellow dancers who have also been inspirational teachers, and the Samuels for making this experience possible.
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Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards has been Tap Dancing since the age of 3. She started under the instruction of Paul and Arlene Kennedy in California and went on to perform in Rome, Italy at the Tip Tap Festival. From there she made her debut on Broadway at the age of 12, in the musical revue Black and Blue.
After graduating from high school, Dormeshia joined the Jazz Tap Ensemble, making appearances in New York, Ohio, Hong Kong and Alaska. She later became a featured principal in the European tour of Black and Blue. As the only female dancer in a show without female characters, Dormeshia held her own in the Broadway cast of Bring in Da'Noise, Bring in Da'Funk. She has toured nationally with Wild Woman Blues and choreographed for several Michael Jackson video productions. Dormeshia has also been apart of several Tap Festivals both nationwide and overseas.
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Jason Samuels Smith passionately follows in the family footsteps of a long line of professional dancers. Jason's career began at the age of 6 at Frank Hatchet's Children's Program (Broadway Dance Center, NYC). Although schooled in many disciplines, the majority of Jason's tap training came from the world-renowned Savion Glover.
At the ripe age of 15, he was selected to join the Broadway cast of the Tony award winning Bring in Da'Noise, Bring in Da'Funk. First as an understudy, Jason quickly raised up through the ranks to become a principal dancer and understudy to the lead role. Since then, he has performed at the White House, choreographed several of Debbie Allen's theatrical and televised productions, and toured internationally with Savion Glover's dance group N.Y.O.Ts (Not Your Ordinary Tappers). He is also featured in Michael Jackson's new music video "Rock Your World".
Diane "Lady Di" Walker once said, "Jason makes me proud to be a tap dancer". This native New Yorker is currently bi-coastal, heading the tap program at Debbie Allen's Dance Academy in Culver City, California. Now at 21,he has established himself amongst the ranks of some of the most prestigious performers and teaching faculty in the world.
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Marshall Davis Marshall Davis Jr. was born in Miami, Florida and began tap dancing at the age of 10. By the age of 11, he was a finalist in the Philip Michael Thomas Rising Star Competition and was the 1989 Florida winner for the Tri-Star Pictures Tap Day contest, a promotion for the movie Tap starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. At age 13 he won the 1991 Star Search Teen Dance Championship.
His mentor, the late Steve Condos of the famous duo The Condos Brothers, has had the most influence on Marshall's dancing. He has also trained with Buster Brown, Edwin Holland, Paul Kennedy, Ted Levy, Lavaughn Robinson and Sam Weber. Marshall recently starred in the Tony award-winning Broadway production of Bring in Da'Noise Bring in Da'Funk with Savion Glover. Prior to Noise/Funk he performed in Babes in Arms directed by Garland Wright and in 1992, was named "Most Unusual Dance Soloist" by the Miami Herald. Marshall is the recipient of the Isaac Hayes' "Breaking the Barrier" award for his achievements at such an early age.
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Omar Edwards a New Yorker, started dancing at the age of 13 when he saw his cousin, well known tap dancer Savion Glover, perform in the movie Tap. He soon began hanging around dancers like Van Porter, Marie Brooks, Henry LeTang, and Jimmy Slyde. He practiced everywhere, all the time - on the street, in the laundromat, on the train. His grandmother would get calls from his teachers, "Omar has been tap dancing in class again."
His first performance was in high school, where he performed Hoofer's Line from the Broadway show Black and Blue. A 12-man routine, he performed it solo.
Little did he know that in 1993, he would join the international tour of this Broadway hit!.
At the age of 16, Omar Edwards formed the group Toe Jamm with Daniel Wooten, Jr. They appeared 13 times on Ed McMahon's Star Search and won the grand prize.
In 1993, Omar Edwards performed throughout the two-year international tour of the Broadway hit Black and Blue. He then joined the Broadway cast of Bring in Da'Noise, Bring in Da'Funk. An integral member of Savion Glover's dance company N.Y.O.Ts, he performed in Savion Glover's Downtown: Live Communication. |
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Elka Samuels Smith, Producer, Artist, Tap Dancer.
Represents Divine Rhythm Productions and in association with SWING 46, presents an exclusive 3-night performance that brings together a tight-knit family of tap dancers. They are the young leaders that have heavily influenced an even younger population of dancers to seek knowledge through the respect of Tap Masters and their work. They lead by example, linking connections of the past to their present efforts. While the line-up of talent has appeared on stages nationally and internationally, this event will represent their first united effort. |
Reserve Tickets for T.A.A.P
FULL CAST (In Alphabetical Order):
On Taps
Alexandria Bradley
Ayodele Casel
Baakari Wilder
Chloe Arnold
Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards
Jason Samuels Smith
Marshall Davis
Omar Edwards
On Instruments
Warren Smith (Marimbas)
Andy McCloud (Bass)
Eli Fountain (Drums)
TBA (Piano)
On Words & Rhymes
Ahmad Rashad Jr.
Jason Samuels Smith
On Vocals
Alexandria Bradley
Swing 46, the home of Tap Master Dr. Buster Brown's beloved weekly Tap Jam, will house the musical revue. The show features the debut of choreography, improvisational sequences, spoken word, original hip-hop compositions, live jazz music, film clips, and a Q & A session.
The nature of this production allows each show to stand as a different experience, with a structure that supports the interactive and individual freedom of expression of all cast members.
Solos by each of the eight dancers will highlight their individual training, background and style through percussive moments of the feet. The element of spoken word, hip-hop verse and jazz vocals provide a range of percussive expressions of the voice. The sounds of four musicians consisting of Bass, Marimbas, Drums and Keys emphasize the percussive capabilities of the hands. Several collaborations between dancers, musicians, spoken word and vocalist proves that each of their contributions add a unique ingredient to what becomes one very complimentary product.
The show concludes with an "Open Floor", an opportunity for audience members to converse with the performers through dance, followed by a brief question and answer segment. Other educational components are provided through two video clip segments of classic tap dance footage.
Swing 46 has welcomed the idea of being the platform for what may soon be known as the most profound gathering of talent this City has seen on one stage in a single evening. Be sure not to miss a part of history in the making. Reserve your tickets today!
Percussion (p'r kush˘'n), n
1. the striking of one body against another with some sharpness; impact; blow. 2. the striking of a musical instrument to produce tones. 3. the percussion instruments of an orchestra or band. 4. the striking or tapping of the surface of a part of the body for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.
-Webster
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