Sarah Savelli

A founding member of the influential, Chicago-based female tap company Rhythm ISS… Sarah Savelli has been teaching, performing, choreographing, and producing tap dance events for the past 25+ years. Best known for her swift and intricate footwork, Sarah has studied and danced with many of tap dancing’s historical greats. She performed with Savion Glover in various shows across the USA, including “Stepz” at NYC’s Joyce Theater, and was commissioned three times by Playhouse Square (Cleveland, OH) to create and perform a full-length tap work. Sarah was the first Capezio ACE Award for Tap choreography finalist, and also appears in the PBS documentary Juba! The Masters of Tap and Percussive Dance.

In addition to producing the Cleveland Tap Experience annually, she is the artistic director of the Cleveland Tap Crew, a youth tap ensemble with 50+ members that she established in 2012, and co-director of the Ohio Elite Tap Company, a pre-professional ensemble that was established in 2020. In 2022, Sarah and her fellow Rhythm ISS... co-founders Idella Reed-Davis and Sharon Rushing were recognized as "Tapology Living Legends”, and in 2023 she traveled to London to set a new piece on the esteemed tap company OKR Dance. Her 2024 adventures include resurrecting the Dig Tap Society, and opening the Cleveland Tap Dance Conservatory at the Shore Cultural Centre in Cleveland, Ohio.