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.

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 appeared in the short film Tap Heat, as an ensemble member and soloist with Jazz Tap Ensemble and Especially Tap Chicago, as a founding member of the tap duo The Swift Brothers, and in festival productions such as the St. Louis Tap Festival, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, and the Maui Tap Experience.  John has also been a featured performer at San Francisco's Bay Area Dance Awards.  John’s versatility has led to a performing resume that includes a notable list of tap artists and work in a wide range of settings.  He has performed in concert ensemble choreography of Gregory Hines and Jimmy Slyde, in film choreography by Danny Daniels and Jason Samuels-Smith, with Samuels-Smith in early incarnations of the group ACGI (“Anyone Can Get It”), as “the Guide” in the Universal Arts production of the Beat in San Francisco (a role originated by Baakari Wilder), and in numerous events with Mark Mendonca.  John has also appeared in festival and other events honoring such luminaries as the Nicholas Brothers, Four Step Brothers Maceo Anderson and Prince Spencer, Peg Leg Bates, Arthur Duncan, and Michael Jackson.  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.

Chad Kubo, dubbed the “Ambassador of Swing” in San Francisco , has co-founded two of the city’s largest regular swing venues – “Lindy in the Park” and the “Doghouse”.  Chad has instructed for Frankie Manning’s Workshop, Lionel Hampton, Wynton Marsalis, and most major swing clubs and events in San Francisco and the Bay Area.  Jazz on Tap is an open level class which features classic Lindy and Charleston jazz movement from the 20’s 30’s and 40’s that evolved hand in hand with tap dancing and jazz music.  Expect to learn moves with names like Shorty George, Apple Jacks, The Itch, Truckin', Susie Q, Scarecrow, Fall of the Log, Charleston Kicks, Boogie Forward, and Boogie back, and get ready to have fun!

Deborah Mitchell proudly celebrates 13 years as Founder and Artistic Director of New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble.  This St. Louis native is known throughout the New York area as a distinguished tap professional. She is the protégé of Leslie “Bubba” Gaines of the Copasetics and student of many tap masters including Broadway Choreographer Henry LeTang.   Her many credits include "The Cotton Club" Motion Picture, Broadway and Paris Productions of Black and Blue, PBS Great Performances, 5 international tours with the legendary Cab Calloway, and a partnership with Philadelphia native Germaine Goodson as The Rhythm Queens.  In recognition of National Tap Dance Day 2006, Savion Glover presented Ms. Mitchell with an award for giving tirelessly to the spirit and legacy of tap dancing.  In March 2007, Dean John Bedford and Jo Rowan, Dance Department Chairman of Oklahoma City University, Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts management presented her with the Living Treasure Award “for preserving our American culture in her feet, in her mind and in her spirit.”  In May 2007, Ms. Mitchell was chosen by The New York Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance Day as one of the Flo-Bert Honorees and in July 2007, she receives The Hoofer Award from the American Tap Dance Foundation.  Tap TIPS will help dancers discover some of the nuances of tap artistry, and in Thank You, Mr. LeTang, Ms. Mitchell will share an adaptation of the late great Henry LeTang's choreography.  Ms. Mitchell's It's About Time Master Class will emphasize the importance of time steps as she and her students explore the fun of creating them.

