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The Lady Hoofers were pleased to present our second annual spring concert On Tap at the Performance Garage. In addition to returning repertoire, the company premiered three new works: "Outside the (Music)box" and "Where It Happens," by Managing Director Katie Budris, plus guest choreographer Caleb Teicher's "...and Away." Caleb Teicher began his dance career as a founding member of Michelle Dorrance’s celebrated company, Dorrance Dance, in 2011. Caleb currently manages his own Caleb Teicher & Company, which utilizes traditional American dance forms (Tap, Vernacular Jazz, Lindy Hop) to create new concert dance work. The company has been presented by The Joyce Theater, Works & Process at Guggenheim Bilbao, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival’s Inside/Out Series, Paris Jazz Roots Dance Festival, and the American Tap Dance Foundation, amongst others. Caleb joined us in Philadelphia in January 2018 for a series of Master Classes, and again in April to create and set "...and Away." on the company. We learned so much from him and are thrilled to add his work to our company repertoire. *Photos by Joe Matzerath
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In celebration of our 5th Anniversary, The Lady Hoofers were premiered The Tapcracker, a full length, all tap version of the classic holiday favorite. Set to the music of both Tchaikovsky and Duke Ellington, The Tapcracker transports audiences to Paris, where an infestation of rats has thrown the city into chaos. Toy soldiers guard the Eiffel Tower, mice wreak havoc in the Metro, and frazzled chefs prepare for a feast at the magical palace of Versailles, featuring characters from the beloved Land of the Sweets. After several years of sold out performances at the Performance Garage, the company moved to the Suzanne Roberts Theater on Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts, thanks in part to a grant from The Philadelphia Cultural Fund. The Tapcracker featured The Lady Hoofers First Company, Apprentice Dancers, and 2017 Youth Ensemble, comprised of talented students from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Photos by Bill Hebert
We traveled to Baltimore in November to perform at the WOW Women of the World Festival School Day! The 300 high school girls in attendance made for a great audience as we talked about following your dreams, performed our rep, and invited volunteers on stage to play rhythm games with our dancers. Thanks to Notre Dame of Maryland University for having us! The Lady Hoofers were proud to participate in the fourth annual Come Together Dance Festival hosted by Koresh Dance Company. The festival celebrates the diversity, creativity, and technical excellence of Philadelphia’s dance community. The 5 night festival, held in August 2017 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, united dance innovators, audience favorites, and emerging artists including Brian Sanders’ JUNK, Just Sole! Street Dance Theater Company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, PHILADANCO!, Kun-Yang Lin/ Dancers, and 35 other companies! To conclude our fourth year residency program with Moffett Elementary School, we presented an in-studio performance at Mascher Space Co-Op, where our residency classes takes place. We've never experienced such an enthusiastic audience before! The kids applauded and cheered throughout the pieces, and recognized many steps that they had learned during the school year. After our performance, the students asked questions about how long we have been tap dancing, why we like it so much, and who our favorite tap dancers are. We invited all 75 students to lace up their tap shoes (donated by Capezio!) and to join us for a final Shim Sham Shimmy - the universal tap anthem. Many of the students chose to take their tap shoes home to continue dancing, while those who are already outgrowing their shoes donated them back to us for next year's residency. While we have hosted spring productions in the past (we split the bill with Usiloquy Dance Designs in 2014 for Feet! and premiered our short film "Dollar" in 2016), On Tap marks the launch of our annual spring concert series. Held at the Performance Garage, the ensemble presented old favorites and premiered five new works at this sold out concert:
Our fourth annual Holiday Concert included an expanded preview of Tapcracker (our all-tap Nutcracker in progress) and the return of choreography to music from A Charlie Brown Christmas with live jazz accompaniment by local musicians James Santangelo, Justin Sekelewski, and Khary Abdul-Shaheed. All three performances held at the newly renovated Performance Garage sold out in advance for a crowd of over 360 audience members. Thanks to everyone who joined us, and happy holidays! all photos by Bill Hebert
