Channing Cook-Holmes (Music Director/Drums) -- An Inglewood, CA native representing the West Coast, Channing Cook Holmes is blessed with talents that have taken him around the world.  His drumming ability, his syncopated rhythmic tap dance style, his singing, and his natural audience appeal, have taken Channing from dance company (Jazz Tap Ensemble), to stage (Riverdance, tour and Broadway), to small screen, (Bojangles), to big screen, (Gangs of New York).  His is the consummate entertainer.  Channing is adding directing and producing to his repertoire with the production of his current, award winning children's show Lil' Chan Can Tap Dance.  Channing Cook Holmes is a "must watch" artist with more to come.

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.  Inspired also by the many incredibly gifted performing artists and variety of styles in tap, John’s interests have 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 (“Anybody 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 alongside many of today’s top tap artists.  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, and at national conferences of corporations such as Wal-Mart and AT&T.  In 2003, John established the California nonprofit STEPOLOGY, San Francisco’s Bay Area Tap Festival, and the festival’s concert performance component, the Bay Area Rhythm Exchange.  In his roles as founder, director, and performing artist, John’s efforts have led to programming which has twice been listed in the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Top Ten Dance Performances of the Year”, earned an “Access to Artistic Excellence” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and been described by the San Francisco Bay Times as invoking “…an appreciation of tap’s history while inspiring an excitement for tap’s present and future.” 

Ted L. Levy (Special Guest) Ted's professional training began in Chicago with Mr. Finis Henderson II, Master Tap Dancer and former manager of Sammy Davis Jr..  Mr. Henderson encouraged Ted to pursue a professional career in the performing arts, which began at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago.  Mr. Levy made his Broadway debut in the smash hit "Black & Blue".  He collaborated with George C. Wolfe and Gregory Hines on the Choreography of "Jelly's Last Jam", for which he received a TONY NOMINATION, DRAMA DESK NOMINATION, and the 1993 OUTER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD.  Ted was awarded an EMMY AWARD for his television debut performance in the PBS Special "Precious Memories", and appeared in Spike Lee's "Malcom X" for his film debut.  His production of "Ted Levy and Friends", directed by Gregory Hines, celebrated Ted as one of America's premier Tap Dance Artists.  Influenced by Mr. Hines, Ted acquired his directorial debut as Director of Savion Glover's "Dancing Under the Stars" at the New York Shakespeare Festival's Delacorte Theater.  He also assisted in the choreography of Broadway's Tony Award winning hit "Bring in 'Da Noise!  Bring in 'Da Funk!".  Ted appeared in the movie "Bojangles" with Gregory Hines, returning to Broadway as Papa Jack in Susan Stroman and Harry Connick Jr.'s "Thou Shalt Not".  Ted portrayed the role of The Mikado in the Ford Theatre's production of "The Hot Mikado", for which he won a HELEN HAYES AWARD, and performed in "Sammy", a production based on the musical life of Sammy Davis Jr..  Ted's most recent venture is his own rendering of a production entitled "The Rhythm of Life". 

photo:  Eduardo Patino

Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards has been a part of almost every major Tap movie or show that has appeared in the history of tap dance since the 80's.  She was most recently nominated for the best actress and currently stars in the award-winning independent film "The Rise and Fall of Miss Thang"  which continues to tour film festivals.  In addition to opening the Harlem Tap Studio in NYC, Mrs. Sumbry-Edwards continues to appear as a special guest for shows and festivals around the world.  She was also elected to the Advisory Board as the Tap Advisor for Dance Magazine and the official Tap Spokesperson for Capezio along with her family, as well as being featured in their international advertising campaign.  Mrs. Sumbry-Edwards' career includes acclaimed runs on Broadway and off-Broadway in shows such as Black and Blue, the Tony Award winning "Bring in 'Da Noise!  Bring in 'Da Funk!", International Tour of "Bring in 'Da Noise!  Bring in 'Da Funk!" (dance captain/principal dancer/understudy to the lead role), and "Imagine Tap!" (featured soloist).  Other performances include the national tour of Wild Woman Blues and Debbie Allen's SAMMY (the life and times of Sammy Davis Jr.).  Film credits include "TAP" with Gregory Hines, Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" (Assistant Choreographer), and "The Rodgers and Hart Story:  Thou Swell, Thou Witty".  Mrs. Sumbry-Edwards' choreography has been featured in TAAP:The Art and Appreciation of Percussion and was also utilized in Michael Jackson's music video "Rock Your World".  She was also spotlighted in a commercial for Tops and is currently filming for MTV's hit television series MADE.

Sam Weber is in demand throughout the world as a performer, master teacher, and choreographer, and has appeared with such tap luminaries as Charles Honi Coles, Jimmy Slyde, Steve Condos, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, and the Nicholas Brothers.  A protege of tap master Stan Kahn in San Francisco, he has been a principal dancer and choreographer with the Jazz Tap Ensemble since 1986 and is currently featured in "Tap Masterpieces:  The Hollywood Journey" with the company.  He is one of the few tap dancers in the world currently performing Morton Gould's Tap Dance Concerto with symphony orchestras and is the first tap dancer to receive a Bessie award, presented in recognition of outstanding creative achievement.  Mr. Weber can be seen on "Juba!  Masters of Percussive Dance" on PBS and has starred in the award-winning German film "Zwei Im Frack", which is still frequently shown throughout Germany.  Sam was nominated for an Isadora Duncan award for his performance at San Francisco's Bay Area Tap Festival.  Sam can still be seen often on the "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" television show."

 Also Appearing:

The Barbary Coast Cloggers have toured in the United States and Canada, including performances at the New Orleans and Vancouver World's Fairs and C.L.O.B. Nationals in Nashville and San Diego, have opened for bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs and country western superstars Brooks & Dunn, and have won an Isadora Duncan Dance Excellence Award (Izzy) for best ensemble performance.  

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.