MAY 13, 2023
7:00pm
Independence Seaport Museum
On Tap
Directors’ Note
Thank you for joining us for On Tap. After three years of pandemic-related lockdowns and cancelled performances, we are thrilled to finally be back onstage for our annual spring concert. So thrilled, in fact, that we decided to try something new this year. In Act I, you’ll see our Apprentice Dancers performing alongside local college students who completed an adjudication process to present their work this evening. We’re honored to have them join us, especially because so few college dance programs provide adequate support to Black vernacular dance, including tap.
In Act II, we’ll be performing to some of our favorite jazz standards, played live. Finally, in Act III, you’ll get to experience three world premieres choreographed by Katie Budris, Robyn Watson, and Michael J. Love. If you like what you see, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our Floor Fund (because tap dance deserves to be heard!) or join us at one of our upcoming public performances this summer. We hope to see you again soon!
-Kat, Katie, and Tamera
Katie Budris Managing Director
Tamera Dallam Associate Director
Kat Echevarría Richter Artistic Director
This concert is partially supported by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency.
The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble presents On Tap
Artistic Director
KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Managing Director
KATIE BUDRIS
Associate Director
TAMERA DALLAM
Production Associate Wardrobe Manager
MEG SARACHAN MARY KATE SELBY
Administrative Assistant Asst. Wardobe Manager
EMILY LEDDY DEONNA POWELL
Choreography by KATIE BUDRIS, MICHAEL J. LOVE, BECKY MASTIN, KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER, ROBYN WATSON
Musicians
KHARY ABDUL-SHAHEED, drums
JAMES SANTANGELO, keys
JUSTIN SEKLEWSKI, bass
Stage Managers
LAURA DUTTON, MOLLY LAYDEN, RENEE THIRINGER
Light & Sound
EGI PRO, INC.
Public Relations
CARRIE GORN
Board of Directors
CAROL BARNES, KATIE BUDRIS, TAMERA DALLAM, BARRY LURIE, MICHAEL MONTALBANO, LAURA PENHALE, KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER, MELANIE RICHTER, ALIZA ROSS, MEG SARACHAN, AMY C. SMITH
Advisory Board
SARAH FLYNN
LISA LATOUCHE
ROBYN WATSON
THE LADY HOOFERS
FIRST COMPANY
ASSOCIATE DANCERS
Katherine Moore
Michaela Clovis Jenny Husta
Deonna Powell
Mary Kate Selby Meg Sarachan
Chloe Shupe
Kennedy Barnes Abigail Stinson
Sarah Vogan
Brittany Beatty
TAP ENSEMBLE APPRENTICES
Julianna Herrera
Tyana Henderson
Evie Billet
Ariella Nelson
Aurora Migliore Molly Penhale
Aubree Hankinson
Sarah Taylor
Mia Spallina
Sammie Smith
Tara Tucci
ACT ONE
Featuring The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble Apprentices with guest artists from Muhlenberg College and Rowan University
BS CHORUS*
Staging by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dancers
The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble Apprentices
EVIE BILLET, AUBREE HANKINSON, AURORA MIGLIORE, MOLLY PENHALE, MIA SPALLINA, SARAH TAYLOR
Understudies
JULIANNA HERRERA, ARIELLA NELSON
Music: “(I Feel Like) Bustin’ Loose” by Rebirth Brass Band; original composition by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers
TAKE ON ME
Choreography by ERIKA DUBIN, LAURA FISHER, and RILEY HAMMETT
Dancers
Copacetic Rhythms, Muhlenberg College
MARISSA COHEN, JOSIAH CURET, SOFIA DAVVETAS, ERIKA DUBIN, LAURA FISHER, ROSIE GILBERT, RILEY HAMMETT, ZACH HUSEMAN, ELAINA MICHETTI, MOLLY MUNJONE, BELLA PANSERA, RACHEL SCHEER, ZOE WRIGHT
INTRUSIVITY
Choreography by TARA TUCCI and GREGORY WILLIAMS
Dancers
RU Hoofers Club, Rowan University
TARA TUCCI, GREGORY WILLIAMS
Music: “Three Quarter Tone Pieces [1/3]” by Charles Ives
SHIM SHAM SHIMMY*
Dancers
THE LADY HOOFERS APPRENTICES and COLLEGE GUESTS
*The Shim Sham Shimmy and the BS Chorus are both historic tap routines. Although their exact origins are unknown, some historians date sections of the BS Chorus to the late 19th century, while the Shim Sham emerged in the 1920s and now serves as the (inter)national anthem of tap.
