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@dianne_walker138

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Happy Monday. I’ve been wondering about how tap dancers practice independently, and what they use to improve their skills each day. So I decided to bring my questions about this to you in this week’s #MondayDiscussion.

You see, every tap dancer has something — a warmup, a complex rudiment, or just a random set of steps — that they use to practice. We often use these to work on our technique, articulation, precision, musicality, phrasing, speed, etc.

My question: what do YOU use? Describe and/or break down your rudiments, steps, or warmups, in the comments section below, so that it’ll give everyone a tool they can use to improve their skills! I’d really like for us to bounce some ideas off of each other.

#TapPractice #taprudiments #tapdance #tapcommunity

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Also in Boston, our friends in @buontap at @bostonu (Dianne Walker’s alma mater, folks!) just announced their auditions literally twenty minutes ago!

They said it themselves: TAP IN! Their auditions will take place on two separate dates. The first will be this Wednesday, September 9, from 6-8 PM at the SAC Dance Studio. The second will be the following Sunday, September 13, in the GSU alley, at the same time (6-8 PM)!

Audition forms will be available to any tap dancers currently attending BU at the link in BU On Tap’s Instagram bio! They advise all of you to arrive at least 5-10 minutes early, and bring your tap shoes or any shoes you feel the most comfortable tap dancing in!

Tap in at Boston U! ❤️🤍🐶

#NationalCollegeColorsDay2026 #TapDanceGoesToCollege #CollegeTapDanceEnsembles #BUOnTap #tapdance

Repost from @buontap
TAP IN YOU GUYS!!! Auditions are coming up this next week and we can’t wait to see you all there! Signup link is in bio 😊

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sweet summer thank you

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Happy Monday. This week’s Monday Discussion is directed towards tap dancers who have pursued or earned graduate degrees.

Speaking as someone who has done exactly this, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to balance your passion for tap and your education. But while it is indeed hard, it is not impossible.

Those of you who have been following me over the last dozen years know that I completed my Master’s in Geosciences at @wku in 2019. During this years in Bowling Green, I took a handful of tap classes, attended my first tap festival (in Indianapolis), and even started a tap company in Nashville (@thenashvilletapexperiment).

There are many tap dancers who are currently doing a graduate degree or have already completed it.

I encourage tap dancers who are currently in college to at least consider doing a graduate degree, whether it be a Master’s, Doctorate, Juris Doctorate, Doctor of Medicine, etc. Take it from me: Play the long game. Many more doors will be opened to you if you pursue a graduate degree; it is worth the investment. You won’t regret it.

My advice to grad students wrestling with whether or not to continue tap dancing while in grad school?

DO IT.

Yes, your coursework, theses, and dissertations should be your top priority. But make time to indulge your passion. Take tap classes. Keep practicing. Start tap companies.

Travel to tap festivals. Collaborate with other artists. Don’t pigeonhole yourselves to a daily routine; you will go insane if you do.

Work hard, but also play hard.

Work smart, but also play smart.

That’s my advice to all of you.

To all tap dancers who are undergraduates: Let me ask you all this:

Do you intend to go to grad school? If so, where, and what do you intend to study and/or research?

Tap dancers currently in graduate school or have already completed a graduate degree or multiple graduate degrees:

What advice can you offer to any tap dancers who are currently graduate students or undergraduates considering graduate school?

Shoutout to all of our tap fam at @cornelluniversity in Ithaca, New York, students, alumni, and faculty! ❤️🤍🐻

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❤️🐕 BOSTON UNIVERSITY 🐕🤍
♥️ ANTIOCH COLLEGE 🤍

Dianne “Lady Di” Walker, a pioneer in tap dancing’s resurgence, has a 45-year career spanning Broadway, Television, Film and International Jazz Concerts and Tap Festivals. Savion Glover and his contemporaries affectionately call her, “Aunt Dianne,” acknowledging her unique role as mentor, teacher and confidante. Dianne performed in both the original Paris Production of Black and Blue as well as the Broadway Production, where she was a featured dancer, Dance Captain and Assistant to the Directors. Film credits include the movie Tap, the PBS special, Great Performances: Tap Dance in America, JUBA! (WTTW), and Songs Unwritten. Dianne has been dubbed the “Ella Fitzgerald” of Tap Dance.

For two years, Dianne directed the Tap Program at @jacobspillow and is presently Artistic Advisor to the Program. Holding a Master’s degree in Education, Dianne has taught at numerous universities including @harvard, @mit, @wesleyan_u, @batescollege, @ucla, and @williamscollege. Dianne is a participant on many educational task forces, and sits on numerous boards throughout the dance community. In 1998, Dianne received the “Living Treasure in American Dance” Award from @oklahomacityuniversity, The Flo-Bert Award (NYC), The Hoofers Award (NYC), The Gregory Hines Humanitarian Award (Los Angeles), and was the 2008 USA Rose Fellow. Most recently, Dianne received the prestigious Dance Magazine Award, presented to her at the Alvin Ailey School in New York, adding to a long line of awards and lifetime tributes recognizing her contribution to the art form and excellence in teaching. Grant awards include The National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Jacobs Pillow, The New England Foundation for the Arts, and American Masterpieces Program.

