Interview with tap talent Joseph Wiggan

By Winston Morrison.

Would you like to tour in a world-class show? Winston Morrison catches up with tap dancer Joseph Wiggan to discover how he made it to the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson Immortal tour, and his life behind the scenes.

What training and experiences did you have to become the dancer you are today?

I started when I was nine in Paul and Arlene Kennedy’s dancing school (LA). They had a kids performing group and after joining that company, we began to look for more information and who else we could also learn from. We performed at dance venues, random variety show jobs, on the morning news, at benefits and did stuff for the homeless. 

So you looked for opportunities yourself?

Yes, we sure did. Our teacher was quite ill when we began to learn with him so there was a point when the repertoire that we had already established wasn’t being added to. So my dad, who was our first manager, began to look around and see what was up in the Los Angeles area. If it weren’t for him we wouldn’t have made any progress. We would have kept doing shows, but he began to look elsewhere to make sure that we were continuously challenged.  

What was the next turning point?

When I was 16, I met Jason Samuels Smith who had moved down to LA. He started jam sessions and he started a company of his own. That was really the beginning of my professional work. Before I met Jason, my sister and I were improvising and were able to perform choreography, but Jason is a master and dances at a very, very masterful level – nothing like I’d ever experienced.  

My sister and I began to practice with a different focus after meeting Jason. He showed us that there was no limit to what you can practice. In his jam sessions he would take a 20-minute solo and be like “Okay, your turn. You do the same thing.” That really made you dig deep because at 10 minutes you are already tired and have exhausted all your steps!

Who are your mentors?

Dr. Harold Cromer really encourages us to not stick to one thing, as that limits us. He says, “Learn everything, do everything. Make sure you know how to sing, play instruments. Make sure you know how to act, speak languages. Make sure you know how to create a show, sell a show. Make sure you know how to dress.” I think it’s very valuable because I really appreciate the 1940s-1950s where the performance level was such a high standard. All of those elements were in every production.

Dr. Arthur Duncan said “You’ll never know when you get your break. Just be ready when you get it.” He said he got his break in his 50s on the Lawrence Welk show. He wasn’t sure if he was going to ‘make it’, but he just kept practicing and practicing.

Joseph Wiggan with his sister Josette Wiggan. Photo © Kristie Kahns.

How did you get into Cirque du Soleil?

They saw a clip of my sister and me and asked us to come in for a call as they were casting for a show back in 2008. The clip they saw was from the LA Tap Festival show; a piece my sister and I choreographed in four hours on a carpet in our living room the morning of the show because we said, “We gotta do something!” We ended up going to Los Angeles to audition and after a few months of corresponding through email, they booked us. The show (Banana Shpeel) was a lot of fun. It didn’t open but we performed a segment of it on TV. That show really changed my life because I’d never been a part of a production of that nature and with the circus arts. The dedication of the other artists in the show really inspired me. It was a great experience with so many different artists, jugglers, contortionists, singers, hip-hop dancers and ballerinas.

There was one entire tap dance act – a tap dance number that happened towards the end. My sister and I actually had a duo tap act, the rest was kind of Charleston, hip-hop dance.

Tell us about Derick Grant’s show Imagine Tap!?

That was amazing. I can’t wait for it to return. That was the most difficult show of my life actually, probably because of the amount of work. If there were eight dances in the first act, we’d be in six out of those eight. Derick would say “You really have to give your maximum – after a while your body will catch up with stamina.” It was so difficult, but it was so wonderful to be around six wonderful tap dancers from different generations, different styles and different cities.

Being one of the best visual tap dancers out there, what have you done to make your visual aspect strong?

I think most of the visual work came from my first teachers focusing on my posture. I try to make dancing easier for myself and I know that if I stand a certain way, it will allow me to dance better. My teachers were about being as polished as possible. I don’t dance in front of a mirror much these days at all, but I try to be as polished. I try to create a strict form (posture) for myself, even down to my toes. 

I enjoy using the floor. My teacher used to say, “You can’t fight the floor, because the floor will win.” If you really want to be able to dance for a long time, you have to find a way to bounce. Instead of jarring, find a way to place the foot just right and have a certain bounce, as little or as much as you need, to help you continue on to the next step. Jarring will only tire you out.

What are you thinking when you are dancing? What’s actually going through your mind?

I’m trying to be as clear as possible so the audience can hear exactly what I’m trying to share and also the band at the exact same time. Clarity is the most important thing. And I try not to do too much, to really find what areas the taps can fit into what’s happening. 