ACT TWO
Featuring The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble with live accompaniment by
Khary Abdul-Shaheed, drums
James Santangelo, keys and Justin Seklewski, bass
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME
Choreography by BECKY MASTIN
Dancers
KATIE BUDRIS, TAMERA DALLAM, MEG SARACHAN, CHLOE SHUPE
Understudies
ARIELLA NELSON, MOLLY PENHALE, MIA SPALLINA
Music: “Love Me or Leave Me” composed by Walter Donaldson
CHEEK TO CHEEK
Choreography by JENNY HUSTA
Dancer
JENNY HUSTA
Music: “Cheek to Cheek” by Irving Berlin
TOO DARN HOT
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dance Captain: SARAH VOGAN
Dancers
DEONNA POWELL and SARAH VOGAN
Understudies
MICHAELA CLOVIS, ARIELLA NELSON
Music: “Too Darn Hot” by Cole Porter
IMPROVISATION
Dancers
TAMERA DALLAM, JENNY HUSTA, TARA TUCCI
Music: “Sunny Side of the Street” composed by Jimmy McHugh
TAKE THE “A” TRAIN
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dance Captain: SARAH VOGAN
Dancers
BRITTANY BEATTY, MICHAELA CLOVIS, TYANA HENDERSON, JULIANNA HERRERA, ARIELLA NELSON, DEONNA POWELL, MEG SARACHAN
Understudies
JENNY HUSTA, SARAH VOGAN
Music: “Take the ‘A’ Train” composed by Billy Strayhorn; “In a Sentimental Mood” composed by Duke Ellington; and “Perdido” composed by Juan Tizol
INTERMISSION ACT THREE STICK AROUND
World Premiere
Choreography by KATIE BUDRIS
Dancers
BRITTANY BEATTY, MEG SARACHAN, CHLOE SHUPE, DEONNA POWELL, TARA TUCCI, SARAH VOGAN
Understudies
TYANA HENDERSON, SAMMIE SMITH
Music: “Stick Around” composed and performed by Chris Bryan; arrangement by Chris Bryan and Katie Budris
A LITTLE BUBBLY
Choreography: Kat Echevarría Richter
Dancer
MICHAELA CLOVIS
Understudies
DEONNA POWELL
Music: “Booty Swing” by Parov Stelar
SONGS FROM THE SOLE
World Premiere
Choreography by ROBYN WATSON
Dance Captain: JENNY HUSTA
Dancers
KENNEDY BARNES, JENNY HUSTA, DEONNA POWELL, CHLOE SHUPE, ABIGAIL STINSON, SARAH VOGAN
Understudy
MEG SARACHAN
Music: “Giving Something Up” by Amel Larrieux
NOTHING BUT NOISE
Choreography by Katie Budris
Dancers
MOLLY PENHALE and MIA SPALLINA
Understudies
AUBREE HANKINSON, AURORA MIGLIORE, CHLOE SHUPE
#SAMPLEDMIXEDANDREMIXED: SEE-LINE WOMAN
World Premiere
Choreography by MICHAEL, J. LOVE
Dance Captain: SARAH VOGAN
Dancers
TAMERA DALLAM, JENNY HUSTA, ARIELLA NELSON, MEG SARACHAN, TARA TUCCI, SARAH VOGAN
Understudies
AURORA MIGLIORE, CHLOE SHUPE
Music: “See-Line Woman (Masters At Work Remix)” by Nina Simone on Verve Remixed; includes samples of “See-Line Woman”
by Nina Simone on Broadway-Blues-Ballads and “The Ha Dance” by Masters At Work on The House Of Cutting
Stick Around Choreography
PREMIERE NOTES
by KATIE BUDRIS Managing DirectorThis work uses drumsticks as an integral component of the percussion, drawing inspiration from multiple 1990’s tap works including: STOMP, Especially Tap Chicago’s “Drummin’ on a Chair,” and Sarah Flynn’s “Hardware” (which choreographer Katie Budris performed as part of Footprints Tap Ensemble in 1998). In addition to the use of drumsticks, “Stick Around” explores the collision of individuality and community as dancers play off of and with one another. The music, an original composition by Chris Bryan (the choreographer’s husband), was crafted specifically for this piece borrowing styles from artists such as Bobby McFerrin and Regina Spektor, both of whom embody a whimsical and playful tone with ample open space for adding our own rhythms.
