About the "Masters of American Tap" Series

An introduction and guide to a series of online videos published by the International Tap Association (ITA) featuring ten-minute lessons taught by some of the best tap dancers and tap dancing instructors in the United States.

About the Series
The Masters of American Tap Dance video series was conceived and produced by Fred Strickler in conjunction with all the artists who contributed their mastery and expertise to the series. On May 25, 2010, as part of a National Tap Dance Day celebration, Fred Strickler launched the series' Web site and he also uploaded the first twenty-six instructional videos to YouTube. Masters of American Tap DAance

Acia Gray (Austin, Texas)
TOPIC: "The Souls of Your Feet: A Short Journey"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Acia Gray" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Acia Gray" Profile

Barbara Duffy (New York City, New York)
TOPIC: "Exercises, Tools, and Ideas About RhythmImprovisation for Dancers at All Levels"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Barbara Duffy" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Barbara Duffy" Profile

Becky Bloom (Seattle, Washington State)
TOPIC: "Up-Tempo Swing Combination for Intermediate and Advanced Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Becky Bloom" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Becky Bloom" Profile

Brenda Bufalino (New York City, New York)
TOPIC: "Tap Intensive 3 Excerpt: Getting in the Groove with three Swing Time Steps"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Brenda Bufalino" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Brenda Bufalino" Profile

Carol Efron-Flier (Boston, Massachusetts)
TOPIC: "Triplet Technique: Warm-up Exercises for Intermediate and Advanced Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Carol Efron-Flier" Video
- Facebook "Carol Efron-Flier" Page

Carol Zee (Los Angeles, California)
TOPIC: "Teaching Strategies for Beginners: Weight Shifts, Music and Bones"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Carol Zee" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Carol Zee" Profile

Cece Bechelli (Mill Valley, California)
TOPIC: "A 16-Bar Combination for Intermediate Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Cece Bechelli" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Cece Bechelli" Profile

Christy Hernandez (Huntington Beach)
TOPIC: "Choreography from Rhythm Trilogy Canon and Counterpoint"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Christy Hernandez" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Christy Hernandez" Profile

Denise Donovan (Rialto, California)
TOPIC: "Taps and Tubes: Rhythm and Music for Intermediate Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Denise Donovan" Video
- Facebook "Denise Donovan" Page

Denise Scheerer (Los Angeles, California)
TOPIC: "How to Count Triplets, Have Better Time, and Improve Your Improvisation Skills: For Beginning and Intermediate Tap Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Denise Scheerer" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Denise Scheerer" Profile

Fred Strickler (Riverside, California)
TOPIC: "16-Bar Rhythm Phrase Done Three Ways for Advanced Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Fred Stickler" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Fred Strickler" Profile

Gabe Copeland (Santa Ana, California) Now Fresno
TOPIC: "Pullback Variations for Intermediate and Advanced Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Gabe Copeland" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Gabe Copeland" Profile

Gene Medler (Durham, North Carolina)
TOPIC: "Finding the Dance"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Gene Medler" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Gene Medler" Profile

Gilda Gant (Riverside, California)
TOPIC: "Soft Shoe Combination for High Beginner and Intermediate Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Gilda Gant" Video
- Facebook "Gilda Gant" Page

Heather Cornell (New York City, New York)
TOPIC: "Making Music for All Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Heather Cornell" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Heather Cornell" Profile

Josh Hilberman (Boston, Massachusetts)
TOPIC: "Excerpt from Original Choreography: Capella Josh"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Josh Hilberman" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Josh Hilberman" Profile

Joy Hewitt (Los Angeles, California)
TOPIC: "Basic Exercises for Improvising in Three Ways: For Beginning and Intermediate Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Joy Hewitt" Video
- Facebook "Joy Hewitt" Page

Lynn Dally (Los Angeles, California)
TOPIC: "Something About Rhythm Turns for All Levels of Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Lynn Dally" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Lynn Dally" Profile

