Tap Dance

Avalon Rathgeb graduated from Bird College in 2009 after studying on a 3 year full time scholarship. Recipient of two internships from the American Tap Dance Foundation 2009/11, Grant Swift’s TeAyPe (Melbourne, Australia) 2009-10, a scholarship for the Los Angeles Tap Festival 2012, winner of the 2013 cutting contest at Stockholm Tap Festival, invited to accept 1 of 25 places reserved for outstanding dancers in the 2014 Tap program at the School at Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, USA. Her career highlights include dancing in the opening ceremony of London 2012 Olympic Games, the closing ceremony of the European Games (Baku Azerbaijan) 2015, Artistic Director of ‘Old Kent Road’ 2014-current, principle dancer for ‘Tapestry Dance Company’ under the direction of Acia Gray 2017-19. Avalon is endorsed by Ruben Sanchez DanceWear. Avalon founded the London Tap Dance Festival in 2024.

Clara Martínez is a dancer and choreographer from Barcelona specializing in tap dance. She began her training in musical theatre as a teenager at Coco Comín and later on completed her main tap training in the Tap Program at Luthier Dansa with Guillem Alonso. Since the age of 17, she has traveled extensively to study with leading international artists, and in 2019 she received a scholarship for the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Tap Program, where her piece Vuela was selected to be presented at the renowned Ted Shawn Theatre. Her first professional opportunities include the Luthier Youth Tap Company (dir. Guillem Alonso), UNUM Project (dir. Estefanía Porqueras), and W.O.T.O (founded and directed by Ludovico Hombravella and Ivan Bouchain). In 2016 she created the duet The Ground Sisters, and in 2018 she founded La Banda Street Groove, a company combining tap dance, percussion, and urban dance styles that remains active with three original productions touring across Spain. As an independent artist, she has performed on multiple stages, directed and choreographed various projects, and built a career that combines creation and pedagogy. In 2024 she premiered her musical project Clara Martínez Quintet, a live music project in which Clara develops her most rhythmic artistic voice within the world of improvisation. Since 2018 she has also worked with Dàmaris Gelabert and Grow Up Singing as a choreographer, dancer, and stage director, completing three tours and five music videos. In the educational field, she is a regular tap teacher at Luthier Dansa in Barcelona and gives workshops and masterclasses across Europe, standing out for a methodology focused on groove and the connection between technique and rhythm.

When Daniel Luka, aged five, watched a TV show featuring tap dance, he was quick on deciding: “I want to do this, too!” His mother enrolled him in a dance course, and his love for tap dance was burning brightly. He started teaching in his hometown of Wuppertal when he was only fourteen, living and dancing in New York and Barcelona a few years later. Today, Daniel is a versatile performer collaborating with top-class artists from the international dance and music scenes. All the while, he likes pushing boundaries, experimenting with hip hop music or electronic beats, looking for any entanglement with video or digital art and absorbing impulses by vastly different cultures. Among his inspirations are masters of the genre like Chuck Green, Jimmy Slyde and Sarah Petronio, in whose performances he participated internationally and also at various times during the tap dance days at tanzhaus nrw. He is the choreographer and producer within his own company “Daniel Luka & The Tapengers”, roles he also fulfils for shows like “Feel The Tap”, “Tap A Tune” and “Resonance”. He danced as a soloist with the WDR Big Band at the Cologne Philharmonic and is the founder and host of “Tap Jam Düsseldorf”.

