TapCats step into Princeton's dance culture

Come and meet those dancing feet.

Thanks to a sizeable crop of hoofers, there's a new act in town — the TapCats, Princeton's first and only dance group devoted entirely to tap.

Since TapCats president Tudor Dimofte '04 and Charles Mugnolo '05 began the group last Thanksgiving by simply posting signs around campus and circulating mass emails, the group has quadrupled in size from a core company of six to the 25 dancers who attended last Thursday's workshop in the Wilcox Dance Studio.

With the surge in interest this year, the TapCats won't be shuffling off to Buffalo anytime soon. They're staying right here in Princeton.

Last Thursday, about 25 dancers, ranging in class year and ability, came together for the first workshop of the year.

Heel. Toe. Heel. Toe. Left. Slap. Right. Stomp.

After a few rounds of the tapping rhythms, everyone caught on.

As the group does not hold formal auditions and promises not to make cuts, it is a relaxed — yet intense — learning environment.

"We taught them about their feet," Nadia Ben-Youssef '06 said, "And to shake their booty." Ben-Youssef, who has studied tap for 10 years, led the workshop.

The TapCats company members promised that steady practice and a strong commitment to the group will yield rapid results.

"You can learn a lot in a semester," Dimofte said.

"Your roommates and neighbors love it if you practice in the hallway and on the stairs," Reva Haselkorn '06 added.

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The TapCats have performed at last spring's International Festival and at TigerNite earlier this month.

"We are show-oriented," Dimofte said, especially for the next three and a half months. The TapCats have a lot of work to look forward to. The fledgling troupe will be headlining its own show at Theatre~Intime during the upcoming reading period.

"That's the weekend that Bodyhype does its show," one of the dancers pointed out.

Each prospective tapper turned a little pale when Dimofte announced that the beginners will perform their own number in the Intime show.

"We're a little behind, but it'll happen and it'll be awesome," said artistic director Jess Stahl '06. Stahl plans to hold rehearsals for a company piece she choreographed to "Ease on Down the Road."

"It's time to focus if we're going to do this show," business manager Christine O'Neill '06 said.

The show's theme will be "Journey." Sufficiently broad, the theme will encompass types of journeys, from the evolution of tap dance through an exploration of different dance styles to the progression of an individual's emotions and moods through a period of time.

"It reminds me of 'Gilgamesh,' " Haselkorn said, reminiscing about her middle school English class. "It all comes back to 'Gilgamesh.' "

As far as the TapCats are concerned, tap isn't just about Broadway Babies. The TapCats draw their musical numbers from all different genres given the varied dance experience of its members. O'Neill, for example, studied Irish step dancing for three years, and the TigerNite number was choreographed to Brian Setzer's rock-swing hit "You and Me and the Bottle."

With its booming membership, the TapCats are offering more activities, such as trips to New York City for master classes, social chair Emily Minkow '04 said. The TapCats also plan to arrange mass-orders for shoes and supplies at discount prices from distributors.

Dimofte said he started the club because he "suspected a lot of people did tap."

"People just kinda came," Dimofte said.

The TapCats offer three classes per week: one beginners' technique class and one for intermediates. The third class is devoted to choreography and rehearsal for performances.

If you're interested in tapping, contact Tudor Dimofte '04, tdimofte@, and attend rehearsal on Thursdays 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Wilcox Dance Studio.