Shuffle to NJ for the 7th Annual Jersey Tap Fest This August

Jersey Tap Fest, NJ's sole dance festival featuring world-class tap faculty and extravaganza, celebrates its seventh year, August 11-14, in Roselle Park and Bloomfield, NJ. The four-day festival offers dancers of all ages and levels over 40 classes in tap, improvisation, step, lindy hop, music theory, and more, while also offering students jam sessions with live accompaniment and tap talks with the festival's esteemed faculty. Performance opportunities include a student showcase, where dancers can share their own works, and concludes with Tap 'n Time, a main stage event featuring faculty members, tap companies and other special performers.

"As dancer registration has more than tripled since our inaugural year in 2010, we've also increased our focus in the accessibility that students, aspiring artists and tap enthusiasts have to public performance and arts education," explains Hillary-Marie, founder and director of the Jersey Tap Fest. "The festival welcomes students from more than 25 states as well as from South America, Central America, Asia and the Middle East. With artist panels, technique and music classes, and the opportunity to share the stage with our faculty of esteemed artists, the festival is focused on providing a window into development of the 21st century tap dancer - one that honors both the legacy of the art form and its bright future in music."

Quickly becoming a sought after tap event in the Northeast, the yearly TAP 'N TIME showcase, held Saturday August 13, 7:30 p.m., offers audiences an evening of live music, rhythm dance and tap. The evening will feature performances by Jason Samuels Smith, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Ayodele Casel, Anthony Morigerato, Hillary-Marie, Corey Hutchins, Jeff Foote, Kyle Wilder, Boston Tap Company, Capitol Tap, Metro Youth Tap Ensemble and more with live music accompaniment under the direction of Andrew Atkinson. This evening will also mark the premiere of FutureSTEP Tap Company, New Jersey's newest resident tap Dance Company, formed by Hillary-Marie in 2016 for intermediate and advanced dancers, age 10-25.

Classes will be taught by a stellar all-star line-up of local tri-state teachers, including Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Jason Samuels Smith, Ayodele Casel, Anthony Morigerato, Hillary-Marie, Claudia Raharjanoto, Karen Callaway Wiliams, Kyla Wilder, Jeff Foote, Corey Hutchins, Janille Hill, Josie Say and Andrew Atkinson.

Additionally, the festivals' scholarship initiative awards deserving participants with full and partial scholarships. This year the scholarships total more than $5,000, providing dancers in need with the opportunity to participate in this special event.

More information on the festival can be found at www.jerseytapfest.com. Audiences can interact with the festival on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube @jerseytapfest, and with hashtags #jerseytapfest and #JTF2016.

Tickets are available on line at tapntime2016.bpt.me and range from $20 for students and seniors to $25 for general public. TAP 'N TIME will be performed at Bloomfield College on Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. located at 449 Franklin Street, Bloomfield, NJ, 07003.

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2016 Jersey Tap Fest Schedule:

Jersey Tap Fest | Thursday, August 11 - Sunday, August 14

Festival Location: Dancer's Pointe, 122 East Westfield Avenue, Roselle Park, NJ
Registration and Schedule: www.jerseytapfest.com/Register

Thursday, August 11, 2016

10:00-11:30 a.m.: 3-Day Residency (Casel, Edwards, Morigerato)

11:45-1:00 p.m.: Advanced Cleaning Session (Edwards), Intermediate Latin Jazz Grooves (Casel)

1:15-2:15 p.m.: Tap Talks/Lunch (Hillary-Marie, Wilder, Hutchins), Tiny Taps (Foote)

2:30-3:30 p.m.: Shim Sham Class (Hillary-Marie), Tiny Taps (Hutchins)

3:45-5:00 p.m.: Improvisation (Hillary-Marie, Hutchins, Wilder)

5:15-6:30 p.m.: Advanced Combination Class (Wilder), Intermediate Swinin' Wide (Foote) and Advanced Beginner Adult (Hutchins)

7:30 p.m. Jam Session

Friday, August 12, 2016

10:00-11:30 a.m.: 3-Day Residency (Casel, Edwards, Morigerato)

11:45-1:00 p.m.: Advanced Mixed Meter Marathon (Morigerato), Intermediate Latin Jazz Grooves (Casel)

1:15-2:15 p.m.: Tap Talks/Lunch (Hillary-Marie, Casel, Morigerato), Tiny Taps (Wilder)

2:30-3:30 p.m.: Music Theory for Tap Dancers (Hillary-Marie/Atkinson), Tiny Taps (Foote)

3:45-5:00 p.m.: Advanced Grooves Unlimited (Hillary-Marie), Intermediate Timeless Exploration (Smith)

5:15-6:30 p.m.: Advanced World Rhythms (Smith), Intermediate Style It (Edwards) and Advanced Beginner Adult (Williams)

7:30 p.m. Student Showcase

Saturday, August 13, 2016

10:00-11:30 a.m.: 3-Day Residency (Casel, Edwards, Morigerato)

11:45-1:00 p.m.: Advanced Technique Tuning (Morigerato), Intermediate Latin Jazz Grooves (Casel)

1:15-2:15 p.m.: Step (Hill), Tiny Taps (Wilder)

2:15-3:15 p.m.: Lunch, Tiny Taps (Rahardjanoto)

3:14-4:30 p.m.: Advanced In the Groove (Smith), Intermediate Slides (Rahardjanoto) Advanced Beginner Adult (Foote)

5:15-6:30 p.m.: Advanced World Rhythms (Smith), Intermediate Style It (Edwards) and Advanced Beginner Adult (Williams)

7:30 p.m. Main Stage Event: TAP 'N TIME

Sunday, August 14, 2016

10:00-11:00 a.m.: FutureSTEP Company Audition

11:15-12:30 p.m.: Advanced Style Edwards), Intermediate Swingin' In (Rahardjanoto)

12:45-2:00 p.m.: Advanced Timeless Exploration (Smith), Intermediate Cleaning Session (Edwards), Advanced Beginner Adult (Rahardjanoto)

2:15-3:30 p.m.: Lindy Hop

3:45-5:00 p.m.: Advanced In The Cotton Club (Hillary-Marie), Intermediate In the Groove (Smith)

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Founded in 2010, by Hillary-Marie, Jersey Tap Fest is New Jersey's sole dance festival featuring world-class tap faculty. The festival is focused on serving tap dance by uniting the tap community, teaching its history, preserving its percussive and improvisational style, expanding the art and promoting tap as a cherished American art form. The demanding and rigorous annual program provides repertoire and master classes, which provide tappers opportunities to improve their technical abilities, hone their performance skills, network within the community and increase their overall knowledge of the art form. Jersey Tap Fest celebrates non-competitive opportunities of self-advancement for the basic tapper, tap teacher, tap enthusiast, pre-professional and professional artist and tap master.