Joseph’s Top 4 Career Values:

1. Happiness. “Do what you like.”

2. Forgive yourself and forgive others.
“Rather than taking things personally, I do my best to forgive.”

3. Give what you can.

4. Work hard for your job.

Joseph’s Top 3 Life Values:

1. Relationship with God and Jesus Christ.
“With that relationship, other values come with that. I love the Lord and I really want to stay connected to him. God is really at the forefront of everything that I do. Whether I’m dancing, attempting to sing or attempting to play the sax, I try to do it unto him. I found the joy in dancing because of him so I do it for him.”

2. Sharing all that I have with everyone, my family and friends.
“Whether through the arts or conversation. Everything else is secondary.”

3. Everyone should take care of their parents and their family. 

By Laura Di Orio.

Ashley Carter probably chose the name DoubleTake for a reason. At first glance, it’s another dance company. Looking deeper into it, though, DoubleTake (DT) Dance Company is a rare fusion of different dancers and genres of dance, with each work being completely different from the next and each with a strong message. The company’s repertory includes works that are tango, theater, jazz, contemporary, tap and neoclassical, a range that may be standard for large companies but less prevalent among smaller dance companies.

Co-directors Carter and Vanessa Martinez de Baños built New York City-based DT from scratch when Martinez de Baños saw something in Carter and encouraged her to start teaching and choreographing. From there, other companies began to ask Carter to choreograph on them, and after a while she just started submitting work under her own name and came to find she was getting a good response.

DT as a company and name was born in 2010 and since then has continued to grow. The company performed at NYC’s SummerStage last year and continuously performs throughout NYC festivals and venues, and has even performed in Madrid. Carter and Martinez de Baños only hope that their joint hard work can take them further.

“I never really planned to have my own company,” Carter says. “It’s something I sort of fell into. And I’m really glad I didn’t try to do it alone. It’s hard enough with two of us!”

Carter and Martinez de Baños come from entirely different dance backgrounds. Carter, primarily New York-trained, has performed with companies and artists ranging from Pilobolus to Nicki Minaj. She enjoys doing artistic company work but has also had the chance to dance in music videos, commercials and industrials for brands such as Nike, Lush, Microsoft and Nokia. Carter has also taught at such renowned dance studios as Broadway Dance Center, Steps, Ballet Arts and Lines, and for the past few years has successfully maintained her own contemporary jazz class at Peridance. As a choreographer, Carter has created work for a FuseTV commercial incorporating pop and breakdance and also for a sci-fi movie that required modern and contemporary.

DoubleTake Dance Company dancers, including co-directors Vanessa Martinez de Baños (center) and Ashley Carter (right), in performance. Photo by Stephanie Crousillat.

“It’s the huge range of work that prevents me from ever getting bored and it challenges me every day,” Carter says. “The variety is something that I also try to bring to DoubleTake Dance.”

Martinez de Baños, on the other hand, was born in Madrid, Spain, and began her career as an actress, which led into musical theatre and then a love for dance. She moved to NYC after receiving a scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Martinez de Baños has danced for many choreographers, including Guillem Alonso, Lynn Schwab and Ryan Beck, and has choreographed for musical theatre and contemporary companies. She has also taught master classes both nationally and internationally.

Like Carter, Martinez de Baños strives to continue to learn and push herself further. “I’m passionate about my job and nourish every opportunity that comes my way,” she says. “I try to do as much as I can, which makes me versatile and stops me from ever getting bored.”

The variety of Carter and Martinez de Baños’ background has clearly fueled the direction of DT. The repertory has a wide range, and the company’s dancers, although all athletic, technical and musical, tend to be very different in terms of their strengths, body type and dance background.

“One of our main goals as a company is to create each new piece of work to be as different as possible from the rest of our rep,” Carter says. “We also try to use different ideas for props or costumes or influences to make the pieces meaningful.”

Last summer at SummerStage, DT premiered a piece that Carter calls an “experiment,” where they fused sign language with contemporary dance and used those movements to tell the story of how it feels to be an outsider. The company’s latest piece, Shirt Off My Back, is a work that utilizes the company’s technical strength and floor work to express homelessness and how the community of relatively “privileged” people responds and reacts to it. Carter and Martinez de Baños even gave their dancers a “homework assignment” – food to hand out to people in need as they came across them on their daily commutes. Carter says this was to “both help out and help our dancers understand the emotional connection to the story.”

DoubleTake Dance co-director Vanessa Martinez de Baños. Photo by Olivia Alvarez.

