Tapestry 2010 Biographies

HEATHER CORNELL is artistic director and choreographer for the acclaimed Manhattan Tap, one of the busiest music/dance companies in the 90's. Her recent endeavors have been in creating music ensembles where she functions as the percussionist. She has a number of projects that she is touring internationally at present, most notably "Finding Synesthesia" a collaboration with pianist Andy Milne, vocalist Malika Zarra and cellist Rufus Cappadocia, which premiered at the London Jazz Festival 2007 at London's prestigious Southbank Center. Other notable venues: The Banff Festival, Harbourfront, Toronto and the Salzburg Jazz Festival in 2008. Called "the Oscar Peterson of hoofing" (Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada), she began her career as an apprentice to six of the first generation of American tap masters, and had the honor of performing frequently with Buster Brown, Eddie Brown, Harriet Browne, Cookie Cook, Steve Condos and Chuck Green. Ms. Cornell is known for her innovative collaborations on original music for tap.

She is a pioneer in concert tap, traveling worldwide with her company and as a soloist since the late 80's, and has created full-length works with the late jazz icon Ray Brown, film composer Bob Telson (Gospel at Colonus), Chango Spasiuk, and the world music blend of Keith Terry and Crosspulse. She choreographed the British comedy, "The Play What I Wrote" for Broadway and was choreographic consultant and tap coach on "Three Penny Opera", a production by Atalaya theatre company in Seville, Spain. TV credits include a national KQED special with JTE and Honi Coles; Gregory Hines' Tap Dance in America for Great Performances on PBS; and a 30-minute special for the Canadian Television jazz series Sounds Impressive.

She is responsible for training much of today's generation of tap artists and for 20 years she has held the "Manhattan Tap NYC Intensive Workshop", a 58-hour intensive that she co-teaches with world and jazz musicians.

She is Artistic Director of Heather Cornell and CanTap, a new performing ensemble that brings together some of Canada's finest tap dancers to inspire, create and tour the globe. Ms. Cornell's greatest collaborators are her daughter Soni (August 2000) and son Eoghan (December 2002).

ANDY MILNE - Toronto native Andy Milne draws inspiration from various forms of music, politics, philosophy, comedy, and science fiction. Some of his musical influences include Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Herbie Nichols, Bela Bartok, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder. A recipient of the New Works commission and the French-America Jazz Exchange grants from Chamber Music America in 2006, and voted "Rising Star Keyboardist" by Down Beat Magazine in 2004, Milne is one of the most important and respected voices in jazz today. His highly recognizable group Dapp Theory blends funk, hip-hop and jazz with seamless precision. Their current release, Layers of Chance [ObliqSound/Contrology - 2008], features fresh compositions by Milne that blend various instrumental textures, infectious grooves, layered with lush harmonies and poignant lyrics.

Milne collaborated with tap dancer/choreographer Heather Cornell to create Finding Synesthesia, which premiered at the London Jazz Festival in November 2007. Together they combine a wide and unexpected range of sounds and influences, to integrally weave the texture and sound of tap into the instrumental ensemble. In addition to his multiple projects, Milne tours and records with trumpeter Ralph Alessi, teaches at The School for Improvisational Music, and is an adjunct professor at New York University, The New School University and The Banff Centre.

DANA LEONG - Cellist/Trombonist/Composer Dana Leong fuses hip-hop, jazz and electronics to create a signature boundless sound. Often referred to as a "hi-def Yo-Yo Ma," Dana's pioneering fusion of electronic music and ethereal jazz sensualities has garnered critical acclaim and wowed audiences worldwide. Whether as a performer, composer, collaborator, or recording producer, he has worked with top artists including Dafnis Prieto, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Wynton Marsalis, Yoko Ono, and Kanye West, to name a few.

Dana’s genre-bending quartet, MILK & JADE by Dana Leong, has received worldwide acclaim performing sold out shows at jazz festivals in Sweden, Italy, Germany, Finland, Slovenia, Serbia, Austria, Ireland, Mexico, Macau, and China. In 2008, the band served as an American musical ambassador overseas as part of The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program, produced in conjunction with Jazz at Lincoln Center and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Described as crafting "lines of sublime lyric content" (Chicago Tribune), and "sizzling, highly stylized solos" (Philadelphia Inquirer), Dana was recently commissioned by Apollo Theater to create an evening-length music and video show entitled Life After Dark, which premiered to a sold out house, followed by performances at Joe’s Pub and The Greene Space at WNYC in New York.

MALIKA ZARRA - Moroccan world singer/composer/producer, MALIKA ZARRA is a multi-cultural shape-shifter, an enchantress who leaps effortlessly between seemingly unconnected languages and traditions, uniting them while utilizing each to further enrich the others. The exotically beautiful artist with the velvety, sinuous mezzo-soprano voice has demonstrated a rare ability to communicate both powerful and subtle ideas and feelings in French, English and Moroccan Arabic and is now a much-in-demand headliner at nightclubs and festivals the world over.

