Jimmy Slyde - Tap
Dr. Jimmy Slyde is one of the world's great tap masters whose career spans almost six decades. His remarkable trademark style was developed in the duo the Slyde Brothers, with his former partner, Jimmy ‘Sir Slyde’ Mitchell. In addition to his Tony-Nominated role in Black and Blue, he has appeared with the Original Hoofers in 1000 Years of Jazz and the films THE COTTON CLUB, ROUND MIDNIGHT, ABOUT TAP, and TAP. He has performed in major tap festivals, concert halls, and clubs throughout Europe and the U.S. He was the originator and host of weekly tap shows at New York's jazz clubs, La Cave and La Place, which featured some of the brightest young tappers, along with star performers. He was a featured performer at a special White House performance on American dance, hosted by Savion Glover, and at Carnegie Hall's Tribute to the Nicholas Brothers. Tribute was paid to him in 1993 at the Miller Theatre, where the New York Tap Dance Community gathered to celebrate his 45 Years of Foot Poetry-In-Motion. Most recently, he received a historic honorary degree of Doctor of Performing Arts in American Dance from Oklahoma City University.

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Sarah Petronio - Tap
American Jazz Tap Artist Sarah Petronio was born and raised in India. She immigrated to New York at the age of 19 and later moved to Paris, France, where she became the dancing partner of  Tap Legend Jimmy Slyde for a short while.  The duo performed their tap and jazz concert "It's About Time" at concerts, and Jazz festivals throughout Europe.

A master teacher and performer and a major force in introducing rhythm tap to French audiences, Petronio headed the Tap Dance Department of the American Center in Paris, founded the Gît-le-Coeur Cultural Center and the Paris Tap Dance Company. In 1994, she joined the faculty of the Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago and created the “Chicago on Tap" festival. She has appeared at dance festivals in New York, Colorado, Portland, Boston, Texas, Saint Louis, Kansas, Chicago, Israel, Tokyo, Moscow, Spain, Netherlands, Australia...

Sarah has been the recipient of Russia’s Tapparade award for Recognition of Accomplishments in Teaching and Performing Tap Dancing and The Lexington Tapestry award for teaching with passion, dedication and inspiration.  She received Tap City’s prestigious 2005 Hoofer award at New York's Tap City Festival and has appeared in the film "Honi Coles, a Class Act".  She has been a part of a documentary on Tap Dancing "Les Claquettes, le pied!" with historic tap footage featuring her daughter Leela that will be aired on French national television in September 2007.

She has broken ground as a woman in the jazz world, bringing her special style of jazz tap  rhythms and improvisation to jazz clubs and jazz festivals : Umbria Jazz, Jazz Yatra India, Juan les Pins, Antibes, Avignon, Cannes, Ravinia, Fremantle Jazz  and dance festivals: Colorado, Portland, Boston, Texas, Saint Louis, Kansas City, New York City, Chicago, Israel, Hambourg, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Montana, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Spain...

Sarah has shared the stage with Gregory Hines, Honi Coles, Steve Condos, Lon Chaney, Chuck Green, the Nicholas Brothers, LaVaughn Robinson, Savion Glover, Dianne Walker Brenda Bufalino.and many other talented tap dancers...

Currently residing in Paris, she regularly performs her "Jazz in Motion" concerts, as a soloist, sometimes together with  Leela Petronio and visiting tap artists and  accompanied by some of Europe's finest musicians that have included Maurice Vander, Rene Urtreger, Alain Jean Marie, Philippe Milanta, Stephane Belmondo, Georges Arvanitas, Pierre Michelot, Glenn Ferris, John Betsch, Jack Gregg, Luigi Trussardi, Pierre Boussaguet and others...



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Leela Petronio - Body Percussion, Tap
Parisian tap dancer Leela Petronio studied with tap masters Sarah Petronio and Jimmy Slyde.  Over the years, she studied and shared the spotlight with Tap greats Steve Condos, Honi Coles, Cholly Atkins. Chuck Green, Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Ted Levy and Lon Chaney.  In the 90’s, after receiving a BA in "Arts Management" from Columbia College in Chicago she returned to Paris, created the Hip Tap Project, an ensemble of percussive dancers and  curated the show "Planète Tap " for the Suresnes Cité-Danse Festival.  She was a featured Tap dancer with the Hip Hop dance company Funk Attitude that toured major festivals in France (Villette Urban Dance Festival in Paris, Avignon's Hivernales Festival...).