This broad spectrum of repertory not only makes DT unique as a small company, but it also helps set them apart in a place like NYC, where there is a sea of dance companies.

Remaining afloat in NYC remains to be difficult for almost any small dance company, but Carter and Martinez de Baños keep their standards high and the dancers’ priorities up front.

“Being able to always pay our dancers is challenging,” Martinez de Baños explains. “In a business where the new trend is to pay to perform instead of the opposite, it’s hard to stay afloat and do the right thing. We believe in the art, we believe in our dancers and respect their time and talent, therefore we always compensate them. We never pay to perform, unless renting a theater, and we don’t perform or rehearse in places that are not appropriate for dance.”

Carter adds to that list of challenges: the scheduling, and the technical, administrative, financial and logistical details.

Still, however, amidst these stresses there are rewards. “Watching our finished products is always rewarding,” Martinez de Baños says. “And seeing how our audience is moved, especially when they aren’t dancers. SummerStage is an example. When you see that hundreds of people decide to stay and watch despite a violent thunderstorm approaching, you know you must be doing something right.”

Next up for DT is a split-bill showing on April 19 at NYC’s Secret Theatre, where the company will present 40 minutes of rep. Further down the road, Carter says she hopes DT will continue doing what they’re doing, but bigger and better.

Martinez de Baños agrees. “We hope to get more people to know and fund us,” she says. “We have some projects in mind that can’t be accomplished without funds, so hopefully one day… And maybe have a place and not have to pay rental space. We would love to offer free classes to our dancers.”

For more information on DoubleTake Dance or to show support to their next venture, head to www.doubletakedanceco.com.

Photo (top): DoubleTake Dance in performance. Photo by Maverick Sean Photography.

Maybe you can tap out a rhythm, but how much do you really know about tap dance?

By Rain Francis.

1. Which of the following steps would you associate least with tap dance?

a) shuffle

b) cramp roll

c) layout

d) wings

2. Which of the following musicals would you find the most tap dancing in?

a) 42^nd Street

b) A Chorus Line

c) Oklahoma!

d) Hair

3. True or false: Mr Bojangles is a fictional character.

4. With which style of tap dance would you most associate Michael Flatley?

a) Irish tap dancing

b) Soft shoe

c) Broadway tap

d) All of the above

5. Which of the following is not a character from Anything Goes?

a) Billy Crocker

b) Reno Sweeney

c) Moonface Martin

d) Billy Flynn

6. What is the name for a tap dancer who dances very close to the floor, using mostly footwork and little upper body movement?

a) flapper

b) shuffler

c) stepper

d) hoofer

7. The USA celebrates National Tap Dance Day on May 25. In what year was this signed into law?

a) 1909

b) 1949

c) 1989

d) 2009

8. Mumble, Gloria, Memphis and Norma Jean are all characters from which tapping movie?

a) Step Up

b) Happy Feet

c) Singing in the Rain

d) Tap

9. Which famous tapper is not an actor in the 1989 film Tap?

a) Savion Glover

b) Gregory Hines

c) Sammy Davis, Jnr

d) Fred Astaire

10. In the film Anchors Aweigh, Gene Kelly famously performs a tap dance number with which cartoon character?

a) Mickey Mouse

b) Jerry Mouse

c) Bambi

d) Jessica Rabbit

ANSWERS:
1 – c; 2 – a; 3 – false; 4 – a; 5 – d; 6 – d; 7 – c; 8 – b; 9 – d; 10 – b

Photo: Melinda Sullivan and dancers perform the winning routine at this year’s Capezio ACE Awards at Dance Teacher Summit New York.
Photo courtesy of Break The Floor Productions

By Winston Morrison

Renowned tap fanatic Chloe Arnold is a co-director of the LA Tap Festival and DC Tap Festival.  She makes a living from tap dancing professionally all around the world.

In a half hour interview, walking and cabbing through New York City, I asked Chloe about the defining moments of her dance life, advice for aspiring tap dancers, and what goes on in her brilliant tap mind. Follow Chloe’s advice and you will get results.  Besides her skill, it is the person that Chloe is that has made her a success. Tap dancers who want a career in tap can model Chloe’s mindset, priorities and lifestyle to help them become a professional doing what they love.

Tell us about your training and experiences.

When I was 6, I started dancing in this regular dancing school doing jazz, ballet and tap. There was this one particular tap duo that my friend and I really worked on to make better. That’s my first recollection of making a stronger commitment to tap.

