Tapestry 2010 pays tribute to
Heather Cornell

Friday, May 21 – Jazz Club at the Regent Underground
Doors open: 7:30 - $12 (advance) $15 at the door
Call 781-863-5360 for tix.

Saturday, May 22 – Gala Concert
Regent Theatre – www.regenttheatre.com for tix
Tix: $30 priority seats (includes facility fee)
$25 reserved seats (includes facility fee)
$20 students/seniors/groups of 6 or more (includes facility fee)

More details and workshop info will be posted soon.

Biographies & Class Descriptions

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.

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.

CLASS DESCRIPTION - I like to teach a high energy and informative class. Starting with warm-ups, exercises, and across the floor work to give well-rounded class balanced in technique, build of stamina, musicality, and creative thought. Finishing with a combination putting these tools into effect.

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.