photo:  Eduardo Patino

Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards has been Tap Dancing since the age of 3. She started under the instruction of Paul and Arlene Kennedy in California and went on to perform in Rome, Italy at the Tip Tap Festival by the age of 8. From there she made her debut on Broadway at the age of 12, in the musical revue Black and Blue with greats such as Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, Buster Brown and Savion Glover.  Her Broadway credits also include the Tony Award Winning Bring In Da’Noise, Bring In Da’Funk.  Dormeshia has toured nationally with Wild Woman Blues and has performed with The Jazz Tap Ensemble having just celebrated the 25^th anniversary in performance at the Joyce Theatre in New York City.  Dormeshia completed a successful run as a dance captain, principal dancer and understudy to the lead role in the International Tour of Bring in Da’Noise, Bring in Da’Funk. She was a special guest artist for The 2001 and 2002 Harlem Jazz Dance Festivals where she performed a tribute to James “Buster” Brown in the latter.  Dormeshia participated in annual celebrations of National Tap Dance Day in New York City’s Town Hall and other locations across the country. Dormeshia's film credits include “TAP” (1989) with Gregory Hines, Spike Lee's movie “Bamboozled” (2000) with Savion Glover, having also lent her talent as Assistant Choreographer, and “The Rodgers and Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty” (1999).  Sumbry-Edwards’ choreography has been featured in the off-Broadway show TAAP: The Art & Appreciation of Percussion for the all-female tap quartet R.I.F.F. (Rhythm In Female Feet) and was also utilized in Michael Jackson's music video “Rock Your World”.

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. In June 2003, the Tap Ahead Festival in Duesseldorf, Germany featured Mr. Weber in the world premier of SignADiapunktur, a new composition for two tap dancers and percussion ensemble, by composer/tap dancer Andreas Daenel.

 Special Guests:

Marcus Shelby (Bass) has been playing the acoustic bass for 23 years. In this time, he has built a diverse and accomplished biography.  Shelby was bandleader of Columbia Records and GRP Impulse! Recording Artists Black/Note and is currently the Artistic Director and leader of The Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, The Marcus Shelby Septet and the Marcus Shelby Trio.  In addition, Shelby holds an instructor position at the Berkeley Young Musician Program, San Francisco State University and the Stanford Jazz Workshop and is the 2006 Fellow in the Resident Dialogues Program of the Committee for Black Performing Arts at Stanford University .  As the 1991 winner of the Charles Mingus Scholarship, Shelby ’s studies include work under the tutelage of composer James Newton and legendary bassist Charlie Haden.  Recent honors include the City Flight Magazine 2005 award as one of the “Top Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area”.

Sista Kee (Piano) lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she spreads the Word of God through song.  Also known as Kito Gamble, this multi-talented young lady is a pianist, rapper, composer, producer and a singer.  Her father, the late Jim Gamble, began giving her piano lessons at the tender age of 3.  He and her mother, legendary vocalist Faye Carol, provided a rich musical environment for the young musician to develop her craft.  Although she began to make guest appearances to standing room only crowds when she was 10 years young, her music career officially began at the age of 16 - a pianist & composer gaining international recognition in primarily the blues & jazz genres.   While performing with Faye Carol and leading her own group, she has also shared the stage with seasoned veterans Albert King, Pharaoh Sanders, Billy Higgins and Bobby Hutcherson, as well as young phenomenal musicians, Brandford Marsalis and Roy Hargrove.

The Unique Derique has introduced his unique blend of physical comedy and Hambone body music on stages and television shows around the world, with tours in Asia, Europe, the Americas and South Africa . He has performed with countless entertainers, including Bobby McFerrin, Lou Rawls and the late Sammy Davis Jr.  Derique also shares his passion for performance with children, and has been featured on the Disney Channel and has hosted the Emmy Award-winning children's television show "Short Stories and Tall Tales" for KQED.  The multitalented Derique began his career at age 15 -- clowning, juggling, unicycling, dancing, doing gymnastics and performing Hambone body percussion. While working as a main attraction with Circus A La Mode in 1981, Derique "ran away" to join the Pickle Family Circus and Make*A*Circus in San Francisco . Currently, Derique is the Circus Arts program director at Oakland 's Children's Fairyland and teaches circus arts at Bay Area schools.

Infinite (Carlos Aguirre) has been performing both as an actor and hip hop artist in San Francisco for over 10 years.  He is part of the musical group Felonious and has performed with such artists as Black Eyed Peas, Eryka Badu, Mary J. Blige, The Roots, Rahzel and George Clinton to name a few.  He also works throughout the bay area as a teacher and youth mentor.  Carlos plans on bringing beatbox as an art form to the forefront and is dedicated to preserving the voice of the youth through Hip Hop culture.