One day my mom saw an audition for an all-tap company. I made it on probation; contingent upon the idea that if I improved within three months then I could be in the company.  The teacher in that company sought out information from the masters and hoofers and brought in master classes with Lavaughn Robinson, Eddie Brown, Buster Brown and Harriet Brown. He exposed us to a lot of people.

Savion Glover came to D.C. and did a one month residency  – Savion Glover’s DC Crew.  I auditioned for that and got in. I was 10, and that really changed my life because we were having professional experience with him training four hours a day, learning choreography and then performing it in a large scale show.

One of the years he brought us to New York for a Broadway Showcase.  That changed my life again because I decided I had to move to New York. So at 11 years old I decided I was moving to New York when I grew up and that I was going to be a tap dancer.  I trained really hard and surrounded myself with people that inspired me, really pushed me to get better and didn’t baby me, but demanded excellence.

What other training do you do to support your tap?

I jam about 5 times a week, run and lift.

When dancing professionally how important is business?

Business, although it doesn’t help your tap dancing skills, is how you’re going to help your tap dancing career.  You’re not going to have a career if you don’t do business. Business is how you expand, and do what you want to do.

As tap dancers how can we find insipration?

Watching footage is a wonderful way to get inspired and also watching other kinds of art. Dance is movement, and watching other ways that people move makes me a better mover.   Go out and listen to music, any kind of music.  Jason Samuels Smith is a fabulous DJ and provides me with a lot of great music.  Stretch.  Write down ideas, and stories.  Sing. 

How do you keep your mental strength?

The time I auditioned for Savion’s DC Crew someone told me I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t good enough yet. But my mom was like, ‘just try, you always try’. So I tried. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessarily that I was good enough or not, it was just that he saw something in me. I don’t know what he saw, but something! 

When I came to New York and I first danced in a jam session that was my lowest point.  I flunked – embarrassment, humiliation. I told myself to go home and practise.  I just kept saying to myself  ‘you can’t be afraid because if you’re afraid, you’ll give up and you’ll never get this’.

What’s your vision for tap?

I just want to see more tap.  I want to see it on TV, in film, in music as music, on Broadway and on tours in a way that celebrates the art, the music, and the diversity of it.

What’s important to Chloe in her life and career now? 

CHLOE ARNOLD’S TOP 5 LIFE VALUES

1) Love.  Love for tap and love for life.  Love is what gets me out of bed and to work for 14 hours.  I love walking down the streets of New York feeling alive and excited. I’m driven by love.

2) Friends and family are very overlapped in my life and they come under love.  I value my friends like family. I’d do just about anything for my family, and we work as a team.

3) Respect.  I have a great deal of respect for myself, for other people, for my work and other people’s work.  That allows for an environment of peace, as opposed to war where you don’t have respect for other cultures, ways and views. Treat other people the way you want to be treated, that’s real. 

4) Fun falls under the love factor because everything I’m talking about is just fun to me too.

5)  Culture.  For example, today I came across a kid from Tokyo who didn’t speak English, and the idea that I can try to speak his language and try to connect is invigorating to me.  I get excited by differences. 

CHLOE ARNOLD’S TOP 5 CAREER VALUES

1)  Respect yourself, your art and that of others.  If you become a star who only respects your own work and not others, you’re going to find yourself on an island (isolated).   The great thing about art is it’s communication, and you’re able to connect with others.

2)  Work ethic and discipline.  Discipline yourself, like do I really want this salad right now? Maybe not, maybe I’d love a cookie but after working six hours this is how I replenish.  It’s about having the discipline to do that or putting on my shoes for the 4^th hour when I’m tired and don’t want to.  Everything you do in life requires sacrifice, anything you really want in this life will not come without sacrifice.

3)  Perseverance.  No matter how hard you get knocked down, you just stand back up. No matter how mean someone is to you, no matter how someone makes you feel like you should quit…NEVER give up.  And all this should be driven by your:

4)  Love and passion. That should really be the root of it – you’re only doing this art because there’s a passion for it.

5)  Be yourself as an artist.  You have to at some point.  The more you are yourself, the more unique you become because there’s no one like you, and the more effective your art will be.  You are relaying your art, not just imitating.

By Deborah Searle.

You may recognize Gregg Russell and Ryan Lohoff from Live to Dance as the tapping duo ‘Tap Sounds Underground’. However, in the tap dance world they are already well respected artists, travelling across America and the globe performing and teaching tap dance whenever and wherever they can.