Malika's debut solo album "On the Ebony Road" (2006), reveals a firm grasp of a richly diverse bouquet of references, fusing Orient and Occident, East and West, into a lively, sensual, fresh, and deeply poem of inclusion. Working with some of the finest international jazz players now active, she is in her element as bandleader and collaborator, at once creating a new vocabulary and intuitively going with the flow. She is well aware that in the USA, there is still another set of realities, every bit as complex as those she experienced in France, and that it's not always easy to get past fear and prejudice. However, she remains upbeat and confident of her ability to reach out with her voice and heart. We all need to get just a little bit interested in other cultures.

PETER TILLOTSON, (bass) Blessed with an empathic ear and cursed with an insatiable musical thirst, bassist Peter Tillotson’s journey has taken him everywhere from garage bands to Lincoln Center and from Be-bop to Bluegrass.

As a first-call bassist in the New England area, Peter has performed with members of the Boston Symphony, Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis, tap dance phenom Jason Samuels Smith, and entertainers Don Rickles, Steve Allen, Scott Bakula, Shirley Jones, Marvin Hamlisch and Maureen McGovern.

Peter tours nationally as a founding member of the acclaimed Jazz Arts Trio and can be heard on “Tribute”, the trio’s debut JRI Recording. Peter is also featured in Hal Leonard’s newly published “Classic Jazz Piano Trios”.

JOE MULHOLLAND - Joe Mulholland is a masterful pianist and composer. He teaches at The Berklee College of Music and performs with countless players and ensembles. His trio is often featured at The Top of the Hub in Boston.

Joe Mulholland does not limit himself to a song list. He is able to play countless songs from all styles of music. He is available for solos, duos, trios and up. He plays jazz, classical, pop and Irish ballads.

JOHN RAMSEY - I began in 1962 as a self-taught rock drummer. I played for 10 years professionally before I began to study formally with Alan Dawson at the ripe old age of 22. I've played with everything from rock bands, trios, and big bands to symphony orchestras. Many of our students can relate to this experience of being self-taught and having gaps in their ability. I hope by my example they can see how one can maximize their opportunities to survive in the music business by studying and working hard. I draw on my experience of having played in every kind of conceivable performing situation from hotels and nightclubs to international jazz festivals and concerts. I spent two years with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, initially as the second drummer in the Jazz Messengers Big Band and then as Blakey's road manager, touring the world. John teaches at the Berklee College of Music.

DANNY NIELSEN - A native of Calgary, Danny Nielsen began his tap dance career as a founding member of MADD Rhythms Canada, studying under Lisa La Touche, Bril Barrett and Martin ‘Tre’ Dumas III. In his hometown, he prepared short choreographies for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ productions Tinge and Tone and assisted the tap luminary Heather Cornell in creating a tap piece for the DJD 25th Anniversary show 25. For television, Danny performed the opening number for the 2008 Jerry Lewis Telethon in Las Vegas choreographed by Chloe Arnold and the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies choreographed by Brock Jellison. An international performer, he has reached audiences in Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Germany, and Chicago to name a few. He recently returned from a 3 month excursion in New York City, where he studied, performed, taught, and re-highlighted his passion for tap dance.

DAYNA SZYNDROWSKI began building her love of tap dance from a young age in Canada and developed it in New York City’s tap community later in life. Dayna spent many sessions NYC studying extensively with tap greats. Memorable performances include appearances in the 2003 and 2004 NYC Tap Festivals, the 2006 and 2008 West Coast Tap Dance Collective’s Tap Day celebrations, the 2006 Edmonton Fringe Festival’s Toe Jamm, and in the 2007 – 2009 Vancouver International Tap Festival performances. A highlight of this past festival, the 10th anniversary, was an improvisational evening with great Canadian artists at the Cellar Jazz Club.

Recently, Dayna was a featured tap artist in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies with an inspiring group of 25 fellow Canadian tap dancers.

Closest to her heart is the work she has done in one-on-one sessions assisting Heather Cornell in restoring hours of lost material by tap legend Eddie Brown. Dayna is grateful to have the chance to pay tribute to her teacher on Tap Day in Boston.

MATT SHEILDS - From the Brantford Expositor to the New York Times; Matt Shields seems to be popping up everywhere. Shields has taught and performed at the Soul to Sole tap festival in Austin, Texas, the Vancouver International Tap Dance Festival in Canada, and Hoofin' Ground Tap Festival in North Carolina. Matt also accompanied the stage with Dr. Aurthor Duncan of the Laurence Welk show at both The Vancouver International Tap Dance Festival 2009 and at the LA Tap Fest Concert 2009.