With the continued support of Mascher Space Coop and Capezio, we are engaged in the fourth year of our residency program offering free weekly tap classes to the entire fifth grade class of Moffet Elementary School. Each week, the students walk across the street with their teachers to Mascher Space where they lace up their donated tap shoes and learn how to shuffle ball change. This year, the program is lead by First Company Dancer Deedee Mann who is assisted by First Company Dancer Emily Marshall. After three months of instruction, students performed the Shim Shim Shimmy, a historic and universally known tap dance, at their school's holiday concert. After many months of hard work, we finally premiered "Dollar," our first rhythm tap short film, as part of a live performance event at the Community Education Center in West Philadelphia. The company performed six pieces for a sold out crowd before revealing the completed project on the big screen and responding to the audiences' questions about the production of the film. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate this milestone achievement with us! Check out photos from the event and then view "Dollar" for yourself below! Our third annual Holiday Concert was a huge success with three sold out performances at The Performance Garage in Philadelphia. We presented our largest youth ensemble to date, many old favorites including the production number Most Wonderful Time choreographed by Theresa DiSipio, a preview of our all tap Nutcracker, and shared the stage with guest artists The Old City Sweethearts. All Holiday Concert photos by Bill Hebert
On Saturday, March 21st, The Lady Hoofers took the stage at the Forrest Theater to help raise money and awareness for the non-profit organization MANNA. Hosted every year by the Pennsylvania Ballet, this philanthropic event brings together brilliant professional dance companies in the Philadelphia community while educating audience members of MANNA's mission: to prepare and deliver nourishing meals and counsel to people at acute nutritional risk due to life-threatening illness. Fellow performers included BalletX, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, and University of the Arts School of Dance. The Lady Hoofers performed A Little Party, danced by Katie Budris, Johanna Lockwood, Deedee Mann, and Becky Mastin. Check out the pictures below to get a glimpse of an amazing performance! *performance photos by Kelly Leggett
The Lady Hoofers 2nd annual Holiday Concert at Christ Church Neighborhood House featured new choreography, old favorites, live jazz, and vocalists. We were thrilled to welcome back Justin Sekelski on bass, James Santangelo on keys and Khary Shaheed on drums. New this year - first company dancer Deedee Mann shared her vocal talents, and the AMLA Children's Choir joined our Youth Company to present "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Choreography by Katie Budris, Theresa DeSimone, Becky Mastin, and Kat Richter. Photography by Bill Hebert at PhiladelphiaDance.org The Lady Hoofers were honored to be invited to participate in The Outlet Dance Project, an annual festival founded to provide opportunities for female-identifying choreographers and filmmakers to showcase their work. Held at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, the festival featured a wide array of dance genres including several site specific works.  We performed our critically acclaimed work "Reinvention", choreographed by Theresa DeSimone and Amy Smith, which premiered this summer at the Koresh Come Together Festival. We were thrilled to be the first and only tap company selected to perform at Koresh Dance's Come Together Festival held at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. 24 companies participated in performances held over 5 nights, including Rennie Harris Pure Movement, Kun-Yang Lin Dancers, Raphael Xavier, Project Moshen, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble, Koresh Dance Company, and more. What an honor to share the stage with so many talented dancers in a variety of genres. On closing night of the festival, we premiered our newest work "Reinvention", a collaborative effort by choreographers Theresa DeSimone and Amy Smith. Thanks to DanceUP's New Stages for Dance Initiative, funded by Metlife, The Lady Hoofers presented a split bill of percussive dance with Bharatanatym dance company Usiloquy Dance Designs at the Painted Bride. Choreographers Theresa DeSimone and Amy Smith both premiered new works. All photos by Brian Mengini Photography. After months of preparation, The Lady Hoofers presented their first Holiday Concert at Christ Church Neighborhood House. The show included live music by Justin Sekelski, James Santangelo and Khary Shaheed and choreography by Katie Budris, Theresa DiSipio, Becky Mastin, and Kat Richter. Photography by Bill Hebert at PhiladelphiaDance.org The Lady Hoofers premiered two new works at the 2013 Philadelphia Dance Showcase, held April 16-17, 2013 at the Performance Garage. The Showcase drew local, national and international presenters and was sponsored by Dance USA/Philadelphia. Photography by Bill Hebert. Brian Mengini of Brian Mengini Photography and Hope Dances met with The Lady Hoofers at his fabulous studio in Phoenixville for a much-needed photo shoot. We had a great time and came away with great new images as a result! Thank you, Brian, for your continued support of The Lady Hoofers. |
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