The fantastic Tap Dance Festival UK 2017

I had an incredible experience at TDFUK 2017

Brittany Smith

I had an incredible experience at the TDFUK this year. I was welcomed into the UK Tap family from the moment I walked in the door and loved every minute of the experience. The teachers and mentor’s for all classes were outstanding and so inspiring to all dancers there. I made new friends from around the World and had the greatest time dancing with them.

The scholarship meant that I was able to travel to the UK from Sydney, Australia to meet the incredible faculty and dancers whom I remain in contact with. Since meeting one of my idol’s Chloe Arnold at the TDFUK 2017 I was able to connect with the most incredible and inspiring female Tap Dancer Peta Anderson from Australia and was consequently introduced to the Tap Fam of Australia. It certainly was the stepping stone to meet other tappers in my home country who share the same passion for Tap Dance that I have.

TDFUK is a nurturing, fun and friendly event which focuses on making friends and new tap family who continue to support and inspire you even after the TDFUK event has come to an end. The TDFUK faculty and participants all share a common love of Dance and everyone regardless of age, ability level or background are encouraged, included and inspired. The energy, positive vibes, supportive environment, faculty, dancers and fun had by all makes TDFUK different.

The advice I would give to future scholars is to follow your dreams and continue to always be passionate and committed to Dance. I would also say to seek out Dance opportunities and to absolutely make the most of any opportunity you are given.

Brittany Smith TDFUK 2017

So good, my company is sponsoring the event this year!

My company, MIME Solutions, is a silver sponsor for TDFUK 2018. So you could say the ultimate outcome for me was so good last year I approved my company to sponsor the event this year 🙂

I would like to see more streams this year to make sure that there is something for everyone (I know my beginner adult tapper would have been more at ease in an adult only class) – so fingers crossed for even more attendees, especially adults 🙂

The scholarship enabled my whole family to take part – we made new tap friends that I still network with – so you could say the festival helped me to broaden my tap network which supported the research I am conducting into tap dance teaching

My daughter LOVED it and it gave her a real boost seen in her progress this year

I am excited to be attending with more of my students, excited to be a sponsor and excited to get tapping and learning myself!!!

Trish Melton TDFUK 2017

Constantly surrounded by supportive and passionate people

I really enjoyed TDFUK earlier this year as not only I was able to volunteer to help with the festival but I was also able to participate in a range of classes to improve my technique and understanding in tap dance. From TDFUK I was offered a scholarship by Chloe Arnold to attend DC Tap Fest alongside some of my friends. This created a great opportunity for me to not only meet new faculty and make friends with people from around the world, I was able to learn different styles of tap coming from various countries. As well as this it boosted my confidence in a style of dance I had only been doing for five months and it pushed me to work harder to get to my goals within dancing.

TDFUK is different to other festivals I’ve attended as everyone is constantly surrounded by supportive and passionate people. I will be attending 2018 and I’m excited to join in with Maud’s Afro-funk class as it was so much fun at DC Tap Fest and also being able to participate in other styles of dance.

My next step is to hopefully be a part of TDFUK’s Future Faculty Lab Series Initiative as well as auditioning for dance institutions across the UK to further my training in various styles of dance.

My advice to future scholars is to get out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself! When I was given the opportunity to fly to America it showed that Chloe believed in me, so all that was left was for me to believe in myself. From doing that, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and my confidence grew immensely allowing me to become the dancer and performer I am today.

Kira McPherson TDFUK 2017

I had a fantastic time at the tap festival

I had a fantastic time at the tap festival. I really enjoyed intro to improv and 3&abreak workshop. It made me realise I have so much more to learn but my basics and technique are good so its just that I need a little more confidence in myself. At the end of February, I won the Stars of the Future UK National Final for Junior Tap (9-12) at age 9. I had lots of wins across loads of festivals but more importantly I gained confidence enough to choreo my own tap routine for festivals. I went on to gain a place at a performing arts secondary school for Sept 2018 entry and have recently moved dance schools. I am now working on grade 5 Tap and a new routine for championship festivals. I’ll be at this year’s festival for as many workshops as I can.

Liv Turner TDFUK 2017

Opened my mind to a whole new world of tap!

TDFUK 2017 opened my mind to a whole new world of tap! Earlier this year, I attended the festival with a group of my students from age 6 to 18, all of whom enjoyed and benefited from the experience (including the parents!).

I was extremely lucky to be offered a scholarship to the Dubrovnik Tap Festival in Croatia! What an amazing summer holiday I had! I am so grateful to TDFUK for the opportunities it gave me. To take classes with legends like Michelle Dorrance, Daniel Borak, and Jason Janas was absolutely incredible and showed me just how universal the language of tap is. Although tapping in a Croatian heatwave is very different to the temperatures in England!

What I loved most about TDFUK was the wealth of knowledge within the faculty. Not only did the classes teach choreography, but I particularly enjoyed the classes focussed on musicality, structure and improvisation. It was great for my students to also have classes in musical theatre/commercial too.

Last time I was only able to attend one day of the festival, but I have already registered for the full weekend in 2018! One of the highlights of last year was being able to tap with a live band at the tap jam – something which I can’t wait to do again!

Being a full-time dance teacher, it is sometimes difficult to stay inspired – but the experience I gained through TDFUK and DTF has enabled me to keep my lessons fresh and my students engaged. I cannot thank the faculty and organisers enough for everything that they do.

If you are attending the next festival – get stuck in! Get involved with as much as you can and enjoy yourself!

See you there!

Alice Maenami TDFUK 2017