You are both such successful tap dancers already. What made you want to go on Live to Dance?
We wanted to go on Live to Dance because we wanted to represent tap in a new light and get it the exposure it deserves. Your typical stereotype of tap is that it is only Hoofing, Broadway, or Swing. We like to infuse the styles of legendary tappers like Gregory Hines, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and the Nicholas Brothers (just to name a few), with the upbeat music and hip hop style of today’s younger generation. By mixing these styles together, we can pay tribute to the old school as well as excite the younger generation about tap again. It’s a struggle out there to keep kids these days interested in tap. We believe it’s our job, better yet our privilege, to pass along the art form and expand it in as many ways as possible.

How far did you think you would go?
We feel honored just to have made it as far as we have and for tap dancing to be given the opportunity for this kind of exposure. There aren’t very many venues for tap these days, like there used to be. Most shows only pay respect to the “popular” forms of dance and tap gets left behind. Thanks to Paula and her show, we have the opportunity to share what we love to do.

Why should we vote for tap?
People should vote for tap because it is not only a traditional dance art form, but it is also a representation of how dance is never ending and continues to evolve into something new. Through past experiences we’ve worked with artists in other genres of dance that create moves or sequences of steps inspired by tap rhythms. This goes to show how the dance community is ready to be inspired by something unique and new. We also believe that you’ve already seen hip hop, contemporary, jazz, and numerous other genres of dance on television. It would be nice to continue to see tap represented and for it to make an appearance in the spotlight again like it once was back in the day.

How do you keep your tap fresh and exciting?
We keep our tap choreography fresh and exciting by experimenting and implementing all styles of dance and all genres of music. Most of the time, a tapper would consider himself/herself a musician that creates music. We like to consider ourselves more of an accompanist to the music. By doing so, we are able to not only match the rhythms or lyrics of a piece of music, but also add layers on top of it. Then by adding more of a hip hop style or even a lyrical style of dance quality to the tap, we are able to create something that’s always new and exciting. This is how we continue to evolve tap dancing as the different genres of dance evolve around us.

Where will we see you both next?
Gregg will be traveling abroad to Australia for Global Dance Convention (www.globaldance.com.au) and Ryan will be pushing his new line of professional taps called ProTones (www.Pro-Tones.com) created by his company Neo Rythmo Inc. They are the first ever professional grade black colored taps! Both of us, however, will be tapping with our fellow colleague Angela Carter and teaching across the country on our second annual tour of Tap Into The Network, an advanced tap intensive for all aspiring tap dancers (www.TapIntoTheNetwork.com).

Good luck guys!

Check out Gregg and Ryan in action:

By Nicole Saleh.

To all the tap dancers who’ve wanted the rhythmic precision and brilliant feet of Jason Samuels Smith, you’re now one step closer!

In a highly innovative collaboration, Bloch, who are experts in technical dance footwear, have partnered with Jason Samuels Smith, one of the world’s greatest tap dancers, to create a professional tap shoe to meet the needs of today’s tap dancer.

It’s taken over four years to perfect, countless hours of research and testing to develop the Jason Samuels Smith Professional Tap Shoe SO313. This beautifully crafted tap shoe is not only comfortable and stylish, it also produces an amazing sound like a well tuned instrument… but don’t take my word for it. You can now try it out for yourself!

On his recent trip to Australia, Jason officially launched the SO313 at Bloch’s flagship store in Sydney. I caught up with him during his whirlwind visit to learn more about this uniquely crafted tap shoe.

As a Tap Dancer, how important is it to have good tap shoes?
The tap shoe is your instrument and it’s an extension of your foot, so it’s very important that it’s made well and has a decent sound that you prefer. It needs to be comfortable enough to wear for a long period of time and stylish enough to be presentable on stage. Tap dancers deserve a good shoe to accompany the art form. Tap dancing is too amazing not to have an instrument that can deliver.

How did your relationship start with Bloch?
Some Bloch representatives approached me four or five years ago at a national tap dance event. They had been keeping track of me and were very aware of my career, and were interested in developing a professional tap dance shoe. I knew I wanted to create a shoe but I didn’t know how I was going to do it, so when Bloch approached me it was perfect timing. They were really open to the idea of allowing me to have full creative say over the design of the shoe, and were willing to make whatever changes I asked.

Jason Samuels Smith shows off the tap shoe at Bloch York Street, Sydney

How involved were you with the design of the tap shoes?
I was completely involved. In the beginning Bloch sent me a model of their top professional tap shoe that looked more like a steel-toe boot than a dress shoe. I gave them a shoe that I liked in a classic Hollywood 30’s or 40’s style and once they had the core design we kept altering it.

