DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THE 2022 CIRCLE CITY TAP FESTIVAL HAS BEEN CANCELLED
2022 Faculty
Click on a faculty member's name to learn more about them!
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Jeremy Arnold is currently on the faculty of Temple University where he teaches various courses rooted in American vernacular dance. He earned his MFA in Dance and Social Justice from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2020. He is an alumnus of the tap program at The School at Jacob’s Pillow under the direction of Michelle Dorrance. Jeremy was a principal dancer with Tapestry Dance Company from 2014 through 2017, performing in the United States and abroad and was featured in the PBS docuseries Arts In Context. Before joining Tapestry, Jeremy toured nationally with Shelley Oliver Tap Dancers. From 2015 through 2020, Jeremy was a lecturer on the faculty of University of Texas at Austin dance department, teaching courses in rhythm tap, jazz, composition, and music theory. He served as artistic director for several mainstage productions. Since 2013, Jeremy has worked with Charles O Anderson’s Dance Theatre X, performing in and choreographing works which premiered at American Dance Festival, MANCC at Florida State University, The Fuzebox Festival, and The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. In 2020, he was associate director of and performed in the dance film (Re)current Unrest, described by Sightlines Magazine as a “masterpiece.” Jeremy has served on the faculty of many tap festivals including Soul 2 Soul, True Sound Rhythm Festival, Riff, Phoenix Tap Fest, Little Rock Tap Fest, and SynCoPate. His work was recently commissioned by Pace University for their 2022 Dance Out Loud spring concert. Jeremy has taught classes as a guest artist for Wayne State University, University of Alabama, Pace University, and McLennan college. He tours nationally with Revive Dance Convention and National Dance Honors. Jeremy can be seen dancing alongside Karissa Royster in Mood Indigo, a short dance film produced by Amplified Productions in 2021. 
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Jenefer is a native of Michigan and is a tap dancer, teacher, choreographer, director, writer, and producer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in the Performing Arts from Oakland University and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Phoenix. Jenefer recently performed with the MusicaNova Orchestra and was commissioned to interpret and perform Morton Gould’s Tap Dance Concerto at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Ms. Miller was also featured in a short film by Screenvision Media’s Corner Stories which aired in movie theatres across the United States. She has appeared on stage with Tap 24.7, Mike Wittmer’s Scuff'd Up, Especially Tap Chicago, the Detroit Tap Festival honoring the legendary Nicholas Brothers, Dance Chicago, Sesame Street Live, and Oakland Dance Theatre. Mentored by Dianne Walker and the late Robert Reed, Jen has performed in shows with legends such as the Nicholas Brothers, Ben Vereen, Debbie Allen, Savion Glover, Chloe Arnold, Sarah Reich, Jason Samuels Smith, Dianne Walker, Jimmy Slyde, Barbara Duffy, Robert Reed, Prince Spencer, Harold "Stumpy" Cromer, and Heather Cornell. Faculty credits include American College Dance Festival 2020, Arizona State University adjunct faculty, Motor City Tap Fest, Phoenix Tap Fest, St. Louis Tap Festival, Las Vegas Tap Festival, Tapapalooza, Portland Tap Fest, Circle City Tap Fest, Wing It Tap Challenge, Oakland University, Nexus Dance Conventions, Tap Into the Network, and more! JMill is the producer of the Phoenix Tap Fest and Just West of Broadway, and owns JMill Productions LLC, producing arts education events all across the nation. Her choreography has been featured at Cornell University for the American College Dance Festival, featured in Tap 24.7 original shows, and has also been aired on ABC, AZTV7,and 3TV. Jenefer is a resident choreographer for the professional tap company Circle City Tap Co in Indiana. Jen studied dance, voice, acting and technical theatre at Oakland University and delved into improv at the Improv Olympic , or IO, in Chicago. She was a backup singer for Bob McGrath in Sesame Street Live and also appeared on stage with Sam Wright and Ben Vereen. Jen has choreographed and directed shows including Hairspray, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Seussical the Musical, and more. She founded and was director for the Kyrene Community Theatre, was the director of Thunder Theatre Company, and is the resident director for the Studio 111 Theater Company. She teaches dance across the country and is on staff locally at Dancers Domain in Scottsdale and Tempe Dance Academy, in Tempe, AZ. JMill was a finalist for the Ahwatukee Chamber’s Educational Mentor of the Year, nominated for Phoenix Best Teachers, and has won numerous inspirational awards including one from former Governor John Engler of Michigan. She was the proud recipient of the 2015 Oakland University MaTilDa Award for Alumni Lifetime Achievement in Dance. Jenefer has enjoyed watching many former dance students including Ryan and Evan Kasprzak, Nick Young, and many more on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance as well as NBC's World of Dance. 
