A Letter from the Board of Directors of Tappers With Attitude, Inc. to the Friends of Knock On Wood Tap Studio
and Tappers With Attitude, Inc.
February 1, 2011
The Board of Directors of Tappers With Attitude, Inc. regretfully announces the closing of Knock On Wood Tap Studio, effective March 31, 2011, following the end of our winter session.
We are so appreciative of the outpouring of support and donations that you, our community, gave to our "last ditch effort" campaign last August, which allowed us to continue tapping through the Fall and Winter sessions.
However, as we explained in our open letter to you last month, our enrollment has been down and the funding we hoped to receive from the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council did not come through. This funding was to be used to leverage additional grant support, so it was an especially hard blow.In addition, our beloved studio manager, Courtenay Swinton, is relocating to California with her family in May. At this point, and in fairness to our staff and students, we simply cannot afford to keep the doors open beyond this current session.
With two months ahead of us, however, we are still open to, and actively seeking, a way to revive the studio so that tap dancing can continue in Silver Spring. If there is a budding studio director who wants to take on the challenge of building a business; a current studio that wants to expand; or a fairy godmother or father who has not come forward as of yet, now is the time. We would welcome the opportunity to turn our Showcase Finale at the end of March into a Showcase Fundraiser. That date is still to be determined.
Our lease runs through April, so if there is still no hope of renewal, we will use that month to close up shop.
With much sadness,
The Board of Directors, Tappers With Attitude, Inc.
Tim Daniel, President
Ruth Silverstein, Vice-President
Penny Passikoff, Secretary
Dana Bynum, Co-Treasurer
Dr. Kindra Ingram, Co-Treasurer
Kisha Logan
Yvonne Edwards (Co-founder of Tappers With Attitude Youth Ensemble and Knock On Wood Tap Studio)