Directors’ Note
Thank you for joining us for our eighth annual production of The Tapcracker. We are thrilled to share our favorite holiday tradition with you!
It’s been another busy season for The Lady Hoofers: we kicked off 2024 with our Winter Class Series and offered community classes with Chloe and Maud Arnold of the Syncopated Ladies. Our Spring Concert Series included two mainstage premieres for our first production at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. We also expanded our Outreach Residency at Moffet Elementary School in North Philly to include the entire fourth grade! For over a decade, we have provided free tap shoes and free tap classes to Moffet’s fifth grade students, and we are so excited for this opportunity to impact twice as many students this year through sharing the art of tap dance.
Registration is now open for our Winter Class Series, with two 4-week sessions starting in January with classes for all levels, from brand new tap dancers through advanced. And in May, we’ll be back at the Annenberg Center to present our Spring Concert Series with choreography by guest artists Dolores Sanchez, Michael J. Love, and Star Dixon. If you’re new to The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble, please scan the QR code below so we can keep in touch. And if you’re a long-time supporter, please accept our heartfelt thanks.
Enjoy the show and Happy Holidays!
-Tamera and Katie
Tamera Dallam Artistic Director
Katie Budris Managing Director
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The
Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble presents
The Tapcracker
Artistic Director Managing Director
TAMERA DALLAM KATIE BUDRIS
Administrative Associate Production Associate EMILY LEDDY MEG SARACHAN
Wardrobe Manager Asst. Wardobe Manager MARY KATE SELBY DEONNA POWELL
Story by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Design by KATIE BUDRIS & KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Choreography by
KATIE BUDRIS, SARAH COOK FLYNN, BECKY MASTIN, KATHERINE MOORE, KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER, MEG SARACHAN
Music by
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY, DUKE ELLINGTON & BILLY STRAYHORN
Set Construction Mouse Costumes
JEFF MCCAMPBELL KATHY & MARY KATE SELBY
Narrator
Audio Recording
KIMBERLY O’GRADY SEAN O’GRADY
Stage Managers
CHRISTINA BROWN & LAURA DUTTON
Board of Directors
KATIE BUDRIS, TAMERA DALLAM, KATHERINE MOORE, LAURA PENHALE, KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER, MEG SARACHAN, AMY C. SMITH, FRANKIE STOKES
Advisory Board
SARAH COOK FLYNN, LISA LATOUCHE, MICHAEL J. LOVE, ROBYN WATSON
THE LADY HOOFERS
TAP ENSEMBLE
FIRST COMPANY DANCERS
Meg Sarachan
Deonna Powell
Brittany Beatty
Katherine Moore
Caitlyn Crompton
Sarah Vogan
Mia Valeriote
APPRENTICE DANCERS
ASSOCIATE DANCER
Special thanks to the rest of our Associate Dancers who are unable to join us onstage this weekend: Kennedy Barnes, Rickia Dallam, Jessica Dodds, Molly Layden, Molly Penhale, Mia Spallina, Abigail Stinson, & Tara Tucci.
Lindsey Clark
Mads Braverman
Lila Angle
Aubree Hankinson
Julia Gregg
Julianna Herrera
Emma Riddell
Olivia Levitsky
Frankie Stokes
Mara Fricker
Sammie Smith
Paige Krissinger
Sarah Taylor
YOUTH ENSEMBLE
Interested in joining our Youth Ensemble? Auditions will take place in June 2024. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media @theladyhoofers for details!
Alani Bell
Lena Bailey Taylor Adams
Alysia MacGregor
Kierstin Kramer
Claire Riley Celeste Sánchez
Elizabeth Kramer Aria McGill
Arabella Squilla Serenity Terrell
Lucia Whalen
Catherine Clark
Ella Deviney Ava Keagle
Micaela Kline Erin Knight
Rebecca Knob
The Story of The Tapcracker
Act I: Paris, France
Our story begins with the arrival of ten-year-old Clara in Paris. She is eager to see the Eiffel Tower but soon learns that it’s been overrun by mice. At a dinner party with her mother, Clara’s disappointment turns to boredom, until the Fairy Tapmother presents Clara with a mysterious gift: a wooden Nutcracker, and a map of the city. Clara decides to set off on her own, but quickly loses her way. She meets the mischievous Mouse Queen, who enlists Clara’s help in a battle against the Tapcracker and her guards for control of the Eiffel Tower. Chaos ensues, but the Mouse Queen makes her escape, whisking Clara away to hide in the metro. Fortunately, the Fairy Tapmother intervenes, sending them to the Palace of Versailles where she knows Clara will be safe.
