CALENDAR
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MAY 31-JUNE 1, 2008
TWA Concert at Atlas Theatre
JUNE 8, 2008
Knock On Wood Student Showcase
JUNE 24-28, 2008
TWA at Wolf Trap Theatre-In-The-Woods
JUNE 26, 2008
TWA at Kennedy Center Millennium State
July 2-3, 2008
TWA at Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre
July 8-31, 2008
KOW Summer Session
July 14-18, 2008
JRJP Teen Tap Intensive
July 19, 2008
JRJP Master Classes
July 21-25 & August 4-8, 2008
KOW Summer Camps
August 3-24, 2008
Sophisticated Tappers Program
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DONATIONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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DONATE NOW
Thank You!
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KNOCK ON WOOD Studio News
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 Our annual Knock On Wood Tap Showcase
will be held on Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 2 pm at Bethesda-Chevy Chase
High School. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7 for children (kids under
6 are free). All tickets will be sold at the door. You'll enjoy an
afternoon of great entertainment as our students perform pieces
choreographed by our very own Knock On Wood tap faculty. Come one,
come all as the B-CC High School auditorium walls ring with the musical
sounds of taps. We hope you'll join us at this fun-filled community
event!
This August, Knock On Wood is proud to present a new 4-week class designed specifically for the 50+ crowd. The Sophisticated Tappers Program not only teaches the art of tap, but also provides those over
the age of 50 with the opportunity to meet new people, enjoy great
exercise, and improve coordination and balance, all while listening to
fantastic music! The cost for this exciting program is $60. Tap shoes are recommended, but not required.
 We're cookin' up plans for next season and here's a little taste! In addition to our great class curriculum, we're adding more master classes to the mix, including some just for kids, and stirring things up with monthly Friday night tap jam parties. We're sprinkling in a new "Technique Only" series, to help you spice up your basic tap steps, some special tap events for "Boyz Only," and a deliciously delightful Spring Break "Camp" for adults. Details on these and some of the other tasty treats we've got going will be available soon. Meanwhile, a "sneak peek" is already posted on our website, so go on, check it out!
And while you're at it, our 4-week Summer Class Session is now open for registration. Come on down to KOW for some "tap heat." Ah, summer's good!
 Don't miss out, there are still a few spaces left in our popular Dancin' Days Summer Camp! We've just posted photos from our Dance Passport Spring Break Camp, to show you just how much fun KOW camps are. Dancin' Days camps are July 21-25 and August 4-8, with full-day sessions for ages 7-12, and a half-day option for ages 4-6.
 A BIG THANKS to all who "shopped the TWA Way" by purchasing bedding plants and baskets at our Spring Plant Sale. This was our most successful sale ever! Please keep it in mind for next spring, and tell your friends and neighbors to mark their calendars, too. If you have any suggestions or special requests, please email us and let us know how we can help you green up your garden - and simultaneously watch our coffers grow!
Jump Rhythm Jazz Project will be at Knock On Wood in July for some very special activities this summer: a Teen Tap Intensive (July 14-18) and 2 Master Classes (July 19). These are fantasically exciting opportunities for kids (ages 11 & up) and adults. IMPORTANT: we urge you to register by June 11; if we have not met minimum enrollment for the Intensive by then, we will have to cancel all activities.
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| TAPPERS WITH ATTITUDE News |
AUDITIONS!
Auditions for aspiring members of Tappers With Attitude Youth Ensemble will be held on July 16, 2008. Tap dancers ages 10-and-up, currently working at an advanced beginner/ intermediate level are eligible to audition.For more information, contact Ms. Lisa at 301-495-0395.
Upcoming Performances:
- Atlas Theatre:
Tap Into the Energy!
(May 31-June 1)
Special guest: 3jazz trio
Press release!
Link to Atlas Tickets
Photo by Enoch Chan
- Wolf Trap Theatre-in-the-Woods (June 24-28)
Link to Wolf Trap tickets
- Kennedy Center, Millennium Stage (June 26)
Free
- Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre (July 2 & 3)
Link to Discovery Theatre tickets
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IN MEMORIAM: Jimmy Slyde
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  Tap Master Jimmy Slyde: October 2, 1927 - May 16, 2008
We are deeply saddened to tell you about the passing of yet another tap legend, Jimmy "Slyde" Godbolt. His death, so closely following the passing of LaVaughn Robinson in January, leaves a great void in our community. As the elders pass on, we encourage all tap dancers to watch the old movies, to read about the master dancers and their lives, to check out the excellent documentaries about these awesome artists, to use every opportunity to learn from a master artist that you are ever offered, and to dance on in their memory!
Mr. Slyde and Mr. Robinson were among the few remaining old masters of our art; they will be missed, but their memory lives on in all we do, and in all we dance, forever. To learn more about both dancers, please visit Tap Legacy Foundation, Inc.
* Watch Jimmy Slyde work his beautiful charm in this video clip from 1998 (more video clips available here, as well).
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GETTING TO KNOW OUR FACULTY: Meet Cindy Spishak
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 Cindy Spishak began dancing at age 3 in Northern Virginia at Cuppett's Performing Arts Center. She spent 14 years dancing, performing, and competing tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop and Cecchetti. At age 14, she began teaching and coaching fellow students. After graduating from high school, Cindy attended the College of William and Mary where she performed with, taught, and managed the dance company Pointe Blank. During the summers, she trained and performed with various modern and jazz companies in DC and taught ballet, tap, and jazz in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Ms. Cindy has a Business Degree in Operations and Information Technology with minors in Art and Art History and currently works as an IT Program Manager. Ms. Cindy joined Knock on Wood as a student in 2007 and gladly accepted a teaching position at the studio in January of 2008.
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| CLICK 'N CLACK, the TAP-IT SISTERS - Trivia Corner |
 This tap virtuoso, born in Chicago, Illinois on February 7, 1922, inspired a new blend of jazz and classical music, placing an innovative focus on melody rather than rhythm alone. He believed that "Dancing is the poetry of the body as music is the poetry of the soul." He learned tap on street corners and in pool halls, and soon became a popular dancer in clubs. At 17, this young man left for Detroit, married, and moved to New York City - where he got his big break after the opening act called in sick. His fast, free-form improvising was well-suited to the bebop that was being created by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie; he expressed with his feet what they played on their horns. He danced to jazz standards like Dizzy Gillespie's "Night in Tunisia," as well as to Bach's "Prelude and Fugue in C Minor." He was inducted into the Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2007.
QUESTION: What tap legend danced his signature interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" with disarming ease and shimmering speed?
LAST MONTH'S QUESTION: Who was this legendary tapper whose legs were insured for one million
dollars? Fred Astaire. To learn more about Fred Astaire, check out "The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire," a wonderful new book by Roxane Orgill, for ages 6-10. The illustrations are terrific, and capture the Astaire magic!
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 Knock On Wood and Tappers With Attitude appreciate the work of
Dance/MetroDC in its efforts to unite and support the DC area's dance
community. Dance/MetroDC is the only comprehensive source for dance
performances, events, master classes, workshops, jobs, auditions and
more in the DC metro area. Check their website for more information or to subscribe to their newsletter.
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Knock On Wood Tap Studio8700 Georgia Ave., Suite B
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-495-0395
Our programs are sponsored in part by funding from the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County,
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Dallas Morse Coors Foundation, and the Washington Post.
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