I had seen a clip of Coles (Honey Coles) and Atkins (Cholly Atkins) tap dancing and they’re wearing shoes that have a straight cut across the toe and the toe is in a different colour to the back of the shoe. I always liked how this looked and so we have done two versions of the stitching for our shoe. One has the hard cut that goes across the toe – that’s the ladies version. The other one cuts across and has a sharper cut that goes to the back. So there is slightly different stitching on the shoes, which gives more options in terms of customisation.

So you have a female version and a male version of the shoe?
Right now we have a basic design for a male and a female shoe, where the sole, the leather and interior are all the same. The female shoe has slightly different stitching but it’s not necessarily gender restrictive. I know guys that have bought the female shoe because it’s a narrower cut of the male shoe. My foot is naturally wide and Bloch designed the shoe based on my foot, so the male shoe that comes out of the box is wide.

What was the most important thing for you working on this project?
The main thing was to create a professional high quality tap shoe as a complete package which to me means a shoe that is a total entity and lasts the distance. We worked on the durability of the shoe and the style, and it was also important that the shoes have their own distinctive sound.

The shoe also needs to be comfortable. If you’re teaching three or four classes a day, your feet are just throbbing by the end of the day. Bloch really attacked this, even before I approached it. Their shoes are some of the most comfortable dance shoes in the world, so I was really happy about that.

Sound is an important aspect of tap. What process did you undergo to ensure the shoes produced an exceptional quality sound?
At the beginning of the whole process Bloch did a focus group. They called in a bunch of tap dancers: Derrick Grant, Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Chloe Arnold, Dianne Walker, and myself. They had taps from the past and the present and we tested the sound independent of the shoe, and also on the shoe, and every dancer would say which tone they preferred. I was really feeling confident with the shoe and we were at the end of the process when Bloch wanted me to try these new bigger taps that covered the entire surface of your toe to the ball of your foot. The sound was really unique and the tone produced by the bigger tap was so rich, deep and base heavy that I loved it immediately! The sound I can produce with the taps is actually my favourite part of the shoe.

Jason Samuels Smith signs autographs at Bloch York Street, Sydney

Are the shoes designed only for professional dancers? What are some of its unique features?
It’s a comfortable shoe that any level tap dancer can use. If you’re buying a tap shoe it should come as a tap shoe with taps on it already. With our shoe it’s ready to use straight out of the box, and it doesn’t have a long break in time. It also comes with optional pieces of rubber for the sole of the shoe. I don’t particularly like the rubber because it limits your ability to slide, so we have given this as an option.

The shoe comes with a build up (additional half soles on the toe and heel), which changes the tone giving it a deeper base and helps to balance the bottom of the sole. The build up also gives a richer sound and more versatility, so if you want to use the top edge of the toe, you have more surface area to create that sound or to do a toe stand.

My mission was to develop an instrument that can withstand the force that we use to create our sound. When we’re tap dancing we’re destroying our shoes and tearing them to shreds. My goal was to create a long lasting shoe. We’ve really tried to reinforce the stitching over and over again so people will get the most life out of it. It won’t obviously last forever but I believe in business, if you do the job right the first time, people are going to come back the second time. I also think the shoe will make a lot of tap dancers happy because it’s made for tap dancers by a tap dancer. 

What is your hope for the Jason Samuels Smith Professional Tap Shoe?
One of my dreams for the shoe is for every tap dancer on the planet to try them once, and hopefully they will like them and continue to support them. Personally I want to continue to make the shoe better like we have done over the last four years. I want people to give me feedback because it’s not about what I want, but about what we (the tap community) want.

To get your pair of Jason Samuels Smith’s Tap Shoes SO313, contact your nearest Bloch retailer by visiting www.blochworld.com

Jason Samuels Smith’s tips on buying Tap Shoes
1. What are you are trying to accomplish in your tap shoes?
Are you buying them to perform, teach, practice, or because they look nice?
If you’re a teacher and you teach sixteen classes a week you need something that is comfortable and immediately feels good. You should never have pain when you start wearing a pair of shoes and you don’t want to have to break them in. If you can feel your toe at the tip of the shoe and it’s uncomfortable, then it doesn’t fit and you need another size. It’s got to be comfortable!
2. It has to produce a sound you like, so you need to test it out on a wood surface to get a feel for the sound.
3. It needs to look good. But it doesn’t matter how it looks, if it doesn’t sound or feel great.

Top photo by Michael Higgins

Sansha’s world famous TA88 T-Bojango tap shoes are filmed in action, featuring internationally acclaimed performer Paul Davis and dancers.