Act II: The Palace of Versailles
The Queen of Versailles welcomes Clara to the palace and agrees to allow the Mouse Queen to spend the night. Clara feels homesick, but she is mesmerized by the members of the queen’s court, who bring her hot cocoa, chocolates, and tea. She enjoys performances by mimes, can-can dancers, and the palace chefs, but just before dawn, the Tapcracker finally arrives! The Mouse Queen is ready to fight, but The Queen of Versailles instructs the mice and the tower guards to make peace. They negotiate a treaty and promise to stop fighting over control of the Eiffel Tower, finally granting Clara’s wish.
Epilogue: The Eiffel Tower
Under the watchful eye of the Fairy Tapmother, Clara is reunited with her mother just in time for the sunrise. Her magical journey through the city of Paris comes to an end at the Eiffel Tower, where she joins in a dance of celebration with her new friends.
THE DANCE CENTRE
W E O U R H O O F E R S
ELLA DEVINEY
ALYSIA MACGREGOR
CLAIRE RILEY LUCIA WHALEN &
THE TAPCRACKER FEATURED CAST
In order of appearance
CLARA
Taylor Adams
Understudy: Lucia Whalen
CLARA’S MOM
Brittany Beatty
Understudy: Frankie Stokes
DINNER PARTY HOSTESS // DANSEUSE DE CAN-CAN
Meg Sarachan
FAIRY TAPMOTHER
Tamera Dallam
Understudy: Caitlyn Crompton
THE TAPCRACKER
Mia Valeriote
Understudy: Sarah Taylor
MOUSE QUEEN
Aubree Hankinson
Understudy: Paige Krissinger
SNOW QUEEN
Sarah Vogan
Understudy: Deonna Powell
SNOW ELF
Sarah Taylor
QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Deonna Powell
Understudy: Sarah Vogan
ACT ONE: PARIS, FRANCE
OVERTURE
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dance Captain: SARAH VOGAN
Music performed by David Berger & The Sultans of Swing
LILA ANGLE, ALANI BELL, LINDSEY CLARK, MARA FRICKER, JULIA GREGG, AUBREE HANKINSON, REBECCA KNOB, PAIGE KRISSINGER, DEONNA POWELL, EMMA RIDDELL, SARAH TAYLOR, MIA VALERIOTE; Understudies: AVA KEAGLE, CELESTE SÁNCHEZ, SARAH VOGAN
BON APPETIT
Choreography by KATIE BUDRIS & KATHERINE MOORE
Asst. Dance Captain: MARY KATE SELBY
TAYLOR ADAMS, LENA BAILEY, BRITTANY BEATTY, CAITLYN CROMPTON, TAMERA DALLAM, JULIANNA HERRERA, ALYSIA MACGREGOR, ARIA MCGILL, KATHERINE MOORE, DEONNA POWELL, MEG SARACHAN, LUCIA WHALEN; Understudies: FRANKIE STOKES, MIA VALERIOTE, SARAH VOGAN
SQUEAK
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER with improvisation by AUBREE HANKINSON
Dance Captain: MARY KATE SELBY
Music performed by Harmonie Ensemble/New York & Steven Richman
LENA BAILEY, ALANI BELL, AUBREE HANKINSON, MICAELA KLINE, ALYSIA MACGREGOR, ARIA MCGILL, CLAIRE RILEY, SERENITY TERRELL, LUCIA WHALEN; Understudies: ELIZABETH KRAMER, KIERSTIN KRAMER
MARCH OF THE TOWER GUARDS
Choreography by SARAH COOK FLYNN
Dance Captain: KATIE BUDRIS
MADS BRAVERMAN, MARA FRICKER, JULIA GREGG, PAIGE KRISSINGER, CELESTE SÁNCHEZ, SARAH TAYLOR, MIA VALERIOTE; Understudies: AVA KEAGLE, ERIN KNIGHT, REBECCA KNOB, ARABELLA SQUILLA
THE TAPCRACKER
Choreography by: KATIE BUDRIS & MIA VALERIOTE
MIA VALERIOTE
Understudy: SARAH TAYLOR
THE BATTLE
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER with improvisation by AUBREE HANKINSON & MIA VALERIOTE
Dance Captain: SARAH VOGAN
Music performed by David Berger & The Sultans of Swing
TAYLOR ADAMS, LENA BAILEY, ALANI BELL, MADS BRAVERMAN, MARA FRICKER, JULIA GREGG, AUBREE HANKINSON, AVA KEAGLE, MICAELA KLINE, ERIN KNIGHT, REBECCA KNOB, ELIZABETH KRAMER, KIERSTIN KRAMER, PAIGE KRISSINGER, ALYSIA MACGREGOR, ARIA MCGILL, CLAIRE RILEY, CELESTE SÁNCHEZ, ARABELLA SQUILLA, SARAH TAYLOR, SERENITY TERRELL, MIA VALERIOTE, LUCIA WHALEN; Understudies: CATHERINE CLARK, ELLA DEVINEY
