The first thing you’ll notice when you see 9-year-old Luke Spring is that the pint-sized tap dancer loves to smile. He grins from ear to ear in a way that’s completely infectious. In fact, Luke says if he were a superhero, he’d want his superpower to be “making people laugh.” The second reason you won’t […]
When it comes to her killer, always dance-worthy tunes, Rihanna needs no assistance. Girl’s got the “I will make you get up and move” thing nailed down. But the one thing that perks up her hit song “Where Have You Been?” just a little? Tap. Specifically, Chloé Arnold’s tap group, the Syncopated Ladies. Check out […]
Competition dancers work hard to polish their routines. But when they’re finally backstage on the big day, even the veterans can start to doubt themselves. Below, nine professional dancers (all former comp kids!) share the tricks they use to keep cool in these crucial moments. Joey Dowling at NYCDA in 1995 Joey Dowling, master teacher/choreographer […]
Wendy Whelan (by Henry Leutwyler) Wendy Whelan Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet “One of my most memorable performances took place at the Palais Garnier in Paris in 2008, alongside dancers of the Paris Opéra Ballet. I danced the ballerina role in the second movement of George Balanchine’s Symphony in C. It took a lot of […]
When 12-year-old David Alvarez walked into an audition for the original Broadway production of Billy Elliot, he was shocked to see other dancers practicing their tap routines. A student at The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, his only training was in classical ballet. “I had no idea what to do!” David, now […]
Evan’s YouTube video had more than 12,500 hits at press time, but Evan didn’t have any photos of himself dancing with his new leg! His pal Kyla Heinz took these exclusively for DS. At 21 years old, Evan Ruggiero has the talent, drive and training to make it big on Broadway. The catch? He only […]
This 11-year-old tapper was born for the spotlight. (by Marc Lecureuil) Give Alaman Diadhiou a seemingly impossible challenge and he’ll not only prove it’s possible, he’ll make it look simple. When Debbie Allen cast him in the title role of her show Twist: An American Musical in 2010, the then–9-year-old had never sung anything but […]
A cutting contest at the 2010 L.A. Tap Festival. Photo by Samantha Scipio. Alaman Diadhiou entered his first cutting contest—an improv-based competition in which individual dancers must face off and perform on the spot to a set tempo while trying to impress a panel of judges and avoid getting cut—at the D.C. Tap Festival in […]