Recent projects and performances include : “Flex the floor” a tap concerto performed with the Orchestre Lamoureux at the Paris Opéra Comique; “About Tap”, Thomas Marek's intimately choreographed show  in Germany, New York Tap Dance Day Tap Extravaganza, Soul to Sole Festival in Austin, a comisssioned choreography for pre-professional young tap dancers "In the Groove" premiered at the Joyce Theater for New York's "Tap City" in  2005.  She was invited as guest performer with the Jazz Tap Ensemble at the Salzburg Jazz Festival and with the acclaimed French singer Camille at the Cirque d'Hiver.

She performs regularly with "Jazz in Motion © ", a show created by  Sarah Petronio (New Morning in Paris, Jazz venues in Europe, "Perth International Arts Festival" in Australia, "Tap Dance Day 2004" at the Kennedy Center in Washington…).  In August 2001 she joined the European cast of STOMP.

Leela has taught rhythm tap and body music workshops in Europe Senegal, Australia, Israel, and at many of the international tap festivals in the USA.  In France she works regularly with professional multi-disciplined dancers at the National Center for Dance and the Villette Festival of Urban Cultures and hosts the "Paris Tap Sessions".



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Acia Gray - Tap
As soloist, choreographer and master teacher, Ms. Gray has toured extensively across the U.S. and abroad to include England, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Spain, Brazil, Canada and Austria. In 1989, she co-founded Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, TX with Deirdre Strand and currently serves as Executive/Artistic Director as well as the Artistic Director of The Soul to Sole Tap Festival in Austin.  A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/NYC, Ms. Gray has shared the stage with such tap greats as Lon Chaney, Chuck Green, Steve Condos, Brenda Bufalino, Donald O’Connor, Fayard Nicholas, Buster Brown, Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, Sarah Petronio, Dianne Walker and many others in such productions as The Great Tap Reunion, Tap Do/Wop, Just Friends, Masters of Tap, Tap City, Chicago on Tap and The Soul to Sole Festival  to name a few.  Ms. Gray was chosen as one of 12 dancers to work with the late tap legend Charles ‘Honi’ Coles in America’s first creative residency for tap at The Colorado Dance Festival in 1989 and again in l990 with Jimmy Slyde and was also featured in the documentary A Class Act: The Magic of Honi Coles. Along with Tapestry Dance Company, she was a founding member and Managing Director of the touring company Austin on Tap throughout the l980’s, served on the steering committee of The International Tap Association and was a featured soloist in the l990 Dance Magazine calendar. Ms. Gray’s work, in collaboration with Tapestry co-founder Deirdre Strand, has shared the stage with numerous international dance companies including NYC Ballet, David Parsons Dance Project and Doug Varone to name a few as well as solo collaborative works with such dance artists as Bill Evans, Lambros Lambrou and Stephen Mills among others. Ms. Gray has also danced, choreographed and taught for numerous dance and academic organizations across America and abroad including Columbia College, The Colorado Dance Festival, International Summer School/Cyprus, Dance Masters of America, TASIS/London, Tanzsommer/Austria, The St. Louis Tap Festival, The Chicago Human Rhythm Project, The NYC Tap Festival, Le Festival De Danse Encore and many, many others. In June/2002, Ms. Gray was inducted as a premiere member of the Austin Arts Hall of Fame chosen by the Austin Critics Table and was nominated for a prestigous Alpert Award in the Arts as well as being a choreographer chosen for the 2003 NEA National College Choreography Initiative. Her critically acclaimed book and Amazon.com category bestseller The Souls of Your Feet – A Tap Dance Guide for Rhythm Explorers is available at all major bookstores and has been translated in the Czech Republic.  Recently profiled in Dance Teacher Now magazine, Ms. Gray also serves on the NEA funded Steering Committee for the National Tap Plan/International Tap Association – Suzanne Callahan, Consultant.  Her new work The Souls of Our Feet - A Celebration of American Tap Dance was recently chosen for the NEA's American Masterpiece: Dance 2007-2008 Touring Roster for significant American choreographic works.