[Continued in the comments section.]

#TapDanceGoesToCollegeMonth #TapDanceGoesToCollege #BostonUniversityTapFam #AntiochCollegeTapFam #tapdance

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#TapClipOfTheDay:

Dianne Walker (@dianne_walker138) continues to be the measuring stick by which tap dancers today are measured.

Aunt Dianne remains our gold standard; the Queen consistently raises the bar and inspires so many tap dancers to be the best versions of our artistic selves.

Those who know Aunt Dianne well know that she has two college degrees. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education from @bostonu, and a Master’s in Education from @antiochcollege, a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, east of Dayton and northeast of Cincinnati. It is that training that has served her well as she teaches the next generations of young tap dance artists.

This performance was featured in the 2000 documentary “Juba! Masters of Tap and Percussive Dance.” It was screen recorded from YouTube.

#TapDanceGoesToCollegeMonth #TapDanceGoesToCollege #BostonUniversityTapFam #tapdance

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#ThursdayTapThrowback:

In February 2002, @oklahomacityuniversity’s @okcudance_ awarded nine tap masters Honorary Doctor of Performing Arts in American Dance degrees.

Dr. James “Buster” Brown (5.17.1913 - 5.7.2002) was one of them. It’s a good thing OKCU awarded him this degree when they did, because three months later, he was gone.

This was the Baltimore-born Dr. Brown performing “All The Things” at the Cotton Club Gala on TV Netherlands in 1977.

#TapDanceGoesToCollegeMonth #TapDanceGoesToCollege #OKCUHonoraryDoctorate #tapdance

Repost from @phoenixtapfest via @operationtap
・・・
A classic for a Saturday! This is Dr. Buster Brown performing “All The Things”, Cotton Club Gala 1977 TV Netherlands.

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Happy Monday. One of the most important things about Tap Dance Goes to College Month is that it presents an opportunity to address something I think we all can agree must be improved upon.

There is an ongoing conversation about tap dance in college and other academic institutions… and it is about the availability of a viable tap dance-focused curriculum, and dance departments creating pathways for students to pursue careers as professional tap dancers. Some schools have it, and some schools don’t.

If you recall, Ryan Casey (@ryancaseydance) — @nyuniversity Class of 2013 and @harvardeducation Class of 2020 — wrote an article in @dancemagazine last year that addresses what tap dancers should look for in a college dance program. My friend Jenne Vermes (@jennevermes; @captainjenneway) — @floridastateuniversity Class of 2005 — has also spoken on a similar subject in the past.

I would love for all of you to be a part of this conversation. YOUR voices on this topic matter the most.

if you could, please speak about your college’s dance (and/or theatre) department and how seriously they take tap dance. If they don’t, can you offer any explanations, any at all, as to why that might be the case? I know this might require critical, theoretical thinking, so educated guesses are welcome.

Furthermore, please voice your opinion what four-year colleges and universities can and should do to accommodate dancers who wish to make tap a major focus of their artistic pursuits. If other styles such as contemporary, lyrical, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and others can comprise a complete dance curriculum and have sizable roles in a student’s dance education, why not tap? Why leave tap out of the equation? What sense would that make?

Let’s have a healthy and constructive conversation about this. Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion — or vent your frustrations, if that’s where your head is — but remember to be respectful and tactful in your responses.

[Shoutout to the tap fam at the @universityofky in Lexington, Kentucky! 💙🤍]

#TapDanceGoesToCollegeMonth #TapDanceGoesToCollege #tapdance #tapdanceincollege #MondayDiscussion

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My happy place is wherever you are, Aunt Di! It’s always a special experience to hug you, share stories, and laugh about the silly things ❤️

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#ThursdayTapThrowback:

One historical piece I really want to learn properly is Leon Collins’s No. 53.

It has a history, as well as a story, and I will leave that to those who know Leon best to tell it. For now, here are Dianne Walker (@dianne_walker138) and Pamela Raff performing the piece during An Evening Of Jazz and Tap With Stoptime and Friends on April 21, 1990.

#TBT #LeonCollinsRoutine53

Repost from @operationtap
Dianne Walker and Pamela Raff perform the legendary Leon Collins routine 53. From An Evening Of Jazz and Tap With Stoptime and Friends, April 21st 1990. Go to the OPTAP Facebook page to check out the full clip! #tapdance #nationaltapdanceday

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Back in 2022, Dianne Walker was our artist-in-residence for the festival. We learned so much from her (as we always do), including how important and fulfilling it is to look after each other within this art form.

During that residency, Ian Berg not only performed in Jumaane Taylor’s Supreme Love, but also spent the entire festival assisting Dianne and our residency dancers.

Now, this year, we’re excited to bring his company’s work into our 2026 festival programming.

Catch @subjectmattertap on Saturday, August 22, as part of our show, Convergence! Plus, take his masterclass earlier that day. Tickets and registration are live - head to the 🔗 in our bio 💜

#tapdance #community #respect #totapfest

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