ON THE METRO
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER with MARY KATE SELBY; improvisation by DANCERS
Music performed by Berlin Symphony Orchestra
KATIE BUDRIS, CAITLYN CROMPTON, TAMERA DALLAM, AUBREE HANKINSON, DEONNA POWELL, SAMMIE SMITH; Understudies: PAIGE KRISSINGER, KATHERINE MOORE, CELESTE SÁNCHEZ
WALTZ OF THE SNOWBALLS
Choreography by MEG SARACHAN
Music performed by Dallas Brass
LILA ANGLE, MADS BRAVERMAN, LINDSEY CLARK, PAIGE KRISSINGER, KATHERINE MOORE, OLIVIA LEVITSKY, EMMA RIDDELL, FRANKIE STOKES, SARAH TAYLOR, SARAH VOGAN; Understudies: MARA FRICKER, JULIA GREGG, DEONNA POWELL
INTERMISSION
20 minutes
You can support The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble by visiting our Tapcracker Boutique in the lobby to purchase Lady Hoofers apparel and accessories, a commemorative Tapcracker 2024 ornament, or an autographed poster from the show!
Refreshments are also available in the lobby courtesy of the Suzanne Roberts Theatre with proceeds supporting the Philadelphia Theatre Company.
ACT TWO: THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES
COFFEE
Choreography by BECKY MASTIN
Dance Captain: SARAH VOGAN
Music performed by Indigo
BRITTANY BEATTY, JULIANNA HERRERA, MEG SARACHAN, MIA VALERIOTE, SARAH VOGAN; Understudies: MADS BRAVERMAN, CAITLYN CROMPTON, JULIA GREGG, AUBREE HANKINSON
SUGAR RUSH
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dance Captain: DEONNA POWELL
Music performed by The Invincible Czars
CATHERINE CLARK, ELLA DEVINEY, AVA KEAGLE, ERIN KNIGHT, REBECCA KNOB, ELIZABETH KRAMER, KIERSTIN KRAMER, ARABELLA SQUILLA; Understudies: ALANI BELL, ARIA MCGILL, LUCIA WHALEN
CHOCOLATE
Choreography by KATIE BUDRIS
Music performed by People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City
MARA FRICKER, PAIGE KRISSINGER, SARAH TAYLOR; Understudies: MADS BRAVERMAN, EMMA RIDDELL
CAN-CAN
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dance Captains: MEG SARACHAN & SARAH VOGAN
Music performed by The Narada Nutcracker
Dancers
TAYLOR ADAMS, LILA ANGLE, LINDSEY CLARK, JULIANNA HERRERA, MICAELA KLINE, ARIA MCGILL, CLAIRE RILEY, MEG SARACHAN, LUCIA WHALEN; Understudies: LENA BAILEY, MARA FRICKER, ALYSIA MACGREGOR
QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Choreography by BECKY MASTIN
Music performed by David Berger & The Sultans of Swing; Pentatonix
DEONNA POWELL
Understudy: SARAH VOGAN
TEA SWING
Choreography by KATIE BUDRIS
Music performed by Glenn Miller Orchestra
TAYLOR ADAMS, CAITLYN CROMPTON, AUBREE HANKINSON, AVA KEAGLE, PAIGE KRISSINGER, DEONNA POWELL, MEG SARACHAN, MIA VALERIOTE; Understudies: JULIANNA HERRERA, REBECCA KNOB, SARAH TAYLOR, SARAH VOGAN, LUCIA WHALEN
PAS DE TROIS
Improvisation by DANCERS
Music performed by The Narada Nutcracker
TAMERA DALLAM, AUBREE HANKINSON, MIA VALERIOTE; Understudies: CAITLYN CROMPTON, PAIGE KRISSINGER, SARAH TAYLOR
EPILOGUE: THE EIFFEL TOWER
DANSE OF THE FLOREADORES
Choreography by BECKY MASTIN
Dance Captain: KATIE BUDRIS
Music performed by David Berger & The Sultans of Swing
MADS BRAVERMAN, KATIE BUDRIS, LINDSEY CLARK, CAITLYN CROMPTON, TAMERA DALLAM, JULIANNA HERRERA, OLIVIA LEVITSKY, SARAH VOGAN; Understudies: LILA ANGLE, CELESTE SÁNCHEZ, SARAH TAYLOR
LE FIN
Choreography by KAT ECHEVARRÍA RICHTER
Dance Captain: KATIE BUDRIS
Music performed by David Berger & The Sultans of Swing
Beginner Tap with Tamera Dallam