Jep Meléndez has been trained as a tap dancer in many art schools from Barcelona and New York, he’s also a classic dance, jazz and afrocuban percussion enthusiast. He is a dancer and improvisator who’s been part of numerous famous shows: “Benny Goodman Memorial”, “Jazzin and Dancin”, “Escolta’m” (Barcelona), “Navigazzioni” (Italy) “Tap City”, “Swing 46 Tap Jam” (New York), etc. His own dance style is based on body percussion. He’s been developing his own performance for 20 years influenced by diverses styles and genres. He’s been leading the show “Pampidam” ideated by the well-known dance troupe MAYUMANA. He’s also been the leading dancer of CAMUT BAND on its shows “Keatoniana”, “Tambores”, “La vida es ritmo” and “Kiting-Kita”. In his last performances, we could highlight his participation as a co-author and choreographer in “Faros del Silencio”, his stellar participation on “Tapage Nocturne”, his academic role on the III International Body Music Festival in Sao Paulo (Brasil) and his new project “A mano limpia!” displayed at the V International Body Music Festival of Istanbul (Turkey). He’s been directing and managing also the festival Encuentro Internacional de Música Corporal de Tenerife in 2011 and 2012. During 2011, he worked in the creation and investigation for his new show “Cambuyon”, became its artistic director and performer. This show was introduced in the IV International Body Music Festival in San Francisco and it was released in Tenerife, Barcelona and subsequently in “The New Victory Theater”, off-Broadway, New York. He’s also a tap, body percussion and dance instructor, and he counts with a diverse national and international academical experience. Last time he was at tanzhaus in 2019 presenting „À L’UNISSON“, a new offbeat show he produced with Leela Petronio in which tap dance, body percussion and hip hop dancing blend to defend a rhythmic and poetic message of unity in artistic expressions featuring Ludovic Tronché and Daniel Luka.

Tap dance artist Joshua Hilberman was trained by tap and vaudeville stars of the 1930s and has shared the stage with Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Jimmy Slyde, Brenda Bufalino and almost every other famous tap dancer. His longtime artistic partners include mentors Bufalino and the great tap dance pianist Paul Arslanian. Together with dancer/producer Drika Overton and the German duo Tap and Tray, Josh has been creating and performing original ensemble and solo theatre productions for over 25 years. Josh has taught hundreds of workshops and tap dance festivals including New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stockholm, etc. His deep understanding of tap dance in performance combined with a healthy sense of humour make him an entertaining, patient and insightful teacher. He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the US Presidential Scholars Teachers Recognition Award and the Premi Claqueta of the Dancers of Barcelona, Spain for significant contributions to the tap community. Since 2013, he has lived in Liège, Belgium with his wife Stéphanie and young son Félix. Together they run the Claquettes Club, a centre for tap dance in Belgium.

Leela Petronio is a Franco-American tap dancer and body percussionist. She is a choreographer, teacher and producer and has been part of the European cast of STOMP since 2001. She is the artistic director of the Hip Tap Project, a percussive dance ensemble that combines tap rhythm, hip hop, body percussion and live music in its work. Leela studied with tap masters Sarah Petronio, Jimmy Slyde and Steve Condos. Her eclectic approach has led her to participate in many different projects, including performances with Cirque du Soleil in Italy, a tap concert with a symphony orchestra at Paris' Opéra Comique, the Soul to Sole Festival in Austin, and the Joyce Theater for New York's "Tap City," the International Body Music Festival. In 2012, she was part of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games with STOMP. She performs regularly in Sarah Petronio's "Jazz in Motion" and "Thelonius". She is part of the international cast of the new show "Body Music - hear dance, see music" directed by Keith Terry, which premiered at the Maison des métallos in Paris in October 2016. Leela has taught rhythm tap and body music workshops in Europe, Brazil, Senegal, Australia, Turkey, Israel and at many international tap festivals in the US. In France, she works regularly with professional multidisciplinary dancers at the National Centre for Dance, among others, has developed a percussive dance programme for music and dance teachers and is very active in youth work around rhythm. She produced the 8th edition of the International Body Music Festival in Paris in October 2016.

Als Linda sich 2001 in einer Tanzschule in der Tür vertan hatte und dadurch zufällig das erste Mal mit Tap Dance in Berührung kam, konnte sie noch nicht ahnen, dass sich daraus eine Leidenschaft für sie entwickeln wird. Seitdem nutzte sie eine Vielzahl von Gelegenheiten, um sich bei Tap Dance-Größen wie z.B. Roxane Butterfly, Josh Hilberman, Ludovico Hombravella sowie im Rahmen eines konstanten Einzelcoachings bei Daniel Luka und beim Professional Tap Training von Thomas Marek 2019 und 2021 weiterzuentwickeln. Sie erwarb zudem Bühnenerfahrung unter anderem bei Sebastian Webers Berlin Tap Project 2015 und den Projekten im Rahmen des Tap Ahead Festivals in Düsseldorf von Josh Hilberman, Barbara Duffy, Pia Neises und Daniel Luka. Ihr musikalisches Interesse insbesondere für Jazz und die damit verbundenen Begeisterung für die Improvisation zeigt sie regelmäßig bei Tap Jams in Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Lüttich und Wien. Darüber hinaus ist ihr neuestes Projekt der Tap Salon in Duisburg.

