For those who may have missed Tap Kids the last time it came to Edmonds Center for the Arts, an encore performance awaits you Saturday.
Tap Kids is a New York stage show featuring young people from across the country who have been introducing a new kind of tap dancing since 2002.
“We decided to bring it back because there were many people who were unable to make it the first time (in March 2007), and the response was so good from those who could attend; so many asked if they would get to see it again,” Edmonds Center for the Arts executive director Joe McIalwain said. “It’s something we don’t get to see too often, of this caliber, from kids this age.”
The current group of Tap Kids are all teenagers.
“All of the Tap Kids are well-rounded performers in all styles of dance including ballet, jazz and hip-hop,” the show’s director, choreographer and co-creator Lisa Hopkins said. “Some sing, as well, and are musicians. Former Tap Kids have gone on to study at Juilliard, work in movies, work in the music industry.”
Dancers also will be available to the audience and sign autographs after the show, Hopkins said.
“The show should appeal to our audience because the performers range from younger to older kids, because it’s all done with music and tap, and it shows people that there’s more out there to see than just sports; that there are fun physical things people can do,” Edmonds Center marketing manager Beth Braun said, adding that for anyone who may currently have a narrow view of tap dancing, the scope of this show might alter it for them.
“There’s just so much going on besides the tapping,” she said. “There’s a storyline along with the jumping and everything else the performers do.”
The storyline, McIalwain added, is “developed by the kids performing in it, and although it’s probably been refined since the last time they were here … it focuses on high school, something they’re familiar with, concerns about college and relationships.”
He said that while the story goes along that line, and the tap moves are common to all the performers, each also brings his or her own twist to the stage.
“One of the performers from last time obviously was very athletic, and there was a basketball routine in part of the show that just worked perfectly with the rhythm of all the other steps,” McIalwain said, adding that all the commotion onstage fits right with the busy set designs and lighting effects.
Braun said, “We felt this was a family-friendly program and it fit with our goal of presenting something that appealed to a diverse audience, since it’s a family show that is not just for the little kids.”
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