Our Beginner level class is intended for those who are brand new to tap, or who have previous experience and would like to work at a slower pace. Students will work on musicality and basic tap rudiments including balls and heels, shuffles, flaps, cramp rolls, and paddle rolls.
• Sundays 3:00pm - 4:00pm
• Ages 9+, adults welcome
Intermediate Tap with Tamera Dallam
Our Intermediate level class is for dancers with a minimum of two years tap experience. Students will work on cramp rolls, paddle rolls, time steps, pullbacks, wings and other intermediate steps, as well as increasing their understanding of jazz music fundamentals including improvisation, syncopation, and swing.
• Sundays 4:00pm - 5:00pm
• Ages 9+, adults welcome
Advanced Tap with Rochelle Haynes
Our Advanced level class is for dancers with a minimum of five years tap experience. Students will focus on rhythm, working through advanced variations of a variety of tap steps. Classes may include tap history and improvisation.
• Sundays 3:00pm - 4:00pm
• Ages 13+, adults welcome
Session One Special Guest: Star Dixon!
Session One will end on February 2 with a special master class for Intermediate and Advanced students with guest artist Star Dixon from Chicago’s M.A.D.D. Rhythms!
Session Two Student Showcase
Session Two will end on March 9 with class for all levels from 3:00 - 4:00pm and our annual Student Showcase and Open House Reception from 4:00 - 5:00pm.
DIRECTORS & CHOREOGRAPHERS
Tamera Dallam (Artistic Director) put on her first pair of tap shoes in 2004, and hasn’t stopped tapping since. Performance credits include: Koresh’s Come Together Dance Festival, the Kimmel Center’s Fall Arts Fest, That Which Connects Camden, Walt Disney World, and Carnival Cruise Lines. An awardwinning choreographer, 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.
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 now 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 an Associate Teaching Professor of Writing Arts and Program Coordinator for the Master of Arts in Writing at Rowan University.
Kat Echevarría Richter (Founder / 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 co-founded 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, tap technique, and composition at the university level and regularly presents and publishes her tap research. She is currently an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Rutgers-Camden.
Sarah Cook Flynn (Choreographer) Well-known in the tap community as the Founding Artistic Director of Footprints Tap Ensemble and an established dance educator and choreographer, Sarah served 11 years as Artistic Director of PA Academy of the Arts and Jade Dance Project, as well as founder and
director of Lady Grey’s Lovelies, a vintage dance company. She has been an instructor at Penn State University, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Dance Masters of Wisconsin, Dance Revolution, and many more. Performing credits include: the 2000 Sydney Olympics, The Nutcracker on Broadway, Home for the Holidays: Gregory Hines Live, Project Dance Times Square, and Tap Explosion with Savion Glover & Ted Levy. A prolific choreographer, Sarah has set over 100 works on Footprints Tap Ensemble in the years she was their Artistic Director. Her choreography has also been featured at Walt Disney World, in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and in many of the Chicagoland dance events, including Dance Chicago and Dance-4-Life. The Tapcracker’s “March of the Tower Guards” premiered in The Nutcracker on Broadway as “March of the Toy Soldiers” in 1999.
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.