Songs from the Sole
Choreography by ROBYN WATSON
2020 Guest Artist Commission
This work is inspired by women who continue to give parts of themselves in various spaces while still wrestling with validation of their own humanity. The music of Amel Larrieux (also the daughter of dance historian Brenda Dixon Gottschild) was a lovely match to communicate this work.
#SampledMixedAndRemixed: See-Line Woman
Choreography by MICHAEL J. LOVE
2023 Guest Artist Commission
By first meditating to a 1964 recording of Nina Simone’s “See-Line Woman” and then working their way through portions of a 2002 Masters At Work remix of the same tune, choreographer Michael J. Love and The Lady Hoofers nod to the intersectional histories of jazz, house music, and the Black queer ballroom. Ultimately, with his sampling of Masters At Works’ “The Ha Dance” and layering of such sounds underneath a rhythmic vocabulary informed by Simone’s legacy as a masterful vocalist and musician, Love hopes to offer an opportunity for deeply considering the foundations of and similarities between rhythm tap and voguing—two vernacular forms maintained by bearers who must often grapple with complex questions around cultural ownership and mainstream presence.
In honor of our 10th Anniversary, we have launched our first capital campaign to raise $20,000 for the purchase of our own portable tap floor— because tap dance deserves to be heard! You can make a contribution to our Floor Fund, to our Scholarship Fund, or in support of our mission, by scanning the QR code below, visiting our website at ladyhoofers.org, via Venmo @theladyhoofers, or by speaking with our staff or board members in the lobby following the show.
The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible.
DIRECTORS & CHOREOGRAPHERS
Kat Echevarría Richter (Co-Founder / Artistic Director / Choreographer) is a tap dancer, choreographer, educator, and dance historian. Her professional training began with the New Jersey Tap Ensemble under the direction of Deborah Mitchell and continued under Junior Laniyan of the London Tap Jam. In 2005, she received a scholarship to Oxford University, and later returned to the UK to complete her graduate work in dance anthropology. Kat cofounded The Lady Hoofers in 2011 with Too Darn Hot, an all-female, all-tap revue for the Philly Fringe Festival. Since then, her choreography has been praised by Lew Wittington of the Philadelphia Dance Journal for “tell[ing] great stories in tap and step idioms, less reliant on tricks and traditions and more on innovative tap artistry.” Kat also teaches dance history and all levels of tap technique at Stockton University, writes for Dance Magazine, and regularly presents and publishes her tap research.
