March 5–6, Tap Fest returns in 2022! Join us on campus for a weekend of celebrating this exciting dance genre that plays on both the auditory and visual senses!
Colburn celebrates the dance genre of tap at Tap Fest this weekend when guest artists Sam Weber, Joseph Wiggan, and Josette Wiggan take the stage in a curated performance by Colburn faculty, Johnnie Hobbs III and Denise Scheerer. Tap students and enthusiasts are also invited to attend five master classes being held on Sunday, March 6.
Colburn loves tap, and we asked our Tap Fest performers to share their own reasons for why the genre of tap is so special to them.
Tap dance was my first dance experience and, at the same time, my first experience of making music, because tap is both a dance and a musical form. I started when I was three and felt totally committed to tap dance by the time I was five! I’ve done other kinds of dance, theater dance and ballet, to name just two, and my connection to every form was primarily musical. For that reason, tap has always felt the most natural to me; it’s “home.” Sam Weber, Tap Fest Guest Artist
Tap dance was my first dance experience and, at the same time, my first experience of making music, because tap is both a dance and a musical form. I started when I was three and felt totally committed to tap dance by the time I was five! I’ve done other kinds of dance, theater dance and ballet, to name just two, and my connection to every form was primarily musical. For that reason, tap has always felt the most natural to me; it’s “home.”
Tap dance is special to me because it is an oral tradition rooted in African culture. Tap dance is 100% dance and 100% music at all times. Joseph Wiggan, Tap Fest Guest Artist
Tap dance is special to me because it is an oral tradition rooted in African culture. Tap dance is 100% dance and 100% music at all times.
The fact that tap dance today is a continuum of a legacy that inspires both the partaker and the onlooker alike. That the levity and weight of its history carve out space for true freedom and escape. That it breaks all barriers, connects and heals, and through transcendence, is the sum total of joy at its highest level. Josette Wiggan, Tap Fest Guest Artist
The fact that tap dance today is a continuum of a legacy that inspires both the partaker and the onlooker alike. That the levity and weight of its history carve out space for true freedom and escape. That it breaks all barriers, connects and heals, and through transcendence, is the sum total of joy at its highest level.
What is special about the tap dance form to me is its unconditional love for anybody that puts on its shoes and explores its history with genuine curiosity. Tap dance demands respect for its part in American dance culture. In turn, it will show you the world. Johnnie Hobbs III, Tap Fest Co-Curator, Colburn Faculty–Tap Dance Instructor
What is special about the tap dance form to me is its unconditional love for anybody that puts on its shoes and explores its history with genuine curiosity. Tap dance demands respect for its part in American dance culture. In turn, it will show you the world.
Tap dance is a unique art form that combines music and dance. Excellent tap dancers can not only play their rhythms accurately, but present the dance visually. The dancer becomes the musician. Denise Scheerer, Tap Fest Co-Curator, Colburn Faculty–Chair, Tap and Musical Theater
Tap dance is a unique art form that combines music and dance. Excellent tap dancers can not only play their rhythms accurately, but present the dance visually. The dancer becomes the musician.