♦ The Workshop
PARIS SUMMER TAP is the unmissable event in Europe for tap dance enthusiasts. This major annual workshop, originally held in Barcelona at the Jimmy Slyde Institute studio, ( a place founded by French-New York choreographer Roxane Butterfly), has been attracting upcoming tap-artists from around the world since 2012, both amateurs and professionals. PARIS SUMMER TAP is an immersion into tap dance culture where students can consolidate their knowledge of the fundamentals of technique, as well as their understanding of the tap-history and the artistic movements that have influenced the evolution of tap dance to the present day.

This year, Brazilian choreographer Valeria Pinheiro (director of the VATA company in Fortaleza) and Guyanese dancer Tamangoh (director of URBAN TAP CENTER INTERNATIONAL in Kourou) will join Roxane for three exceptional days of immersion at the intersection of jazz and South American and Native American rhythms.

♦ The Teachers
Roxane Butterfly is the direct descendant of the Original Hoofers, with whom she learned the art of jazz tap dancing in New York City. Nicknamed Butterfly by legendary tap dancer Jimmy Slyde, she is the only woman of her generation to have had an international career as a soloist. A leading figure of the New York underground tap scene of the nineties, she has shared the stage with the greatest of her genre, including the illustrious Nicholas Brothers, Gregory Hines, and Savion Glover, and has collaborated with numerous musicians, including Stanley Jordan, Ron Carter, Benny Powell, and Phil Wood. The first woman in the history of tap dance to receive the prestigious Bessie Award (1999), Roxane paved the way for women with her all-female collective BeauteeZ’n The Beat. Founder of the Jimmy Slyde Institute in Barcelona, Roxane now continues her work as an educator at the Pôle Supérieur Paris Boulogne-Billancourt while expanding her expertise onto the inclusive-dance territory with her company SmARTS.

Valeria Pinheiro is the director of Compania Va Tà, which she founded in 1994 in Rio. Her creations draw on traditional dances from the Brazilian Northeast and combine tap dance with music, dance, theater, and circus to create unique hybrid shows that have been performed throughout Brazil, as well as in Cuba, Chicago, New York, Miami, Alaska, Colombia, and Cape Verde. In 2004, she opened her own studio/theater: CAFE TEATRO DOS MARIAS in Fortaleza, which has since become a cultural landmark in Brazil.

Tamangoh claims to belong to three cultures: African, European, and Native American. Raised in French Guiana until the age of eight by a grandmother who was a healer and voodoo priestess, Tamangoh was later adopted by a Belgian baron in Paris. He began tap-dancing at the age of 20 with Sarah Petronio at the American Center in Paris, then moved to New York in 1987. Tamangoh is the founder and artistic director of the Urban Tap Company, with which he has performed on numerous international tours. His collaboration with hip hop choreographer Rennie Harris on the show “Cool Heat, Urban Beat” toured worldwide for six consecutive years. In 2000, he received the prestigious Bessie Award and became the youngest artist to receive the Masters of African American Dance Award at the Kennedy Center in Washington. After a worldwide stage-career, to Tamangoh went back to his native Guiana to create the URBAN TAP CENTER INTERNATIONAL.

♦ The Location: Juste Debout School, 3 rue de l’Est. 75029 Paris

♦ The Extras: Coaching 
Every day : You can request hourly (private / semi-private) coaching slots with your chosen teacher from 5pm to 8pm @ l’Atelier 18 (Paris 18ème).

♦ Contact: 06 15 74 25 22 / rb.worldbeats@gmail.com