Chicago Tap Theatre Presents 30 FEET TOGETHER, 6 FEET APART

Artistic Director Mark Yonally and Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT) present "30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" Sunday, July 26, at 3 p.m. CDT live on its streaming platforms.

"30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" is a celebration of the power and necessity of dance and live music, and a vision of how dance performances on a concert stage can be presented at this time. This show includes a live jazz trio featuring funk and soul master JC Brooks as host and vocalist along with tap dancing by CTT. Admission is available at ChicagoTapTheatre.com/ctt_shows/30feet, and admission will allow each household a unique link to stream the show on July 26.

The run time for "30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" is 50 minutes with no intermission. Admission is based on a pay-what-you-can sliding scale of $5 - $30. While CTT would like to encourage people to purchase admission and donate to the Company during the event, there is also a free option available. "It was incredibly important to us that we ensure that ALL people, regardless of economic need, are able to access the life-altering power of live music and tap dance. That being said, all money received from admission will go to help offset the costs of creating this show, including paying the amazing dancers, musicians and technicians who will make it possible," said Chicago Tap Theatre Artistic Director Mark Yonally.

"For the past three months, we have been pushing every single day to try to keep tap dance content available to the public, including a twice-weekly interview show on Instagram, a weekly tap-centric Book Club on Zoom, donation-based classes every Wednesday and more." Yonally continued, "We've seen a lot of excitement and appreciation around these efforts. And yet, they haven't addressed the core mission of the Company: to create and present tap dance performances with live music to the public. This has been in the works for two months now, and we just decided we had to do whatever we could to make this happen."

It is important to note that CTT will be observing all relevant rules and guidelines surrounding social distancing, number of people gathered and mask-wearing both in the rehearsal process and the performance itself. "While we believe that dance is an essential part of the human experience, the safety and health of everyone involved in the show is the biggest consideration at every stage of planning," added Yonally. "Generally speaking, tap dance is a dance form that doesn't lose much through social distancing. We typically don't partner each other, for example."

If Chicago and/or Illinois end up having to move back into Phase 3 or lower, then the show will be postponed to a later date and all ticket holders will be notified.
"30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" features choreography by Yonally, Kirsten Uttich, Sterling Harris, Case Prime and Rich Ashworth. Dancers for "30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" include Yonally, Uttich, Jennifer Yonally, Aimee Chause, Isacc Stauffer, Harris, Prime, Molly Smith, Heather Latakas, Zoe Lesser and Bailey Caves. Musicians for the performance include JC Brooks (singer and host), Kurt Schweitz (bass) and others.
ABOUT CHICAGO TAP THEATRE Founded in 2002, Chicago Tap Theatre is a growing and vibrant dance company dedicated to preserving the quintessentially American dance form of tap while taking it to the next level of creativity, innovation and quality. CTT performs exclusively with live music provided by some of Chicago's finest musicians playing everything from Duke Ellington to David Bowie and many artists in between. Under the dynamic direction of master teacher and performer Mark Yonally, CTT has gained a loyal and sizable following in Chicago and continues to tour both nationally and internationally. Having pioneered the "tap opera" format, which tells stories with compelling characters and intriguing plots, CTT has used the language of tap dance, live music and narration to move audiences for over 17 years.

Artistic Director Mark Yonally and Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT) present "30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" Sunday, July 26, at 3 p.m. CDT live on its streaming platforms. "30 Feet Together, 6 Feet Apart" is a celebration of the power and necessity of dance and live music, and a vision of how dance performances on a concert stage can be presented at this time. This show includes a live jazz trio featuring funk and soul master JC Brooks as host and vocalist along with tap dancing by CTT. Admission is available at ChicagoTapTheatre.com/ctt_shows/30feet.

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