Katie Budris (Managing Director / Choreographer) hails from Chicago, Illinois where she trained in multiple forms of dance and began cultivating her love for tap as a founding member of Footprints Tap Ensemble. She minored in dance at NASD accredited Hope College where she performed with InSync Dance Theatre, Michigan’s only professional tap and jazz company (now H2Dance Company). Katie’s prior tap performance credits include: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Nutcracker on Broadway, Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, Dance Chicago, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, and Chicago Tap Theatre’s Liason. Katie joined The Lady Hoofers in 2012, and quickly advanced to Assistant Director, and in 2015 to Managing Director. Her choreography “Unchain My Heart” was selected for performance at the DanceUSA Conference in 2013. In addition to directing The Lady Hoofers, Katie is a Senior Lecturer of Writing Arts and Program Coordinator for the Master of Arts in Writing at Rowan University.
Tamera Dallam (Associate Director) put on her first pair of tap shoes in 2004, and hasn’t stopped tapping since. Tamera has choreographed several winning competition dances; she also has performed as a dancer at Disney World and on Carnival Cruise Lines. Tamera spends her free time traveling up and down the east coast attending any tap festival she can find. She has taken master classes with Chloe Arnold, Jason Samuel Smith, Dianne Walker, Sarah Reich, and the Syncopated Ladies. She currently teaches multiple levels of tap at Parkside Academy of Music and Dance and works as a senior level Registered Behavior Therapist at Helping Hands Family.
Michael J. Love (Guest Choreographer) is an interdisciplinary tap dance artist, scholar, and educator. He is a 2021-2023 Princeton University Arts Fellow and Lecturer in the Program in Dance at Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts. His work has been supported and presented by Fusebox Festival and ARCOS Dance and he and frequent collaborator Ariel René Jackson were corecipients of the 2021 Tito’s Prize. His embodied research intermixes Black queer feminist theory and aesthetics with a rigorous practice that critically engages the Black cultural past as it imagines Black futurity. Love holds an M.F.A. in Performance as Public Practice from University of Texas at Austin.
Becky Mastin (Choreographer) native from State College, Pennsylvania, is a multiform dancer with training in jazz, ballet, and modern. Becky studied under Sarah Flynn at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts and has been performing in Philadelphia since 2011. Her performance credits include Too Darn Hot, a Philadelphia Fringe production, and Cross-Rhythms - An Evening of Tap Dance. Becky was a First Company Dancer, Rehearsal Assistant, and Choreographer for The Lady Hoofers from its founding in 2011 until 2016, and she continues to choreograph for the ensemble. In 2018, Becky founded Sole Purpose Tap Project with performer Theresa DeSimone. She is a public health professional and end of life doula.
Robyn Watson (Guest Choreographer), a Philadelphia native, began dancing at the age of five, training at La-Cher-Tari Dance Studio and later at Wissahickon Dance Academy. At the age of ten, Robyn was asked to join the Philadelphia based Tap Team Two and Company where she served as member and choreographer until 2002. In 2005, Dance Spirit Magazine listed Robyn as one of the “20 Hot Tappers, 20 and Under.” In 2016, Robyn served as the tap instructor for the Broadway sensation Shuffle Along. She has collaborated and performed with singer/musician Rhiannon Giddens, in addition to working, studying, and performing under the direction of tap dancer Savion Glover for eight years. Robyn has also performed with noted artists in the discipline including, Dianne Walker, Germaine Ingram, and the legendary Mabel Lee. Robyn received her B.A. in Theater from Temple University and is has been a resident artist at the Painted Bride Art Center. In addition to being a professional dancer, Robyn Watson is a theatre and dance educator and costume designer, designing for several high schools and production companies in the Philadelphia region. She currently serves as a professor of dance at Muhlenberg College.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
SUSTAINERS ($2,500+ and up)
Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency
Steve Richter & Debi Echevarría
ADVOCATES ($1,000-$2,499)
The Clovis Family
Office of Arts, Culture, & Creative Economy
Mary Reinhart
Anonymous Donor
SUPPORTERS ($500-$999)
Chris Blowitski
IAT Insurance Group, Inc.
