tapLab 2023
Come join us for our tapLab summer intensive from August 14th - 18th!
This is a great opportunity to improve tap technique, drills, musicality and more. This is a perfect workshop for students to gain new skills and refine old ones, as well as lay a strong foundation for the year, for students who will be taking tap classes with us in the fall. We will also be introducing skills needed to dance and jam with live musicians!
tapLab is required for Junior Company & Intermediate/Senior Intensive & Company dancers.
We can't wait to see you there!
Faculty
Danny Nielsen
Danny Nielsen is one of Canada’s most sought out professionals. Originally from Calgary, AB, he began his rhythm tap career as a founding member of MADD Rhythms Canada under the direction of Lisa La Touche. He has also performed with reputable companies such as Heather Cornell’s CanTap, Lisa La Touche’s Tap Phonics and Acia Gray’s Tapestry Dance Company. In his hometown, Danny was hired as the company tap trainer for the highly-regarded Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. The opportunity led to having short choreographies featured in their productions of Tinge and Tone and 25.
Danny has been toured with Vancouver based dance company Radical System Art (Shay Kuebler). The show entitled Telemetry features Nielsen in a role created exclusively for him. The show has enthralled audiences across the globe having performed in prestigious venues such as the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Place Des Arts in Montreal, the White Bird Dance Series in Portland, the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, and the Schritmacher Festival in Germany to name a few.
From 2010-2016, Danny lived in Vancouver, BC. He spent 2 years as the ‘Artist in Residence’ with the Vancouver Tap Dance Society. In 2012, Danny was the recipient of the Santa Aloi Award from the Scotiabank Dance Centre. He used the grant to create and direct his first full length production Love.Be.Best.Free, which toured BC for a month in February of 2017. He also co-created Night Cap with longtime friend Joel Hanna which featured American tap icons Martin ‘Tre’ Dumas III and Jason Samuels Smith.
Danny has taught and performed at many national and international tap festivals across the globe including Zurich Tap Fest, Tap Ahead in Germany, North Carolina Rhythm Tap Festival, CHRP’s Rhythm World, Taptastic Festival in Germany, and Portland Tap Fest to name a few. Television credits include the worldwide broadcast of the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies and the opening number for the 2008 Jerry Lewis Telethon choreographed by Chloe Arnold in Las Vegas, NV.
Danny recently just created his second full length production entitled ‘On Foot’ with the support for the Canada Council for the Arts. It premiered in both Vancouver and Calgary in the fall of 2019.
Dayna Szyndrowski
Dance and music – inseparable. Tap dance grew up with jazz music and is maturing with cultural influences from around the world. It is this ever-evolving characteristic that works its magnetic magic on those who love the art form. As a result of the desire to continuously learn and seek new rhythmic inspiration, Dayna has been fortunate enough to spend time across Canada, the US, in Cuba, Spain, Germany, and Greece performing and studying with many tap and music greats, and passing on what she has learned as a teacher to all ages and levels.
Date & Location
Monday, August 14th - Friday, August 18th at Dance Co Arbutus
Class Options
Junior Company Tap (9-12 years old) | 9:00am - 12:00pm
Intermediate/Senior Intensive/Company Tap (12-17 years old) | 12:30 - 3:30pm