Max Pollak (New York City New York)
TOPIC: "Afro-Cuban Tap/Clap Grove for Intermediate Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Max Pollak" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Max Pollak" Profile

Melba Huber (McAllen, Texas)
TOPIC: "Classic Time Steps for Intermediate Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Melba Huber" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Melba Huber" Profile

Miki Amen (Ontario, California)
TOPIC: "5-Part Rhythm Phrase: Basic Steps + Speed = Challenge"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Miki Amen" Video
- Facebook "Miki Lee Amen" Page

Mindy Copeland (Santa Ana, California) Now Fresno
TOPIC: "Ripples, Riffles, and Rattles"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Mindy Copeland" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Mindy Copeland" Profile

Miriam Nelson (Los Angeles, California) 1919-2018
TOPIC: "16 Bars: Heel Work Rhythms for Intermediate and Advanced Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Miriam Nelson" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Miriam Nelson" Profile

Peggy Spina (New York City, New York)
TOPIC: "12 Bar Phrase for Intermediate and Advanced Tap Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Peggy Spina" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Peggy Spina" Profile

Sam Weber (San Francisco, California)
TOPIC: "Tap Turns Exercise by Tap Master Stan Kahn"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Sam Weber" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Sam Weber" Profile

Sarah Petronio (Paris, France)
TOPIC: "Fine-Tuning a 12-Bar Bebop Phrase for Tap Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Sarah Petronio" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Sarah Petronio" Profile

Shelly Oliver (Easton, Pennsylvania)
TOPIC: "Fun and Funky Tap Phrase for Intermediate and Advanced Dancers"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Shelly Oliver" Video
- Official Bio of Shelly Oliver

Steve Zee (Los Angeles, California)
TOPIC: "Crafting a Quality Exercise"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Steve Zee" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Steve Zee" Profile

Terry Brock (Portland, Oregon)
TOPIC: "The Essence of Ellie: Eleanor Powell Excerpts -You're The Taps"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Terry Brock" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Terry Brock" Profile

Tony Waag (New York City, New York)
TOPIC: "The Art of Eccentric Tap Dance"
- Masters of American Tap Dance "Tony Waag" Video
- Tap Dancing Resources "Tony Waag" Profile

Planned But Not Yet Added:
- Chloe Arnold (New York City NY and Los Angeles CA) | Profile |
- Derick Grant (New York City, New York) | Profile |
- Dianne Walker (Boston, Massachusetts) | Profile |
- Ivery Wheeler (Las Vegas, Nevada) | Profile |
- Jason Samuels Smith (New York City, New York) | Profile |
- Lane Alexander (Chicago Illinois) | Profile |
- Linda Sohl Ellison (Long Beach, California) | Profile |
- Mark Mendonca (Seattle, Washington State) | Profile |
- Michelle Dorrance (New York City, New York) | Profile |
- Robert L. Reed (St. Louis, Missouri) 1957-2015 | Video | Profile |

Resources

ITA "Masters of American Tap Dance" Project
Article on the official Web site of the International Tap Association introducing their Masters of American Tap Dance Project.

YouTube "Masters of American Tap" Channel
All of the videos in ITA's Masters of American Tap Dance series are published on this Youtube Channel.

International Tap Association (ITA)
Organization established in 1987 to serve the needs of the tap dance community and promote the understanding, preservation, and development of tap dancing as an art form. ITA was managed by the Colorado Dance Festival for many years but in 20001 it became an independent organization.

ITA "Masters of American Tap Dance" 2010 Poster
Printable JPG format poster from 2010 that introduced the series.

Note: The last time we checked the"masters of american tap dance dot com" Web site was no longer online. That domain name was registered on February 19, 2010, it was updated on December 21, 2012, and its current registration period will expire on February 19, 2021.
- Site was still online as of June 23, 2017
- Site was redirected to /ZhcRZ/ as of July 23, 2017