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Jeffrey Bird, Jr. currently works as a tap dancer, teacher, choreographer, actor, and historian in and around Indianapolis, Indiana! He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre and History from Butler University and a Masters Degree in US History from IUPUI. Jeffrey began dancing at 8 years old and trained with Gregg Russell, Ryan Lohoff, Mark Goodman, Cory Finn, and Julie Sizemore. Since graduating from high school, Jeffrey has had the opportunity to train closely with Jenefer Miller, Suzy Guarino-Hall, and Cindy Hsu, and has benefited from classes with Sarah Reich, Ryan Johnson, Barbara Duffy, Ray Heselink, and many others. Jeffrey joined the Circle City Tap Company in 2015 and now serves as the Artistic Director and Pre-Professional Company Director. He has performed in various shows with the company and has directed several of the company's shows, including the highly praised "Dear Diary" in 2019. Jeffrey is also a member of Tap24.7 out of Phoenix, Arizona and has toured the country performing as a main character in both "TAPspeak" and "Murder at the TAP'ocho." Faculty credits include: Circle City Tap Festival, Tapapalooza Phoenix, Tapapalooza Seattle, and Tapapalooza Detroit! Jeffrey believes that a full and rich tap education must include more than just technique, but also music theory and tap history. Much of his training and passion for these two aspects of tap he credits to his mentor Jenefer Miller. In July of 2022, Jeffrey will be relocating to Boston, Massachusetts! 
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Denise Caston was a Radio City Rockette for 10 years and toured nationally with the Tony Award winning musical, Crazy For You. Denise has also worked with and performed the choreography of Savion Glover. She performed on tour in Australia, dancing all over the continent in Elvis to the Max. Her choreography has been seen in many productions in which she performed, including shows spanning five years at Caesars Windsor in Ontario, Canada. Credits also include film, television, commercials, and industrials. Favorite recent choreography credits include Oakland University's production of Urinetown and Beatles On Tap, a show she conceived, created and choreographed that is a high energy tap show to the iconic music of The Beatles. Denise was on the tap faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. Other selected teaching credits include The Big Apple Tap Festival, Dance Masters of Michigan Convention, Phoenix Tap Fest, Gregg Russell's Tap Into the Network, Tradition In Tap, Circle City Tap Festival, St. Louis Tap Festival, and The Rockette Experience© at Radio City Music Hall. She currently owns Tap Dance Detroit + Performing Arts Center and is on the faculty of Oakland University's School of Music, Theatre and Dance. In 2011, Denise was invited to speak at the TEDx Detroit Conference about her contributions to the cultural landscape in Detroit, including founding and producing Motor City Tap Fest and founding the Detroit Tap Repertory. In 2014, she was awarded a prestigious MaTilDa Award from her alma mater, Oakland University, for Alumni Achievement in Dance. 
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Kandee Thacker-Mann hails from Flint, MI where she began studying tap dance under Alfred Bruce Bradley as one of the Original Flintstone Hoofers (now Tapology Youth Ensemble) An Engineer, Kandee knows first hand how math concepts are strengthened by a strong understanding of music. She is an advocate for tap dance in the Ohio area, and organizes tap workshops which have featured legends from around the world. She continues to spread her love of tap dance through teaching, choreography, and collaboration. She continues to spread her love of tap dance through teaching, choreography, and collaboration. She currently instructs at Wright State University, Dayton Dance Conservatory, and is the co-founder of the Ohio Elite Tap Company. Kandee's passion for the enrichment and success of youth propelled her to direct and produce the Dayton Tap Project, where she educated several under-served children. Kandee has performed in Tap Extravaganza on Broadway, and as a featured performer for The Signature: A Poetic Medley Show which has featured Lupe Fiasco, the Roots Black Thought, and hip hop artist Common. 
