About Dorrance Dance

Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based in New York City. Led by Michelle Dorrance, the company supports dancers and musicians who embody and push the dynamic range that tap dance has to offer. The company’s mission is to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level, and to share the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form through performance and education.

Founded in 2011 by artistic director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, the company has received countless accolades, rave reviews, and has performed at venues including Danspace Project, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Vail Dance Festival, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Works and Process at the Guggenheim, Carolina Performing Arts at UNC Chapel Hill, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, among many others, including international venues in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, England, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Russia.

www.DorranceDance.com

Instagram: @dorrancedance

Facebook: facebook.com/dorrancedance/

As seen in tonight's performance, Dorrance Dance is deeply committed to creating new works and employment opportunities for tap dancers. Please join our mailing list for updates and consider donating to support the art and artists!

Dorrance Dance is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, and Harkness Foundation for Dance.

Rehearsal and development for this performance was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. These performances are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council. Dorrance Dance is a recipient of a U.S. Small Business Administration Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, made possible by the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Charles D. Schumer.

Dorrance Dance Staff

Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance

Executive Director Andrea Nellis

General Manager Tina Huang Abrams

Production Manager/Sound Designer Christopher Marc

Development Manager Amanda Hameline

Assistant to Artistic Director Gabby Benavides

Co-Dance Captains Elizabeth Burke & Byron Tittle

Musical Director Gregory Richardson

Lighting Designer Kathy Kaufmann

Lighting Supervisor Devin Koenig

Stage Manager Olivia Brown

Financial Administrator Belina Mizrahi, Arts FMS

Artist Representative Barbara Frum, outer/most

Artist Bios

Michelle Dorrance (Artistic Director/Choreographer/Dancer) is a New York City-based artist. Mentored by Gene Medler (North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble), she was fortunate to study under many of the last master hoofers. Career highlights include: STOMP, Derick Grant’s Imagine Tap!, Jason Samuels Smith’s Charlie’s Angels/Chasing the Bird, Ayodele Casel’s Diary of a Tap Dancer, Mable Lee’s Dancing Ladies, and playing the bass for Darwin Deez. Company work includes: Savion Glover’s Ti Dii, Manhattan Tap, Barbara Duffy and Co., JazzTap Ensemble, and Rumba Tap. Solo work ranges from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to commissions for the Martha Graham Dance Company, Vail Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre, and New York City Center. Michelle made her Broadway choreographic debut with James Lapine’s Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center Theater in 2021. A 2018 Doris Duke Artist, 2017 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, Dorrance is humbled to have been acknowledged and supported by United States Artists, The Joyce Theater, the Alpert Awards, Jacob’s Pillow, Princess Grace Foundation-USA, The Field, American Tap Dance Foundation, and the Bessie Awards. Dorrance holds a B.A. from New York University and is a Capezio Athlete.

Aaron Marcellus (Composer/Musician), singer songwriter, vocal coach, musician, dancer, and actor, was born and raised in Atlanta and has been entertaining crowds around the world for 25 plus years. He got his start in Gospel music with his first major record deal with the Warner label Word Records. After placing Top 24 on “American Idol” he was sent on a world tour sponsored by the US Armed Forces, where he performed for thousands in England, Italy, Holland, Germany, France, Korea, Kuwait and Japan. Aaron has been featured in a Chapstick commercial, NBC’s “Next Caller'' and is a veteran member of New York City’s Off-Broadway hit “Stomp” also supporting lead in National Black Theater's production of “Dreaming Zenzile”. Marcellus can be found hosting weekly at a local Burlesque and live music restaurant “Duane Park'' Amongst singing all New York City,  directing showcases, tap dancing, acting, and serving as a vocal coach, Aaron is Founder and Creative Director of The Marcellus Collective and CEO of “Surrender To Love” LLC; a foundation that financially supports music & arts programs and feeds hungry bellies."

Elizabeth Burke (Co-Dance Captain/Dancer) has worked full time with the company since its inaugural 2010-2011 season. Before Dorrance Dance being her artistic focus, she spent 11 years under the mentorship of Gene Medler in the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble. She’s also an alumna of the School at Jacob’s Pillow. Elizabeth teaches, choreographs, and performs at tap dance festivals across the country, and works with fellow Carolinian Luke Hickey. She thanks Amelia Peden for their inimitable support.

Kyle Everett (Musician) is delighted to be performing with the Dorrance Dance. He has done various performances and programs with Juilliard school of Music, All City Jazz bands and performed for various celebrities, events, tv programs and much more.

Sterling Harris (Dancer) (he/him), a Chicago native, holds a B.A. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University but has a strong passion for tap dance. He is the Artistic Associate of Chicago Tap Theatre, a Company Member of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, and has performed with Music From The Sole, YellowShed, and 333. Sterling is also an alumnus of the Tap Program at The School at Jacob’s Pillow and the recipient of the 2021 Lorna Strassler Award.

Luke Hickey (Dancer) is a NYC based tap dance artist and choreographer, named by Dance Magazine among ‘25 To Watch’ in 2020. Hickey credits his knowledge and achievements to the incomparable brilliance of his mentor, JUBA Award recipient Gene Medler (North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble). His choreography has been presented by Jacob’s Pillow, Birdland Jazz Club and the Chelsea Factory, to name a few. Luke is honored to be a company member of Michelle Dorrance’s Dorrance Dance.

Addi Loving (Dancer) is thrilled to join Dorrance Dance on this season’s tour! Hailing from North Carolina and St. Louis, she trained under Gene Medler and later had involvement with the MUNY St. Louis. Now stationed in New York, she is currently a junior at Pace University studying Arts Management in hopes to further her dance career. “Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new…”- Stephen Sondheim

Matt Parker (Musician) is a saxophonist and composer whose highlights include: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, The Mingus Big Band, Cape Town Youth Choir, Bridgett Everett, and spending two years touring with Maynard Ferguson. Parker has written and released two albums, World Put Together (2014) and Present Time (2016), both albums receiving album of the year awards. He is the composer and musical director for multiple theater companies that create original content.

Claudia Rahardjanoto (Dancer), Born and raised in Berlin, Germany, Claudia started her professional dance career at the Deutsche Oper Berlin at the age of nine. At fifteen, she fell in love with tap dance under the tutelage of Sven Göttlicher and Marie-Christin Zeisset and moved to NYC in 2003 to pursue a career in tap dance. A Dorrance Dance member since the company's inception, Claudia hopes to continue to share her love and passion for music and the art of tap dance through her teaching and performing worldwide.

Gregory Richardson (Musical Director/Musician) is a multi-instrumentalist focusing on upright and electric bass. He's the co-creator of Music From The Sole, an Afro-Brazilian tap dance and live band show that is currently in residence at Lincoln Center Education. He's played drums, keys, and guitar with the band Darwin Deez at the world’s largest music festivals in the UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, and Austria.

Leonardo Sandoval (Dancer), Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer, is renowned for blending America’s great tap tradition with Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical heritage. A member of Dorrance Dance since 2014, he also directs Music From The Sole, a tap and live music company, with composer Gregory Richardson. Leonardo is a 2021 Dance Magazine “25 To Watch”, received a 2022 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise, and is a 2022 NYSCA/ NYFA Artist Fellow in Choreography.