Minnesota Tap Dance Experience
May 23, 2025
Presented by: Keane Sense of Rhythm
Come experience a unique competition geared just for tap dancers, featuring 3 talented tap judges.
- Tap on a sprung wood tap floor with exceptional acoustics
- Get valuable, immmediate feedback on your performance
- Fine-tune your routine before you head off to Nationals
Competition Highlights
- 3 ability levels and 6 ages groups
- Special awards and tap scholarships
- Improv contest - Intermediate and Advanced levels
Event Sponsors:
Meet the 2024 Judges
Acia Gray
judge
As a musician, soloist, choreographer and master teacher of the indigenous American art form of jazz tap dance, Ms. Gray has toured extensively across the U.S. and abroad as a tap dancer and in 1989 co-founded Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, TX with Deirdre Strand and currently serves as Producing Artistic Director of Tapestry Dance & Artistic Director of The Soul 2 Sole Tap Festival.
Katherine Kramer
judge
Katherine Kramer has been a vital presence in the resurgence and evolution of classic jazz and tap dance since the 1970s. Her one-woman show, “Rhythms of the Heart,” toured from 1992 to 2000, including performances at Jacob’s Pillow and international festivals. She was one of 12 dancers chosen to work with ‘Honi’ Coles in the first creative residency for tap at The Colorado Dance Festival in 1989 and has been a featured soloist at Tap Extravaganza in NY and many Jazz Festivals. She has been commissioned to create works for universities and companies throughout the country. Katherine was founder, producer, and artistic director of a 10 year annual summer music and dance festival, Rhythm Explosion, in Bozeman, MT, which included many outstanding artists, including the late legends Jimmy Slyde and Daniel Nagrin. Grateful for having had the opportunity to work and study with many of the finest of tap’s masters and contemporary innovators, she has maintained a commitment to sharing this legacy.
Jeannie Hill
judge
Arriving in New York in the late 80s Jeannie discovered Bob Audy at Broadway Dance Center and in those precious classes met Billy Siegenfeld. Attendance at her first tap festival in 1990 provided inspiration for her to audition for Manhattan Tap. Guided by artistic director Heather Cornell, she was introduced to the ever-expanding international community of rhythm tap dancers and jazz musicians. As a tap soloist, Jeannie danced the Morton Gould Tap Dance Concerto with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra in April 2018. Her performances at the Hoofer’s Weekend in New Orleans with Brenda Bufalino and late tap masters James Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde and Jeni LeGon bring fond memories. Incredible opportunities to share the stage with numerous tap and jazz greats at venues like Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, New York’s Joyce and Duke Theatres, Sculler’s Jazz Club, and Theatre Comédie in Montpellier, France highlight her career. In 2004 she joined the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Theatre & Dance faculty where she teaches full-time and choreographs for musicals and dance concerts.