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KAREN CALLAWAY WILLIAMS is known for being both the first African-American female tap dancer and dance captain in RIVERDANCE - THE SHOW and the only African-American female tap dancer and dance captain in RIVERDANCE - ON BROADWAY. Other Broadway credits include the Tony Award nominated Duke Ellington musical PLAY ON. She is featured on the cover of Flow Magazine and in the documentary BEEN RICH ALL MY LIFE the story of the Silver Belle, a group of Chorus Girls from the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's. She is currently a Second Generation Silver Belle and the Artistic Director of this group. Karen has toured extensively performing in 35 States and 13 countries having returned from a two and a half month run of HINTON BATTLE'S AMERICAN VARIETY BANG in Osaka, Japan. She has also traveled to Zurich Switzerland for the forth time as instructor for the Zurich Tap Festival, The United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain) with the Duke Ellington Big Band, Armenia and Romania with TAP CITY ON TOUR through the Unites States Embassy, the ALL THAT TAP TAIPEI festival in Taiwan, on Canadian soil with TAP GIANTS and Tap TEL AVIV and in Beijing, China, Canada and North America with the RIVERDANCE Flying Squad and RIVERDANCE, Boyne Company. Karen is mentioned several times in the Tap History book TAP DANCING AMERICA by Constance Valis Hill, was featured in a Black History edition of ESSENCE Magazine, which highlighted four female African-American tap artists and on the recording of Music From The Sacred Concerts Edward Kennedy Ellington as performed by the Princeton University Concert Jazz Ensemble as the Tap Dancer in David Danced Before the Lord a role not commonly performed by a female dancer. She reprised this role in April 2015. She was also interviewed on BOJANGLES THE LEGACY for SHOWTIME as well as in a special guest spot on "SESAME STREET". A graduate of Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia, she is also an alumna of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (AAADC) in New York. In 2013, Karen was a Flo-Bert Honoree and received the Florence Mills Award and was awarded in July 2015 with the prestigious Hoofers Award from the American Tap Dance Foundation. DANCE MAGAZINE heralded her as "a graceful dream with taps as happy as a song" and the New York Times called her “a gifted traditionalist with laughing eyes”. Karen is a Featured Artist and was the first Dance Captain and charter member of the NEW JERSEY TAP ENSEMBLE, having recently celebrated 20 years with the company, performing in their high energy shows A STOP ON THE A-TRAIN, THE NEXT STEP, RHYTHM IS OUR BUSINESS, BY GEORGE IT’S GERSHWIN and PASS IT ON. She is also the NJTAP2 Coordinator. Karen has been featured as a tap solo artist with the Baltimore and New Jersey Symphony Orchestras on several occasions performing several movements from the iconic“MORTON GOULD'S TAP DANCE CONCERTO ”. She was also a featured soloist for the Detroit and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras for their YULETIDE CELEBRATIONS, as well as the BSO HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR and in ALL THAT JAZZ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In addition she was a soloist and special guest choreographer for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra as well as a special guest solo artist in AN INVITATION TO THE DANCE with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Three memorable performances were held at THE HOLE IN THE WALL GANG CAMP for Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, the COTTON CLUB in Harlem with Debbie Sledge of Sister Sledge and her sisters and at the APOLLO THEATRE with the original Silver Belles for President Bill Clinton. Karen danced with the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington and later as a soloist for Paul Ellington nationally and internationally. She was also in Lincoln Center's Reel to Real Series, including YANKEE DOODLE BOYS, THE BROTHERHOOD OF TAP and STORY T'ELLINGTON, all choreographed by Mercedes Ellington. In addition to performing, Ms. Williams has established herself as a prominent tap instructor teaching statewide on a weekly basis for more than 30 years. Her teaching history includes Spelman College, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Poly-Ethnic Preparatory Country Day School, the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center Dance Academy, Art Stone's Dance Olympus, the New York City Dance Alliance, national and international tap festivals, dance camps, master classes and enrichment programs. She also gives lecturer/demonstrations and educational assembly programs in elementary, middle and high schools for the Paper Mill Playhouse on " Legends of Tap Dance" . Karen is the Producer of Rhythms for Ruby (the show) and the author of Gabriella’s Tap Shoes 
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Mel began competing at age 5 and received extensive training in ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary. From the age of 10, she attended SLIDE in New York City to receive pre-professional training from artists Mike Minery, Anthony Morigerato, Ayodele Casel, Jason Janas, and more. Starting at age 16, Mel began dancing with Indianapolis’s Circle City Tap Company and received multiple scholarships to attend tap festivals like Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Rhythm World, Detroit’s Motor City Tap Fest, and Dancerpalooza’s American Tap Festival. Around this time, Mel trained heavily under artists Nico Rubio and Anthony Morigerato - two of her greatest influences in the dance today. At age 17, Mel joined The American Tap Company to train professionally in Boston and compete in the IDO World Tap Championships in Riesa, Germany. At this age, she also competed in the American Tap Championships in San Diego, CA winning the title of senior gold medalist. At age 18, Mel began attending Purdue University to receive a Bachelor’s degree in General Management. She began constructing the competitive tap program at Studio b in Lafayette, IN and teaching tap classes to a variety of ages and levels. She also served as the president of Footnotes, Purdue’s Tap Dance Club, in which she instructed and coordinated performances for the organization. At age 19, Mel performed in multiple shows around the country with the Circle City Tap Company and Nico Rubio’s 333. She also partnered with Ivy Anderson, current M.A.D.D. Rhythms company member, to create M.I.Taps, a customizable tap workshop experience for competitive dance studios. In addition to M.I.Taps events, Mel began instructing at many studio intensives and choreographed multiple award-winning routines. Mel currently resides in West Lafayette, IN and will be graduating from Purdue University in May 2022. Her post graduation plans are to move to Indianapolis and pursue a career as a Talent Acquisition Coordinator while continuing to train, choreograph, and share her love of tap dance with all students. 