www.tapestry.org

www.soultosole.org

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Deirdre Strand - Jazz
Ms. Strand started her professional career with the Fort Worth Ballet and continued with James Clouser’s Space/Dance/Theatre and Austin on Tap touring company. She started her degree work at Texas Christian University and has taught for the University of Houston where she holds her B.F.A. in Dance.  In addition, she has studied with Manolo Agullo, Fernando Schaffenberg, Edward Villella, Arthur Mitchell and Melissa Hayden among others. Highlights of her ballet roles include James Clouser’s Rasputin and Don Quixote staged by Miguel Terekov. She has staged unique contemporary ballet and modern/jazz works for Tapestry Dance Company as well as the British Olympic Association, the New Orlean’s World’s Fair and numerous professional and training organizations worldwide. Her unique and holistic teaching techniques are the standard syllabus for The Dance Arts Institute of America and are in demand locally as well as nationally and abroad.  Past work has involved Ballet Austin and The International Summer School/Cyprus, the Dance Department of TASIS/London, Tanzsommer in Austria, Dance Encore in Canada as well as the initiation of unique dance cross-training programs for Irish step dance in collaboration with Eimir Ni Mhaoileidigh in Ireland as well as an international dance education program in Salamanca, Spain.  Ms. Strand has also choreographed numerous musical theatre productions including Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, My Fair Lady and the critically acclaimed Zilker Summer Musical Big River! among many others. In addition to Tapestry Dance Company, Ms. Strand heads the Dance Department of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin and hosts numerous dance educational residencies that have included The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Jane Comfort & Company, Rennie Harris, Zen One and numerous Austin artists.

www.tapestry.org



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Gelan Lambert Jr. - Modern/Jazz
Attended the New World School of the Arts under the direction of Dean Daniel Lewis. Gelan went on to earn his BFA at The Juilliard School under Benjamin Harkarvy. At Juilliard, Gelan was awarded the “Martha Hill Prize,” the Dance Division’s highest honor given to a graduating senior for artistic excellence and leadership.

Mr.Lambert was selected as Presidential Scholar and 1st place recipient of the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts and National Society of Arts and Letters. His theatre credits include the first, national Broadway Tour of "Fosse", Ann Reinking’s pre-Broadway workshop of Bob Fosse’s “Chicago”, Susan Stroman's "A Christmas Carol" at Madison Square Garden Theater, City Center Encores' production of "Golden Boy" and New York City Opera's presentations of "Alcina"/"Turandot".

A former member of The Martha Graham Dance Company and Sean Curran Company, Gelan  has danced in works of created by such legendary choreographers as Alvin Ailey, John Butler, Jiri Kylian, Jose Limon, Donald McKayle, Mia Michaels and Paul Taylor. Mr.Lambert was a featured soloist in "Trees", choreographed by Reginald Yates for the Jacob's Pillow Katherine Dunham Tribute.

As a soloist he's presented original choreography at Florida International University’s V-H 100 Series, Long Island University’s Triangle Theater, New York City Center Studios and George Faison Firehouse Theater. His solo work "Identity" was presented at Jacob's Pillow Inside Out. Mr.Lambert's choreographic works have been performed and staged at The Juilliard School, Spelman College in Atlanta,GA, The Center of Contemporary Arts in St.Louis, MO, and Perry Mansfield in Steamboat Springs, CO.

Most recently Gelan had the honor of choreographing the NYC debut of Pulitzer Prize winning author, Rita Dove’s “Darker Face of the Earth” at The American Theater of Actors and for which he received an AUDELCO Award nomination for “Best Choreography”. He’s assistant to Master Choreographer/Guggenheim Fellow/Teacher/Senior Fulbright Scholar/ Writer, Reginald Yates and lives in New York City.



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Katya Kuznetsova - Salsa/Jazz
Ekaterina (Katya) Gennadievna Kuznetsova is originally from Magadan, Russia. Her training in dance began at the age of eight with Tanzgracia Ballroom Dance Company, with which she toured in Russia, China, and United States. Since 1996, she has been living, studying and teaching primarily in Anchorage, Alaska. She has studied music-based jazz and various forms of modern dance technique, as well as dance history, composition, and education. Ms. Kuznetsova has been a guest artist with Rhythm Explosion, Seattle Salsa Congress, Academie de Danse Anchorage, Maui Community College, Anchorage Classical Ballet, Ballroom Club of Fairbanks, Alaska Dance Theater, and Alaska Theater of Youth. In March 2005, her choreography "Cruzada" was recognized in the final gala at the American College Dance Festival Association's Northwest Regional Conference at Western Washington University in Bellingham. In 2006, Ms. Kuznetsova recieved her MA in Dance and Adult Education. Currently, she is a faculty member at the University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre and Dance. She is also founder and artistic director of Ritmovida Dance Partnership, which focuses on instruction, choreography, and performance in various forms of Latin dance. Visit www.ritmovida.com for more information.

