photo credit: Stegsie

As the Summer draws to a close I am finishing my last batch of Summer tap intensives and workshops. As always, my students are teaching me more than I’m teaching them. One of the comments that I have heard a lot from students is that my classes are “so much fun!”

While I would love to say this is due to my phenomenal teaching skills, I think it actually owes more to the freedom I have been giving my students to express themselves. Instead of drilling endless tap steps I have taken to giving students an “idea,” and then encouraging them to build upon it.

If you’re interested in learning these exercises just pick up my tap improvisation DVD. The exercises on it can be used in class to help students have more fun with tap!

Of course, you can always make up your own exercises; just design them so that students have to use their own creativity in the dance! Also, if you are interested in having me come out to your dance studio for a workshop or Master class, just use my contact page to email me. I am currently offering an incredibly low rate on tap workshops.

Email me to learn more!

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photo credit: tibbygirl

I just added a new video to www.eTapDance.com where I am explaining a wonderfully rhythmic & challenging Time Step.

eTapDance.com is my website where I am building a library of video lessons covering tap steps and teaching techniques that will help you and your students build on their tap strengths and correct their weaknesses! If you would like to see a preview of this latest lesson you can do so by clicking the link below:

You can also get additional updates and information about my online tap lessons by submitting your contact information below!

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photo credit: javYliz

Over the past few weeks I have been teaching dozens of private tap lessons (and loving it by the way!) As I work with students of different skill levels I notice that most of their mistakes are rooted in a very small subset of technique problems. One of the things that I see repeatedly is dancers who have a tendency to shift their weight from one side to the other prematurely.

When a tap dancer shifts their weight too early, all kinds of problems occur as Shuffles become Flaps & feet become un-liftable!

The cure? Procrastination!

When struggling with a new step, focus on the weight changes – 90% of the time a weight change or shift is causing the problem. You’ve got to know where you’re shifting your weight before you can fix anything!

Next…practice the step slowly while “waiting until the last minute” to shift your weight (procrastinating).

Avoid any impulse you have to anticipate the weight change and instead, do so, after you have completed the movement. I’ll be recording a video for www.eTapDance.com today on this very subject!

Would you like to see videos added on any other subject or problem you are having? If so, reply in the comments or contact me via my “Contact” page!

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photo credit: mangpages

Tap Dancing Nazis Ready To Take Berlin By Storm – A German-language version of The Producers musical will open for the first time in Germany. Check it out!

Student Honored by Key Club; IC Tap Dance Group to Perform – Awarded the Vincent B. Forest Distinguished Vice-President Award at the New York State Key Club’s 61st annual Leadership Training Conference.

Tesoro Delights The Audience – An exhilarating show involving an old theater being revived and mistaken identity, leading to mistaken love is what makes “Crazy for You” so crazy!

Tap-Happy Dance Style Clicks With Filmmaker – The movie “Thinking on Their Feet: Women of the Tap Renaissance”, will have its premiere next Sunday at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Check it out!

Tap Dancer, Orchestra Create Jazz at The Egg – Savion Glover tests out something new.

If you would like to access my online tap lessons, sign up below!

photo credit: mathias-erhart

When I first decided to follow my passion for tap dancing in 2006, I really had no idea what to do.

All I knew was that I loved to tap dance and was meant to be a part of it. As I set out on my journey, I knew very little about websites & even less about blogs. I had never heard of Internet Marketing or podcasting. In fact, “Web 2.0″ was just something I occasionally saw mentioned on the covers of technology & business magazines at Barnes & Noble. This was before Twitter & Facebook…back when I thought MySpace was something that teenagers used to kill time.

Since then I have learned a lot about all of these things. I have seen the power of the Internet to create and preserve relationships, build a community, and generate income. I have leveraged it to reach out to others all over the country who are as passionate about tap dancing as I, but don’t know what they can do to promote be a part of it.

I have become a Certified Google Adwords Professional, a podcaster, a blogger, an affiliate marketer, an Internet marketer, a web publisher, and an Internet Consultant. I have helped others to build successful Internet businesses and used my skills to promote other people’s websites. I have supplemented my income with online activities and struggled to keep up with the seemingly endless stream of new strategies and resources that emerge online every single day!

My weekly calendar became overloaded to the point where I no longer had time to post to this blog and could barely even update my other sites. The economic meltdown and personal financial hurdles threw me into survival mode, where there was no time to reflect about who I really am…or who I’m called to be… I was just trying to make it – though i had forgotten what exactly “It” was in the first place.

But this past weekend after traveling to Florida to teach a workshop at “Stars of Tomorrow” dance studio in Englewood, Florida I had a moment of clarity..an epiphany if you will.

I suddenly remembered one simple fact, something I discovered long before I had even built the Tap Dance Blog!

I remembered that…I AM A TAP DANCER.

I will no longer allow myself to be swept off track because of circumstances, new ideas, or anything else. It is so easy to lose yourself in a constant stream of demands and expectations.

The old Greek saying “Know Thyself” has been constantly in my thoughts for the last 24 hours and has led me to another truth that’s just as important.

That truth is…“Remember Thyself”

Regardless of what’s going on around you…remember yourself.

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