The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble Presents ON TAP At Independence Seaport Museum

On Saturday, May 13th, The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble will present their spring concert, On Tap, at Independence Seaport Museum in Penn's Landing. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this will be the ensemble's first spring concert in three years. The concert will include live jazz and three world premieres featuring choreography by Princeton University Arts Fellow Michael J. Love, Philadelphia's own Robyn Watson, and the ensemble's Managing Director, Katie Budris.

"We're excited to be back onstage on the Philadelphia waterfront," says Artistic Director Kat Echevarría Richter. "Throughout the pandemic, we rehearsed and gave free performances in a variety of spaces, from Cherry Street Pier to Bartram's Garden, so we're thrilled to be performing at Penn's Landing."

The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble is comprised of approximately 35 professional and pre-professional dancers from PA, NJ, and DE. Programming includes performance, mentorship, and community outreach, with two mainstage productions each year in addition to free community performances, a residency in North Philly, and master classes with renowned tap dancers. Each year, the ensemble also commissions a new work from a guest artist; past choreographers have included Caleb Teicher, who will be performing at Penn Live Arts/Annenberg Center later this spring; Lisa La Touche, who worked with the ensemble virtually during the pandemic; and Robyn Watson, who set her work on the company just a few weeks before the pandemic began. As such, Watson's work will make its long awaited mainstage debut in this year's spring concert.

Also premiering will be a new work by interdisciplinary tap dance artist Michael J. Love. "I'm excited and honored to set a new work for The Lady Hoofers," says Love. "My research explores the Black American foundations of house and techno music, and I'm looking forward to thinking about the relationship between these and other Black genres alongside The Lady Hoofers." Love's new work draws inspiration from Nina Simone and will provide a fitting finale for this year's concert, challenging both the dancers and the audience's expectations of tap.

ON TAP

Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 7:00pm

Independence Seaport Museum

211 S. Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19106

Tickets: $30 - $35

Available at: https://the-lady-hoofers.ticketleap.com/

The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble produces original works of choreography while preserving the tradition of improvisation in American rhythm tap, bringing innovative percussive dance to diverse audiences. Founded in 2011, the Philadelphia-based, all-women ensemble is led by Kat Echevarría Richter, Founder and Artistic Director, Katie Budris, Managing Director, and Tamera Dallam, Associate Director. Through choreographic commissions, a bi-annual concert series including THE TAPCRACKER and ON TAP, free community performances, and arts education programming, the ensemble centers the work of women artists and contributes to the revitalization of Philadelphia's rich tap history by challenging the public's perception of percussive dance. Support for The Lady Hoofers provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. For more information, visit: www.ladyhoofers.org

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