With choreography, you can bring to life a specific idea or a
theme. It’s really interesting to see how somebody else executes your choreography as everybody has their own interpretation. It’s like playing a written song. Even though the notes are laid out on paper, everybody has their own version and you’re going to play it the way you feel.

Who have been the biggest influences in your Tap career?
My mum who was a dancer inspired me along with my sister Elka. My sister was involved in dance from a young age and she seemed like she could do anything. I figured if she could, then I could!

Anytime I got the chance to be around Gregory Hines he always encouraged me and made me feel I was on the right path. Savion Glover was one of my teachers for about seven years and he had a huge influence on me. He gave me exposure to the art form, work opportunities, and he taught me to respect the elders in tap. Also, people like Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde, Dianne Walker, Arthur Duncan, Harold Cromer, Arlene and Paul Kennedy, the Nicholas Brothers (all well respected tap elders past and present) have all been positive and encouraging forces in my tap career. They always gave me a nudge and said ‘keep doin’ it, keep going and have fun!’

How do you keep Tap fresh and innovative?
I look at tap like a language. It’s slang and is the most recent language that people are creating right now. There are words and phrases being shared and added to the tap dialogue on a daily basis, either from myself or other dancers in the community. Everything we do goes into our art, keeping a pulse of what’s going on in the world right now -  music that is constantly changing, the food we eat, the books we read, the clothes we decide to wear, the company we keep. All are going to affect your art and I don’t distinguish any of those from tap. I feel like the book I’m reading now is directly affecting the rhythms that I’m creating. So it’s about being able to take information from any direction, and translate it into the tap language.

Are Tappers musicians or dancers?
They’re both equally important in tap because you need the dance to create the sound. If you break it down by the order, tap is the first thing in ‘Tap Dance’, so the sound is really the goal. If you close your eyes you can still get a good idea of a tap dancer's message, but if you take the sound out, it’s going to be harder to understand what a tap dancer is trying to express. I think we’re musicians first because we’re creating music with our dance and the sound dominates the movement.

In your master class you made an interesting statement that ‘Music can be a Crutch’. What do you mean by this?
If you constantly are dancing to music and always use it like a metronome to keep time, then you never really secure confidence in your own personal metronome.
I really believe in developing the person’s individual metronome and musicality, so if there is music then they can use it, but  if there isn’t they can still maintain a good sense of rhythm and timing which is very important for a tap dancer, because what is a tap dancer without rhythm?

What qualities make an excellent tap dancer?
I think fearlessness is important because a lot of dancers play it safe and that can be boring. I like to see dancers take chances, go out on a limb and make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes bring incredible results.

A good knowledge of the history of tap. Being able to quote musical phrases and other dances, style, clarity and vocabulary make the most interesting dancers.

How important is it for Australia to have a Tap festival?
I think it is really important that there is a community here in Australia that expresses themselves through tap. Tap is like water, it takes the shape or form of whatever it’s inside of. Australia has had a foundation in tap because of shows like Tap Dogs, and there is a community here of teachers, like Grant Swift, that have inspired the young generations of dancers. It’s really important that there is a festival that brings those little pockets of communities together to share their styles and cultures. It shows that tap is not exclusively American, it is about creating music and an individual style. No matter who you are or whatever your culture, you can add that to your identity in tap.

What piece of advice do you have for Tap dancers in Australia?
Be proud of your own culture and history, and use your experience to express yourself musically and physically. Tap dance began in America and was mainly influenced by black culture so really study that history and respect it for what it is, but then add your own personal Australian history and culture to the frame.

If you are travelling to the USA, make sure you check out Jason Samuels Smith’s Tap classes.
To learn more visit www.divinerhythmproductions.com