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Michigan native, Shelby Kaufman, has worked in New York City as a choreographer, teacher, and performer for 15 years. In that time, Shelby has taught at some of the most prestigious dance studios in the world, including Broadway Dance Center, Peridance, and the American Tap Dance Foundation, and is currently on faculty at Steps on Broadway and ShufflesNYC. She also travels the world to teach at workshops, conventions, and tap festivals, and has posted over 100 TAP-torials on her YouTube channel (with over 1.5 million views). Off Broadway, Shelby assisted Gail Crutchfield on the choreography of 'Freckleface the Musical’ and acted as the SDC observer to multiple Emmy Award winner Mandy Moore on 'Nobody Loves You' at Second Stage. She also frequently assisted and was mentored by the late tap legend Dr. Harold ‘Stumpy’ Cromer. Additionally, Shelby's own choreography has been featured at many prestigious venues, on film, and on Television. Shelby has made television appearances on Sesame Street and The Steve Harvey Show, and dances (her own choreography) in the feature film, A Bread Factory Part 2. Tap companies include Brenda Bufalino’s ‘New American Tap Dance Orchestra, and Germaine Salsberg’s ‘Les Femmes’. Notable stage venues include the Apollo Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Jacob's Pillow. 
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Ashley is an Indianapolis native, well-rounded dancer, and trained musician. She is currently a professional dancer and video productions director with Circle City Tap Company and has been active in the dance community as an educator and choreographer for over ten years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Kent State University and a Masters in Education from Western Governors University. Her technical development in tap can be attributed primarily to Linda Rees and Sarah Savelli, but many Chicago-based artists have also influenced her understanding and appreciation of the art form. As a young dancer, an inspiring, week-long residency with Savion Glover, Ivory Wheeler, Maurice Chestnut, and Marshall Davis Jr. helped Lain find a connection to tap history and a passion to seriously pursue tap. Since then, her dancing has taken her to the Lincoln Center, the London Olympics, and performance venues across the midwest. She was a 2013 tap scholar with Chicago’s Rhythm World Tap Festival and a 2014 participant in Nicholas Young’s Institute for the Rhythmic Arts. More recently, Lain has appeared on stage in Motor City Soles during the 2019 Motor City Tap Festival and in full-scale productions with Circle City Tap Company for the past four years. Ashley loves to perform, but is an educator at heart. She is happiest when sharing her love of tap dance with future generations. 
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22-year-old AZ native, Brendan Kellam, has been trained in jazz, ballet, modern, hip hop, and ballroom; but his heart lies with tap. Brendan is a professional tap dancer who has traveled all over the U.S. to study with many masters, including Jason Samuels Smith, Nico Rubio, Aleksandr Ostanin, Jason Janas, Lady Di'Walker, Sarah Reich and the late Professor Robert L. Reed. Brendan has been on faculty for Wing It tap intensive, Phoenix Tap Fest, and Motor City Tap Fest. He has also been seen performing with the Phoenix-based tap company, Tap 24.7 since 2012. At age 14, Brendan began his journey as a choreographer, and his work has been selected to perform in the Big Apple Tap Festival in New York City, and the Motor City Tap Festival in Detroit. He currently choreographs for multiple studios across the country, and his work can be seen at many competitions, awarded numerous high accolades. Most recently, Brendan graduated from the University of Arizona with a BFA in dance. Currently, Brendan is the artistic director of Tucson based tap company, DXX TAP. 
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