www.ritmovida.com



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Heather Barinaga - Tap
Heather has explored Rhythm and Dance as an instrumental part of her life for over fifteen years.  She has been most influenced by tap master and mentor Katherine Kramer, who helped her develop a deep connection and respect for the history of tap while also exploring newer relationships between Latin jazz and tap. Heather currently lives in New York City, studying Afro-Cuban rhythms with Max Pollak, and has most recently danced under the direction of Mable Lee for the New York City Tap Festival’s Gala Performances.  She has also taught and performed at Rhythm Explosion! in Montana and at the Dance on the Beach Festival in Florida.  Heather brings to the floor a parfait of styles, a reverence for the history of tap, and, above all, absolute passion for rhythm and movement. 



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Valeria Pinheiro - Brazilian Dance, Tap
Choreographer and artistic director of the Companhia de Brincantes Vatá, founded in 1994 in Rio de Janeiro and based in Ceará since 2000. The work focuses on researching a “hybrid body” starting from the body matrix of Brazilian dances, especially of traditional North Eastern dances. In search of the “hybrid body”, Valeria, working with the language of tap-dancing as her basis, has done research to incorporate the other movement architectures coming from in situ experiences into the “rhythmic body” of tap.

Among her work a trilogy stands out: Bagaceira, a dança dos Mestres; Bagaceira, a dança dos Orixás; Bagaceira, a dança dos Ancestrais, which dive into the “ritualistic body”. These pieces won a number of prizes such as: Palco Giratório do SESC, Prêmio Petrobrás de Artes Cênicas, Global Rhythm of MCA (Contemporary Art Museum of Chicago), Prêmio de incentivo as Artes Cênicas da Secretaria de Cultura do Estado do Ceará (2002 e 2004), Harris Theater award (a cultural prize offered by the Millenium Park in Chicago), amongst others.

Valeria just finished collaboration with the Miami Brazzdance Theater. Two pieces will result from this collaboration - “Caçadores de Pipa” by the Cia Vatá and “A foot for Samba” by the Brazzdance Theater, a dive into the origins of samba mixed with afro-fusion. Those pieces shall open in April 2007.



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Nego Gato - Brazilian Percussion, Copoeira
Nego Gato. As a young boy Jose Sena performed the beautiful art forms of Capoeira, Orixa dance and Afro-Brazilian music throughout Salvador da Bahia, Brazil and in time, his reputation grew and he earned the name Nego Gato for his acrobatic springs and jumps. Mestre Gato performed throughout Brazil, Latin America and Europe with groups Tenda dos Milagres and Viva Bahia. As his reputation grew so did his travel and he soon found himself teaching and performing throughout the United States.

Mestre Gato believes that it was only because his ancestors left for him these cultural treasures that he did not succumb to the dangers of the streets of Salvador, Brazil. Because of Nego Gato's history his mission is centered in enrichment and empowerment. For more info: www.negogato.org




Jair Pereira
Jair Pereira was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and moved with his family to the US when he was 3 years old. He has studied Capoeira all his life and has performed with his father’s group Corpe Movimento throughout the US and Brazil. He is the son of Pele Pereira, a master capoeirista and was born into a performing family. He has been performing and teaching with his uncle, Mestre Nego Gato, since he was 9 years old.


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Michael Spiro - Percussion
Michael Spiro is an internationally recognized percussionist, recording artist, and educator, known specifically for his work in the Latin music field. He has performed on thousands of records, co-produced and played on several instructional videos for Warner Bros. Publications (including Talking Drums, Changuito, Giovanni Hidalgo, and Ignacio Berroa), and produced seminal recordings in the Latin music genre, including Orquesta Batachanga, Grupo Bata-Ketu, Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge, and Grupo Ilu-Aña.

Michael’s recording and performing credits include such diverse artists as David Byrne, Cachao, The Caribbean Jazz Project, Dori Caymmi, Changuito, Richard Egues, Frank Emilio Flynn, Ella Fitzgerald, David Garibaldi, Gilberto Gil, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ray Holman, Toninho Horta, Bobby Hutcherson, Dr. John, Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge, Machete Ensemble, Bobby McFerrin, Andy Narell, Ray Obiedo, Chico O'Farrill, Eddie Palmieri, Lazaro Ros, David Rudder, Carlos Santana, Grace Slick, Omar Sosa, Talking Drums, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner and Charlie Watts. In addition, he has recorded soundtracks to such major motion pictures as Soapdish, Henry and June, True Stories, Sworn To The Drum, Walker, Eddie Macon's Run, and Dragon-The Life of Bruce Lee; and wrote several arrangements for the Tony Award winning Broadway show BLAST! which was released on video by PBS in 2002.

