RPM Youth Tap Ensemble
Artistic Director: Barbara Phillips
Celebrating our 11th Season
San Antonio based RPM Youth Tap Ensemble provides opportunity for young hoofers to work with some of the most renowned tap dance masters & choreographers from around the country. The company provides educational, leadership and performance opportunities, exploring this unique American art form and its musical roots. RPM Youth Tap Ensemble made its debut performance at the Dallas National Tap Dance Day in Spring of 2002. They have appeared at Third Coast Rhythm Project, Soul to Sole Festival Showcase, and Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s “Great American Youth Tap Ensembles Concert”. Select Members traveled to China to perform during the 5th Annual Beijing International Dance Festival, in December 2007. The ensemble and other dancers performed “JUBA! Masters of Tap,” before an audience of 2,900 people in the historic Beijing Exhibition Hall. The China Performing Arts Agency and the Ministry of Culture extended this invitation to the Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) to organize this tap extravaganza.
They have enjoyed a collaboration with Austin’s “Visions in Rhythm” and have been guest artists appearing in “Everything on Tap” in Dallas, Black History Month Celebrations in San Antonio, and “Tribute to a Legend”, honoring Arthur Duncan at Radius in 2007. RPM presented their first solo concert in May 2003, celebrating National Tap Dance Day, and now host the annual event collaborating with youth and adult ensembles from across the state.
The company’s diverse repertoire includes works by tap masters Lane Alexander, Acia Gray, Steve Zee, Dianne Walker, Nicole Hockenberry, Jason Samuels Smith, Heather Cornell, Barbara Phillips, Jason Janas, Lisa La Touche, Travis Knights, Tasha Lawson, Derick Grant, Jay Fagan, Michelle Dorrance, Harold Cromer, Ayodele Casel, Keith Terry, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, STEP AFRIKA, and the legendary Buster Brown and Honi Coles.
The company is dedicated to the legacy of the masters, creating new innovative works, and passing it on to the next generation. Preserving, Sharing, and Celebrating the universal language of Rhythm!
“…The standout, however, was RPM Youth Tap Ensemble from San Antonio…. Their sense of rhythm and volume was complete and clean, and the synchronization smart. The dancers advertised their enjoyment, while their ease spoke for itself.“~The Dallas Morning News
“RPM Youth Tap Ensemble offered wonderful ensemble work in “Cool” from “West Side Story”. They were an ebullient reminder of the [festival’s] goal to pass on this unique American art form to the next generation.”~The San Antonio Express News
“…They were totally present physically and mentally,which made the audience love them all the more…”~The San Antonio Express News
” RPM has been a wonderful opportunity for our daughter. She has had the opportunity to learn tap from outstanding professionals and wonderful performers. RPM has provided her with the opportunity to collaborate with talented performers from across the country and in Texas. Barbara has built a positive and collaborative environment for dancers of all ages to flourish. At Third Coast, dancers experience a talented, friendly staff who are genuinely interested in helping all individuals reach their dreams. Thank you so much for being the beacon of light in our lives. “
