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Canadian dancer Lisa LaTouche spent three days in Beijing, China doing media promotion for Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s “JUBA! Masters of American Tap” production held during Beijing’s 5th International Dance Festival. Well-known producer, choreographer, teacher and performer, Lane Alexander was artistic director and the show featured top tap dancers from Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Performers included Harold Cromer, Ted Levy, Sam Weber, Jason Samuels Smith, Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards, Tre Dumas, Sarah Reich, Jumaane Taylor, Nico Rubio and a total of 65 tap dancers, band and technicians. The tap groups were BAM!, JusLisTen, Tappers With Attitude, Footprints, The North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble, Keane Sense of Rhythm, Sole 2 Souls and Rhythm and Percussion in Motion.“I was sent to China by Alexander a month prior to the event to act as spokesperson for the event…literally just sent to China for three days to do television performances and interviews as well as newspaper, radio and lots of press conferences,” LaTouche said. “It was really cool being there representing an American art form as a Canadian. I feel fortunate to have the American dance community trust me on that level.”The Chinese have long been interested in tap dancing. Alexander toured China for a month in back in 1986 with the National Tap Dance Company of Canada, directed by William Orlowski. Another tap group, The American Dance Spirit Company from Oklahoma City University, performed in China in 2002, touring Beijing, Langfang, and six Chinese universities in 2002.In addition to touring tap productions, one of the reasons tap is flourishing in China is because of Yan Ling, a Chinese ballroom dancer who years ago attended a workshop at a hotel in England and heard noise next door. He went over to see what was happening and discovered a group tap dancing. As the story goes, he loved what he saw and began taking tap lessons. In 1996, he became certified to teach tap. Yan Ling founded two tap schools in Beijing. With the Beijing Association of Dancers, Ling founded the Tap Dance Society of China; they host a tap competition each year. This year they had six dancers competing in the finals for the Chinese Champion of Tap Dance.Many Chinese people have seen and love “Riverdance,” “Lord of the Dance,” and “42 Street.” The 2007 performance of “JUBA! Masters of American Tap” gave Chinese audiences an opportunity to see tap at a high level.“The media and the people seemed very curious about the real American roots of tap dance and were anxiously awaiting our performance,” La Touche commented. “After we performed at one of the many press conferences, (at one we performed Buster Brown’s “Laura”) they crowded us with cameras. It was really cool. On another occasion they had a more private setting where they had their national television station (CCTV) airing to the whole country, with a population of l.3 billion.” They showcased dancing with some local Chinese dancers who have started to learn tap dance in Beijing. Their teacher, Ling, attended the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s tap festival as a guest and Ling reciprocated by inviting director Lane Alexander to China to teach his students. Many of their students are now coming to the U.S. to study.The JUBA! show performed from Dec 21-23 to full houses in a theatre seating 2500 people. “The first show had some glitches as any show that is first assembled, but the audience was happy to the end,” LaTouche recalled. “It was great because it concluded with 40-50 Chinese tap dancers doing the Shim Sham with us at the end just as we did for the promo. It was great fun to do the shim-sham with them.” A personal highlight for La Touche was being invited to perform with Jason Samuel Smith’s group, ACGI (Anybody Can Get It”). She rehearsed with them prior to the opening to learn the choreography. She also performed with the Tre Dumas group “JusLisTeN,” and a piece she choreographed to “Love Me or Leave Me.”When LaTouche had her first tap lesson when she was eight years old at a dance studio in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she would never have dreamed that she would be dancing in China. Later, she added ballet and jazz to her studies and earned her RAD certificate through ballet exams. “I was a competition kid and that’s where my versatility started. I never cared about what I won in competition; I just wanted to be able to perform. I couldn’t tell you where any of those trophies are now.”“When I return home (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) I can now teach jazz, hip-hop, lyrical and tap and people don’t think twice about it. I know the tap community in Chicago doesn’t know the other side of me. I did produce a tap festival in Calgary with Bril Barrett. This was M.A.D.D. Rhythms’ first festival, period. Sold out classes and sold out shows with ten teachers on the faculty. I should note too that M.A.D.D. Rhythms Canada was the first tap company established in Alberta…the first series of workshops dedicated to tap and the first tap dance festival on its scale. Now there are different projects in the province and it’s beautiful. Canadian Danny Neilsen is teaching a whole new crop of students who are incredible.”After developing her tap and dance skills in Vancouver, Canada, LaTouche moved to Chicago to further her dance education and performing opportunities. She worked with M.A.A.D Rhythm’s directors, Bril Barrett, Tre Dumas and Jumaane Taylor and considers them the greatest tap influences in her life. Currently, she is in ballet class early in the mornings and is mentored by Chicago jazz legend Joel Hall. She is rehearsing for one of his pieces, “In the Shadows of Nina Simone” and is also taking voice lessons in preparation for auditioning for Broadway shows. In 2005-2007, she was invited to teach and perform at the St. Louis Tap Festival. “The opportunities that Robert (Reed) brought to me were none that I ever took lightly,” LaTouche said. “I feel a part of me did grow up at that festival. The stories shared, and the love created was something I could never forget. No festival has the intimacy of Robert’s.”In between all the trips she has been studying jazz, ballet and singing, as well as training and rehearsing with many tap groups. For the past three months she has taught two weekends in Toronto, one weekend in Detroit, one weekend in Vancouver where she taught a tap workshop for the West Coast Tap Collective. She hosted exam classes for Vancouver’s Capilano College’s musical theatre program, conducted a tap jam, and ran a scholarship audition for upcoming tap dancers to further tap their education.Read more... |