Mike,changuito,angáHis formal education includes a Bachelor's Degree with Honors in Latin American Studies from the University of California, and three and a half years of graduate work in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. His practical education consists of a seven year apprenticeship with Francisco Aguabella (a relationship which continues today), and extensive study throughout Latin America. He has studied annually in Cuba since 1984 with musicians such as Jose Luis Quintana ("Changuito"), Esteban Vega Bacallao ("Cha-Cha"), Daniel Diaz and Juan "Claro" Blanco of Orquesta Ritmo Oriental, Regino Jimenez, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, and Grupo Afro-Cuba de Matanzas. In addition, in 1986 he spent two months training at G.R.E.S. Portela, the famous Escola de Samba in Rio de Janeiro.

Michael is a frequent visiting artist at universities worldwide. In addition to the position he held in the Jazz Department at the University of California, Berkeley, he has taught at numerous colleges throughout North America and Europe, and continues to be a presenter at national and statewide conventions of P.A.S. (The Percussive Arts Society) and the I.A.J.E. (International Association of Jazz Educators).

He currently resides in San Francisco, California where he is an integral part of the Bay Area music scene. He records and produces with groups throughout the West Coast, and still tours world-wide with the percussion trio "Talking Drums," which he co-leads with David Garibaldi and Jesus Diaz. In June of 1996, his own recording Bata-Ketu was released on Bembe Records to international critical acclaim, including being voted one of the top 50 drum records of all time by Drum Magazine. He debuted that material on the stage in 2002 with a performance grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in that same year he performed with his own group "Ara Meji" at the Monterey Jazz Festival, where he received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Percussion. In 2004 he received a Grammy nomination for his work as both producer and artist on Mark Levine’s Latin/Jazz release "Isla". This year he released his most recent recording "BataMbira", which is already receiving rave reviews, and he was voted runner up in the jazz/fusion category in Drum Magazine's Reader's Poll Awards.

The beat goes on...

www.michaelspiro.com







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Kenneth Metzker - Percussion
Kenneth Metzker began his music studies at age 4 with the piano.  Turning to percussion at 16 he soon recieved his degree from the University of Kentucky in percussion performance in 2004. During the last 4 years Kenneth has travelled to Germany, Cuba, Brazil, Honduras, and throughout the United States  as a competitor, student, guest artist, and performer. During this time he developed a deep love for music from Cuba, Brazil and the Caribbean which led him to study with Michael Spiro, Los Munequitos de Matanzas, and many others.  He now resides in Miami where he keeps busy with his band Lanzallamas Monofonica, as an accompanist for The New World School of the Arts, teacher for Arts for Learning, musician for Brazz Dance Theatre, as well as a free-lance musician with many others.

www.lanzamusica.com

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Cynthia Logan
Initially trained by Ana Forrest and Ganga White, Cynthia Logan received her teaching certification from the California Yoga Teachers Association in 1984. She continued her studies at the Iyengar Institute in San Francisco, The Yoga Room in Berkeley, and with top teachers in most of the yoga styles popular today. A founding member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, she is also a Nationally Certified Bodywork Professional. Cynthia's dynamic teaching style includes the precise alignment pioneered by BKS Iyengar, the "fire" of astanga flow and the ideokinesis imagery techniques of Lulu Swiegard, Eric Franklin and the late Andre Bernard, with whom she studied in Berkeley. Cynthia is also available for massages, with appointment.



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Lanzallamas Monofonica
Lanzallamas Monofonica defies description - Radiant and rare, the band rises above an ordinary sound, with its grace and refinement. The music is an enigma to all who listen and a symphony of exceptional charm and amazement. Dedicated to the tireless pursuit of excellence, Lanzallamas Monofonica encompasses a wide range of styles, richly woven and masterfully performed. This elegant palatte of artists come together from all corners of the globe. Be it Mexico to New Zealand, all the way to puerto Rico and Malaysia, and stretching to Argentina and the Americas, Lanzallamas Monofonica is truly a gift of color and sound.... a precious moment in life. www.lanzamusica.com



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