By Nicole Saleh.

Tap dancing is where it all began for the talented Adam Garcia. With his first big break on London’s West End performing in the acclaimed musical Hot Shoe Shuffle, Adam has since gone on to achieve success not only on stage but also in film and television. Garcia showed off his hot dance moves in the movie Coyote Ugly, created the lead role of Fiyero in the hit musical Wicked, was a dance teacher in the drama Britannia High, and most recently appeared alongside Kimberly Wyatt (former Pussycat Doll) and Ashley Banjo (Hip Hop crew Diversity) as a judge on UK’s popular television show Got To Dance.

Ready to return to his roots, Adam is hitting the West End stage but this time in Blundstone Boots, leading the cast of Tap Dogs.

In rehearsals on the eve of their upcoming UK and Australian tour, I got a behind-the-scenes preview of Adam in action. Not only does he bring his own charm and humour to the show, I was amazed at the footwork of this highly skilled tap technician. Intrigued to learn more, I caught up with Adam Garcia in between his busy rehearsal schedule.

How did you start Tap Dancing?
I started doing ballet from about the age of seven for no particular reason, other than my friend Morgan O’Neil asked me to come with him to his dance class. The class was a bit too far away and he left and I wanted to continue, so I went to my cousin’s dance school which was Dumbrell Academy (now Capital Dance). Glenn and Kerrie Dumbrell’s strong point was tap. I did ballet and jazz, and everyone did tap, so I started doing tap dancing.

Did you always want to be a dancer?
I didn’t ever think I’d be a career dancer. I simply did it because I enjoyed it as a hobby. When I was 15 or 16 I started getting jobs, but I still never thought that this would be a career, even when I went to London with Hot Shoe Shuffle.

Hot Shoe Shuffle was supposed to be a six month deferment from university and it turned into a year and a half. Then in London, I thought I probably wouldn’t get another job, I’d just backpack for a year and come back to Australia, but I ended up getting more work and so it sort of developed.

Is it true that this is your first season of Tap Dogs?
It is! I’ve never done Tap Dogs, so I’m not officially a Tap Dog until it opens.

What is it like to be once again working with Dein Perry (Tap Dogs Creator/Choreographer) since working together in the musical Hot Shoe Shuffle and the film Bootmen?
I grew up with Dein and he was a mentor of mine. My first big experiences in my life away from home were with Dein. He was a real father figure to me and we’ve been very good friends ever since. It was kind of odd, as I didn’t know how we were going to operate again, but we just know how each other works and we found it really easy, so it’s a delight.

How did you get ready for this role in Tap Dogs?
I hadn’t been tap dancing a great deal, so I had an extra two weeks tapping in London before starting rehearsals in Sydney. You need fast feet for this show and I thought “Oh my, are my feet going to be ready at all?” But they seemed to have mostly come good.

I did a fair bit of fitness work when I was in Los Angeles – lots of sprint training and a bit of muscle work. I played football two or three times a week and one of those games was a 90 minute full field soccer match. You’re constantly sprinting and never stop, and so it’s kind of the equivalent to doing an 80 minute show. It’s certainly challenging, but I’m getting there.

How important do you think Tap Dogs is to championing the art form of Tap around the world?
I think it is incredibly important, and not because I’m intimately attached to the show. There aren’t tap shows of this nature that are still continuing today. There are ballet companies and contemporary companies and their expression and narrative is done through dance. Tap shows don’t exist like that. Savion Glover obviously has his shows, but then there’s 42^nd Street and musicals where suddenly there is some tap dancing and then it ends. There is not a show that I have seen that is just a tap show, and that’s all it is. Tap Dogs is really the only one on an international scale. There’s no speaking, its music and tap for 80 minutes and that’s that!

The Tap Dogs trademark is the Blundstone Boots. Was there a need to adjust your tapping style for these shoes?
Actually in London when I was starting rehearsals I knew I needed to get some boots on because they are a lot heavier than tap shoes. I dug around in my cupboard and found the first boots we wore for the original Tap short for ABC TV (this short film launched what was to become the Tap Dogs and the concept of tapping in Blundstone boots). It takes a lot more deliberate dexterity to make the sounds. I had to remember how to use them, and it took about a week and a half to get really used to the boots.

What’s been a career highlight for you?
Definitely the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony (Adam led over 1000 tap dancers performing to a global audience), and opening in the musical Saturday Night Fever in London (Adam played the lead role of Tony Manero). Even just opening in Hot Shoe Shuffle was kind of weird and crazy back in 1992. I had no idea about openings and I didn’t realise it was such a big deal. I even asked Dein if I could have it off as I had tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and they were only playing one gig. We had another 30 shows after that and I couldn’t see what the big deal was!