Katherine Moore (Choreographer) is a percussionist with decades of tap dance and music experience. While studying Cognitive Science and Music at the University of Pennsylvania, she was the director of Soundworks Tap Factory, choreographed multiple pieces, was selected to perform with Da Boom Dance Company, learned tabla (Indian) drums, and played percussion in the Penn Band. Later, she was a member of both Taps and Steppin’ Out at Yale University. Katherine joined The Lady Hoofers in 2015. Outside of the ensemble, Katherine has performed locally through the Philadelphia Community Tap Project and at the First Fridays jazz concert series at Arcadia University, where Katherine is a Professor of Psychology. In her spare time, she enjoys singing and dancing with her husband and three children.
Meg Sarachan (Production Associate / Choreographer) is a dancer, choreographer, and dance filmmaker who specializes in dance films and has worked with many Philadelphia-area dance groups, including The Lady Hoofers, Philadelphia Ballet, BalletX, Dancefusion, Tap Team Two, Uniting Colleges Through Tap, the Bryn Mawr College Dance Program, and Group Motion. She edited the documentary Black Ballerina (2016), which aired on PBS and explores issues of diversity in American classical dance. Meg joined the Lady Hoofers in 2012, and no one has managed to get her to leave. If you think she dances well, credit goes to Cassidy Dance Studio, Brown University’s What’s On Tap?, for which she served as co-director, and hoofer Corinne Karon. If you’re not impressed, that’s all on her. She can take it.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
SUSTAINERS ($2,500+)
Anonymous Donor
The Braverman Family
James Keagle
ADVOCATES
($1,000-$2,499)
Pamela Adams
Chris Blowitski
Drs. Barry & Debby Lurie
Debi Echevarria & Steve Richter
Meg Sarachan
Paulette Singleton
SUPPORTERS ($500-$999)
Joan Duckenfeld
PARTNERS ($100-$499)
Carol Barnes
Deanna Beier
Linda Bianchi
Tracy & Bruno Bonetti
Carol Broadbent
Chris & Jan Budris
Katie Budris & Chris Bryan
Rebecca Craik
Tamera Dallam-Randolph
Pamela & Scott Dimeler
Marc Donahue
Sherri Gregg
Alvina Holland-Kline
Mike Klaene
Martha Kubik
Lisa Miller & Ron Sarachan
Lily Montalbano
Laurie Nelson
Amanda Paschke
Laura Penhale
Melanie & Cody Richter
Amy C. Smith
Gregory Williams
ENTHUSIAST ($50-$99)
Britney Kennedy Bobrow
Rebecca Bohley
Jane Bulman
Sean Cadogan
Janine Darby
Susan Errichiello
Stuart & Caren Hosansky
Katherine Moore
Katie Moore-Derkits
Andrea Pellegrino
Laura Winslow
Megan Zor
FRIENDS ($1-49)
Mary Abraham
Leslie Allison
Elizabeth Alston
Nancy Ames
Elizabeth Beatty
Andrea Belkin
Stephanie Cagliola
Pooja Chanda
Betty Clarke
Cathy Cleary
Lita Cohen
Anna Daughtery
Suzy Dowell
Quinn Drew
Kimberly Erskine
Hillay Fishman
Patricia Fogleman
Joann Gotto
Jean Hembrick
Mary Henderson
Donald Hoffer
Jenalyn Koch
Karen Lynch
Dekka Michael
Lynne Norris
Robert Oliveti
Anne Pavone
Shannon Peffer
Robert Powell
Matt Prisby
Sheri Raeburn
Kat Echevarria Richter
Joanna Ruzzi
Morgan Selkirk
Pamela K. Shropshire
Chloe Shupe
Jacque Smith
Ashley Stoneburner
Jennifer Turner
Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins
IN-KIND SUPPORTERS
Whitney Bailey
Linda Bianchi
Rebecca Bohley
The Braverman Family
Capezio
Tari Clark
Delaware River Waterfront Corp.
Jennifer Hankinson
Britney Bobrow
Tanya MacGregor
Belinda & Claire Raia
Traveling Tutus, LLC
Wegmans
VOLUNTEERS
Lauren Bellinghieri
Rebecca Bohley
Emily McGill
Mike Montalbano
Laura Penhale
Amy C. Smith
Youth Ensemble Parents
CORPORATE SUPPORT
Charities Aid Foundation America
Gilbane Building Company
US Bank
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
Philadelphia Cultural Fund
PA Council on the Arts
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts is a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency.