Drs. Barry & Debby Lurie
Joseph Lurie & Kathy Gosliner
Aliza Ross
PARTNERS ($100-$499)
Tracy Bonetti
Elaine Brenner
Katie Budris & Chris Bryan
James & Tara Chapman
Charities Aid Foundation America
Rebecca Craik
Tamera Dallam & Bill Randolph
Scott & Pamela Dimeler
Robert Dever
Joan Duckenfeld
Alan Forstater
Sarah Flynn
Bailey Gaffney
Susan Klein & Stuart Pittel
John Krzeminski
Bob & Debbie Oliveti
Karen Mastin
Kathleen McGrann
Lisa Miller & Ron Sarachan
Lily Montalbano
Laurie Nelson
Martin Nelson
Bob & Debbie Oliveti
Mary Pachuta
Laura & Brian Penhale
Kat Echevarría Richter & Mike
Montalbano
Melanie & Cody Richter
Rowan University RU Hoofers Club
Katherine Shupe
Amy C. Smith
Michael & Rebecca Smith
ENTHUSIAST ($50-$99)
Mary Abraham
Elizabeth Beatty
Britney Kennedy Bobrow
Carol Broadbent
Chris & Jan Budris
Tracey Cundiff
Marie Dodds
Caroll Drazen & Daryl Boudreaux
Joanne Gotto
Elizabeth Knighton
Deborah Kramer
Martha Kubik
Karen Mastin
Frances McElroy
Heather McEntee
Debra McMullen
Chandra Moss-Thorne
Eric Thompson & Sarah Vogan
FRIENDS ($1-49)
Carol Barnes
Rebecca Bohley
Mia Buckley
Marissa Camper
Kelly Cury
Richard DeConca
Quinn Drew
Megan Flynn
Manda Frederick
Carrie Gorn
Lindsay Gottwald
Jennifer Hankinson
Tina Leddy
Lisa Lentini-Pombrio
Katie Moore
Network for Good
Tracy Parr
Jennifer Paul
Amanda Rennie
Urlisses Rodriguez
Alicia Rosati
Georgia Salvaryn
Lisa Semeraro
Julia Snoke
Amy Thievon
Brent White
IN-KIND SUPPORTERS
Capezio
Delaware River Waterfront Corp.
Traveling Tutus, LLC
VOLUNTEERS
Carol Barnes
Kim Billet
Rebecca Bohley
Chris Bryan
Molly Layden
Mike Montalbano
Melissa Morse
Laura Penhale
Kristi Stinson
*Supporter list as of 5/1/2023
The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble would like to thank our inaugural Board of Directors for all of their hard work, especially Barry Lurie, Mike Montalbano, Melanie Redmond Richter, and Aliza Ross. We would also like to welcome our new Board members, Carol Barnes, Meg Sarachan, and Amy C. Smith. If you have a passion for the performing arts and are interested in serving on our Board, please email Kat@ladyhoofers.org to begin a conversation.
Inaugural Board of Directors pictured at The Lady Hoofers 10th Anniversary Gala, May 7, 2022 at Pen Ryn Estate. Left to right: Aliza Ross, Tamera Dallam, Barry Lurie, Katie Budris, Kat Echevarría Richter, Mike Montalbano, Melanie Redmond Richter.
Upcoming Events
National Tap Dance Day Jam
Cherry Street Pier
Friday, May 26th, 6:30pm
The Arts on Center Stage
Philadelphia City Hall
Thursday, June 14th, 6:00pm
Parkway Presents Series
The Oval
Friday, July 21 at 6:30pm
Youth Ensemble Auditions
Saturday, June 17th at 1:00pm (ages 9-12) or 2:30pm (ages 13-18)
First Company Auditions
Saturday, June 17 at 4:00pm
Save the Date for THE TAPCRACKER
Saturday, December 9 & Sunday, December 10 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre
Sign up for our e-newsletter to stay in the know about auditions, pop up performances, classes, and our mainstage concert series, including THE TAPCRACKER!
