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2005 Bay Area Tap
Festival |
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*** FEATURED ARTIST ***
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 Channing
Cook-Holmes studied
with L.A. based dancer/choreographer Alfred Desio, performed in the
Barcelona, Spain Festival, received a Brody Grant to study with the
renowned Fayard Nicholas, and was awarded the 2002 Princess Grace Award
for artistic excellence. Channing joined Jazz Tap Ensemble in 1997 and
toured for one year before joining the European and national cast of
Riverdance. That led to a full year on Broadway in Riverdance. Film
credits include Bojangles with Gregory Hines for Showtime and Martin
Scorcese's Gangs of New York. Channing returned to LA and
the concert stage with Jazz Tap Ensemble in the Summer of 2002,
performing on tour, in LA, and at New York's Joyce Theater. |
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 Joan
Hill
is a classically trained pianist who moved from California to Boston to
study Jazz with Charlie Banacos. She became the accompanist of and
partner with the legendary Leon Collins. He taught her to dance, and she
invented a system of tap notation (The Joan Hill Tap-a-scat-a-matic
Bebop System of Tap Notation -- All rights reserved -- all lefts
preserved), by which she documented nine of his routines. |
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Edward Jackson, a native of Detroit,
Michigan, started his tap career back in 1998 after seeing Savion Glover
on the Gregory Hines show. Inspired by the happiness, freedom, and
passion of tap, Edward went and got some shoes and the rest is history.
Edward made his television debut on Showtime
Live at the Apollo in July 2001, and followed up with an appearance on 30
Seconds of Fame in June 2002. Recently,
Edward filmed a commercial for the San Francisco International Film
Festival, which has aired repeatedly on KQED.
Edward has also danced in Berkeley at Club
La Pena and at countless other outlets such as Nordstrom’s and the
Opera House in Hunter’s Point. Edward credits veteran rhythm
tapper Alfred Robinson in Oakland for helping him develop his own style
of rhythm tap. That style, which he calls “Spirit and Soul tap dancing”,
is what he shares with thousands of people for hours nearly ever day on
the streets of San Francisco. He
now defines himself as a revolutionary independent artist using art for
social change in the community, and emphasizes that we show the children
that there is always a way to make it in this world – that all they
have to do is try really hard and believe in themselves. |
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 Jerry
Kalaf (Music Director) has been an active performer for
30 years and has appeared on concert stages and in jazz clubs around the
world with such diverse artists as The Pointer Sisters and conductor
Lalo Schiffrin. As a sideman, Jerry's Jazz credits include Eddie
Harris, Gary Burton, Gary Foster, Frank Strazzeri, Milcho Leviev, Bill
Mays, Bill Perkins, Jimmy Cleveland, and Major Holley.
Jerry has toured Europe, Asia, South America and the
United States as musical director of the Jazz Tap Ensemble and has
accompanied Gregory Hines at the Apollo Theater and in concert at
Carnegie Hall. |
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 John
Kloss
started to tap inspired by early performances of tap on film, and gained
his first training in Chicago with many of tap’s masters. John
has performed as an ensemble member and soloist with the Los Angeles
based Jazz Tap Ensemble, where he appeared in concert repertory
works of Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, and others. John has also danced with Especially
Tap Chicago, and as a founding member of the Swift Brothers
and the Chicago Tap Authority. He has danced in productions
featuring tap greats such as Jimmy Slyde, Savion Glover, the Nicholas
Brothers, and Arthur Duncan, among others, and in events honoring the
Nicholas Brothers, Four Step Brother Maceo Anderson, and Peg Leg Bates.
John has appeared as "the Guide" -- dancing the role
originated by Baakari Wilder -- for the Universal Arts production of the
Beat in San Francisco, and can also be seen in the short film Tap
Heat, choreographed by Danny Daniels.
John currently serves as director for the Bay Area Tap Festival,
and draws continued inspiration from the many incredibly gifted
performing artists in the tap community.
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 Mark
Mendonca's
performing
career includes performances for the last three U.S. Presidents, on
Broadway and television, and concert stages all around the
world. Mark's dancing was motion captured for the animated feature film,
"The Polar Express," directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring
Tom Hanks. Mark was chosen to open Barbra Streisand's farewell concert
tour with performances in New York and Los Angeles. On Broadway, Mark
danced in the Tony award winning production of "Bring in 'da Noise,
Bring in 'da Funk", and has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy
Center, the Apollo Theater, the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, France,
and the Joyce Theater among others. He has shared the stage with tap
greats the Nicholas Brothers, Jimmy Slyde and the late tap masters
Charles 'Honi' Coles, Eddie Brown, Steve Condos and Chuck Green as well
as numerous appearances with Gregory Hines, appearing with him in
"A Gala for the President at Ford's Theatre" and on "The
Kennedy Center Honors," both televised on ABC. |
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 Sam
Weber has
gained an international reputation as a performing artist and is in
demand throughout the world as a performer, master teacher, and
choreographer. His versatility has led him to performances in
musical theater and television, where he has worked with such stars as
Burt Lancaster, Bob Hope, Andy Williams, Raquel Welch, Pat Boone, and
Sara Vaughn. He can be seen often on the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
television show. Mr. Weber is one of the few tap dancers in the
world currently performing Morton Gould's Tap Dance Concerto and was the
first tap dancer to receive a Bessie, presented in recognition of
outstanding creative achievement. He has been a principal dancer
and choreographer with the Jazz Tap Ensemble since 1986 and has received
international acclaim touring with the company. |
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Keith
Terry
is a
percussionist/rhythm dancer/educator. He has toured extensively in the
Americas, Asia, and Europe, and has been a featured artist on NPR's
Morning Edition, PBS's Lonesome Pine Specials and Alive From Off Center,
and CBS's News Nightwatch. Keith is the artistic director for the
arts organization, Crosspulse, which produces the Crosspulse Percussion
Quintet, Professor Terry's Circus Band Extraordináire, and the all-body
band, Slammin. His large-scale works include the Body Tjak
Projects, an on-going series of multidisciplinary performances involving
artists from Indonesia and the Americas, which began in 1990 in
collaboration with choreographer/composer I Wayan Dibia. Keith has
produced four CDs plus educational and performance videos for Crosspulse
Records and Videos. Keith
has been a member of the faculty at UCLA's Department of World Arts and
Cultures since 1998, where he designs and teaches courses on the
relationship of music and dance; deep listening; body music;
synchronicity, time and timing; and intercultural communication in the
arts. |
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Arthur
Duncan