You’ve been a judge on the successful UK reality television show, Got To Dance. What qualities do you believe make a great dancer?
Obviously feet are pretty important, and musicality. Musicality is not only about keeping time and doing the choreography, but it’s feeling the music and where moves should be. I think dancers learn that music carries with it an inherent rhythm, tone, style and nuance and that’s why people have different styles. They hear the music differently or feel the dance moves in a different way. When people really explore and give into what they feel and express it through the music, it makes a good dancer and a very watchable dancer.

The ability to let go is very important. There was a 10 year old boy on the show who is autistic and literally the music moved him and that’s the only way I could describe it. He just stood there and the music went, and he just went. That was one of the most beautiful things in the show.

Do you see yourself as an actor or a dancer?
Even though I’ve got acting, dancing always reels me back and I realise “oh yeah, you’re a dancer – deal with it”. For all my protestation about being an actor, people recognise me as a dancer, so I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I love making movies, I like making TV, I love doing live theatre, I love doing musical theatre, I like doing dance shows and I like being a judge, so I’m just trying to do as much as I can.

What are your future plans after Tap Dogs?
A new season of Got to Dance (UK) starts at the end of the year so I’m excited about that. Chris Horsey (Tap Works Director) and I have been working on a show which we’re about half way through choreographing. He’s got his tap company up and running and we’ve got ambitions to complete the show and put it on stage finally, that’ll be nice!

Tap Dogs is now showing at the Novello Theatre London until 5^th September 2010, and returns to Australia at the Capitol Theatre Sydney from 5^th January 2011 for a limited 5 week season. For details visit www.tapdogs.co.uk

Photos: Ralf Brinkhoff

HOT OFF THE PRESS – JUST ANNOUNCED
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE  RUNNER UP CHARLIE
Will be performing with THE NEXT STEP!

Multi-talented, all male crew, The Next Step, is set to rock Luna Park this November. Directed by Dein Perry, The Next Step is the creation of brothers Jason and Kris Lewis. From humble beginnings in the Lewis brother’s garage, The Next Step has exploded into a phenomenal, action packed, high energy show.

The Next Step are said to be bold, innovative and unique. “The whole concept of The Next Step is fresh and exciting”, says the team. “A group like this has never been done anywhere else in the world before. There are three different dance styles, two vocalists and a three piece band all working together to bring the audience great music and a cool performance. It’s both a visual and sonic treat that has to be seen.”

On Saturday November 21st the crew are bringing their new show to the Big Top at Luna Park. The group will bring their edgy fusion of hip-hop, tap and break dancing to the stage, and a live band teamed with the group’s talented vocalists will perform their original score, including their debut single Do It On The Dance Floor.

This team of dedicated performers aims to take dance, choreography and music to the next level. “The Next Step strives to not be ordinary. We always try to better each and every performance and show we do”, explained the group. “With an industry such as entertainment, it’s constantly evolving and growing so we continue to look for new ways to keep all the different elements of the show current.”

The Next Step enjoyed a successful sell out season in 2008 at The Metro Theatre, Sydney. But what can audiences expect this year? “People who came to watch last time will see and hear some of The Next Step favourites as well as some surprises”, we are told. “The show has now been re-crafted by the infamous Dein Perry (creator of Tap Dogs) who has taken on the role of Director for the upcoming shows. Dein is thrilled to come onboard and help take the show to the next level. Our performance at the Big Top is going to be the first time audiences get to see the new show”, they shared excitedly.

The Next Step has rightfully earned a reputation for cutting edge performance, and finely honed talent, comprising of artists from Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs and contestants featured in the Top 20 of So You Think You Can Dance.

With rehearsals in full swing for November, it seems that the upcoming performance is only the start of things to come. “We are currently releasing an EP in October with our new single Do It On The Dance Floor accompanied by an awesome new music video, and we are working towards a season of shows in Sydney starting in February 2010. We also plan a second single and album release followed by a national tour”, they shared. It seems that it is full steam ahead for the talented team. Good luck guys!

Get your tickets to The Next Step at The Big Top Luna Park.
It’s street and stage, dance and music at its finest!
Date: Saturday November 21st, 7:00pm
Venue: The Big Top, Luna Park
Contact: www.thenextsteponline.com  www.bigtopsydney.com  
or 1300 Big Top www.ticketek.com.au  or 132 849