Nikolai Kemeny is considered an outstanding tap dancer and choreographer who has had a significant influence on the German tap dance scene. His training and the teachings of international tap legends have shaped him into a versatile artist. With productions such as COSMIC TAP and award-winning art films such as LAZARUS and THE STEPS I STOLE, he embodies a virtuoso combination of percussion, dance and storytelling. He is dedicated to the traditions and expressive possibilities of tap dance. In addition to his work at renowned state theaters and opera houses in Germany, he is a founding member of the Sebastian Weber Dance Company. Together with his partner Andrea Alvergue, he travels the world to explore the diversity of music and dance cultures and presents innovative jazz tap concerts such as BLUE TAPS and OFFBeat.
With his modern style, he sets new international standards and inspires as a dancer, choreographer, musician and producer in equal measure.

Ob als Bühnenkünstler, Choreograph oder Lehrer: Seit 30 Jahren vereint Thomas Marek in seiner Arbeit traditionelle und moderne Formen des Tap Dance mit zeitgenössischen musikalischen und theatralischen Elementen. Schon die Meister, bei denen er lernte und die ihn inspirierten, waren und sind Erneuerer ihrer Kunst: Honi Coles, Cholly Atkins, Chuck Green, Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde und allen voran Brenda Bufalino, mit deren American Tap Dance Orchestra er Mitte der Neunzigerjahre durch Florida tourte. Tief verwurzelt im Jazz spielt Marek mit den Möglichkeiten von Klanggestaltung, von Phrasierung, Touch und Sound, lotet den Raum aus, in dem sich der Steptanz bewegt, verschiebt Grenzen und entdeckt neue Ausdrucksformen, die an die Ursprünge des Tap anknüpfen und aus seinem kulturellen Kontext schöpfen – und die neue Geschichten erzählen. Solo, im Duo mit Bass oder Klavier oder als Jazz Quartet: Das Erzählerische in der abstrakten tänzerischen und musikalischen Form des Tap ist der Motor von Mareks Kunst, auch und gerade in seinen großen Tanzproduktionen. Ausverkaufte Theater zeugen davon, dass es Marek mit seinen Inszenierungen, musikalischen Reflexionen über kulturelle Tradition und individuellen Ausdruck im Zusammenspiel von Jazz, Choreographie und Improvisation gelingt, die Kunst des Tap Dance einem breiteren Publikum zugänglich zu machen. Musikalität und eigenen Ausdruck zu fördern, ist auch das Ziel, dem sich Thomas Marek als Lehrer verschrieben hat, den Sinn zu wecken für kreative Gestaltung auf Grundlage eines starken technischen Fundaments. Er ist regelmäßiger Gast als Workshopleiter sowie als Solist auf Festivals und Bühnen in Deutschland, Europa und den USA und tanzte mit Steptanzgrößen wie Brenda Bufalino, Barbara Duffy und Sarah Petronio.

Yaroslav Ros was trained at the Kyiv Academy of Variety and Circus Arts in the disciplines of clowning, dance and juggling. There he learned from some of the best tap dancers in the world: Savion Glover, Jason-Samuels Smith, Dexter Jones and Geri Ames. Ros studied acting at the State Institute of Theater Arts in Moscow and was a member of the Moscow Yermalova Theater ensemble for ten years. In addition to his permanent engagements, he has performed in musicals and shows and has been invited to renowned tap dance festivals worldwide. Yaroslav Ros can currently be seen at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in the productions “Cabaret”, “Novecento oder Die Legende vom Ozeanpianisten” and “Moby-Dick”.