Matt was seen live across the nation and around the world as a featured soloist and ensemble dancer in the opening number of the 2008 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

Matt is currently working on an O-1 artist visa based in Austin, TX where he is a Sixth season principal dancer with Tapestry Dance Company. Shields works along side International tap dance artist, and the artistic director of Tapestry Dance Company Acia Gray. Tapestry Dance Company has currently been on a National Endowment for the Arts sponsored tour across America with the critically acclaimed show "The Souls of Our Feet" A Tribute to American Tap Dance.

TDC was seen performing in New York City at Symphony Space on Broadway for Tap City presents; Tap and Song, and Tap Forward in July 2008. TDC recreated a scene from the film "This is the Army"; paying tribute to Legendary Tap Act "Stump and Stumpy" where Shields captures the role of James "Stump" Cross.

Matt was a feature in Dance Spirit Magazines 20/20 article.

Prior to Texas Matt performed and trained in Calgary, AB with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks as a cast member of "Live and In Sync" (touring educational show) and also danced with tap company MADD Rhythms Canada as a guest artist.

Mr. Shields is a regular on stage in Austin, not only with TDC, also at various popular night clubs, music venues, and social events around town with many of the cities finest musicians. You may even see him street performing on your favorite Austin block.

TASHA LAWSON is Artistic Director of Tri-Tone Productions, a dance company offering interdisciplinary solo and ensemble performance works in the mediums of Body Percussion, Tap, and Contemporary Dance. Lawson's body percussion technique, transcribing tap vocabulary into body rhythms, is taught at Tri-Tone's annual Body Rhythms intensive. Tri-Tone has performed at Third Coast Rhythm Project in San Antonio, Rhythm at the Regent, in Boston and the Vancouver Tap Festival. Lawson has served as Artist-in-Residence at Capilano University and Third Coast Rhythm Project among others. She has delivered teacher training seminars for Danse Encore and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and recently led Body Rhythm workshops to cast members of Cirque du Soleil, Las Vegas.

Lawson performed for six years as a principal dancer with Tapestry Dance Company and served as the Artistic Director of youth company, "Visions in Rhythm". In July 2010, Ms. Lawson will be on faculty for the first Tap residency at Jacobs Pillow. She currently resides in Austin, Texas and continues to perform and teach at international festivals in Brazil, Canada and the United States.

RYAN P. CASEY - A 2009 young ARTS scholarship recipient in tap dance, Ryan P. Casey is now an undergraduate student at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Inspired by Savion Glover's appearances on Sesame Street, he began studying tap and jazz at the age of five at The Dance Inn in Lexington, Massachusetts, and soon expanded his interests to ballet, hip hop, lyrical, and Jump Rhythm. He spent seven seasons with the Legacy Dance Company, under the direction of Thelma Goldberg, and served as Dance Captain of the New England Tap Ensemble, directed by Riverdance alumnus Aaron Tolson. He has danced in ensemble pieces and self-choreographed solos throughout New England as well as Baltimore, Miami, and New York, and was featured on an episode of the sixth season of "So You Think You Can Dance." He is currently engaged in fusing tap dance with original spoken word poetry, and his performance piece "When Push Comes to Shove" was selected to premiere at the 2010 Gallatin Arts Festival in April. He will be on faculty at the "Tap into a Cure" festival in Edmonton, Canada this August.

JAMIE LAROWITZ SHERMAN, tap dancer - A veteran of the New York City tap scene, Jamie studied with many of the first generation tap masters and performed with the Peggy Spina Tap Company before joining Boston’s tap community. Since then she has worked as a soloist, ensemble dancer and choreographer (Ellington Sacred Music Concerts, NYC Tap Festival, Beth Soll & Company), and produced standing-room-only café shows featuring local performing artists. Through Accent On Rhythm Productions, Jamie offers technique classes, improvisation, music and repertoire workshops, tap jams, and a jazz & tap lecture/film series.

THELMA LARKIN GOLDBERG has been Executive Director of Dance Inn Productions (DIP) since it acquired non-profit status in 1997. Under her leadership, DIP has produced an annual Tap Day celebration, honoring Dianne Walker, Buster Brown, Brenda Bufalino, Jimmy “Sir Slyde” Mitchell, LaVaughn Robinson, Sue Ronson, Dean Diggins, Sarah Petronio, Jimmy Slyde, Paul Arslanian and Rosemarie Boyden. She has co-produced numerous shows, among them Tap Ole, Barbara Duffy and Company, and Josh Hilberman’s “Heeling Powers of the Left Brain” with artistic director Josh Hilberman. In addition to tap-related programming, she also presents a Youth Ballroom Program, regular Jump Rhythm Jazz Workshops, and Jimmy Locust workshops. Founder and Director of The Dance Inn, one of New England’s premiere dance studios, Thelma directs the programming for 600 weekly students and teaches numerous weekly classes. She is the tap coach for the Legacy Dance Company and is on the staff of the NYC Tap Festival. Her goal to bring dance into the community has resulted in a busy local performing schedule which ranges from the Making Strides against Breast Cancer event to the Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies and more. She is proud to be a member of Boston’s diverse and dynamic tap community.