Saturday, November 1
7:30 pm
Columbia Theatre

Ticket prices: $20 - $38, with discounts for students and seniors

“Sixteen months after its premiere, The Souls of Our Feet continues not only to astonish but to reveal itself as both a testament to the vitality of tap as an American dance form and the catalyst that has propelled Tapestry Dance Company to new levels of skill and artistry. Getting to experience in one sitting the contributions – make that inventions – of dancers from vaudeville legends Ford Lee "Buck" Washington, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the Nicholas Brothers to Hollywood hoofers Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, and Gene Kelly and on to contemporary practitioners Sarah Petronio, Dianne Walker, and our own Acia Gray is to get a sense of rhythm tap's rich tradition and deep place in the culture, as well as its range of expression.” -- Robert Faires, The Austin Chronicle

Tap, like Jazz, is an indigenous American art form. It is also an amalgamation of many different cultures and rhythms, from African juba to Irish step dancing. Tap has evolved over the past 150 years to the form it is today. Souls of Our Feet: A Celebration of American Tap Dance is both historical and contemporary, providing a fascinating glimpse into Tap’s illustrious history. The performance features excerpts of film classics that pay homage to some of Tap’s Legends, such as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Charles "Honi" Coles, The Nicholas Brothers, The Copasetics, Leon Collins, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.

Added to this mix are re-creations of classic rhythm-tap routines from the Vaudeville Stage & Silver Screen performed 'live' by master tap dancers of today. Arthur Duncan, known as "The King of Taps" during his 18-year reign on "The Lawrence Welk Show," will perform with Acia Gray and members of the Tapestry Dance Company. This multi-media production is a sentimental journey down memory lane that celebrates Tap's illustrious history, while reminding us that every exquisite kick, step, shuffle, buck and wing and rat-a-tat tap is a time-honed tradition that is reinvented and assimilated by each generation.

Austin-based Tapestry Dance Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Acia Gay, has reached the stratosphere with its production of Souls of Our Feet: A Celebration of American Tap Dance. The Company was awarded a two-year grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) American Masterpieces in Dance to tour Souls of Our Feet to contemporary audiences across the country. Tapestry also received a “Best Dance Company” award by The Austin Chronicle.

Tapestry Dance Company is also providing a free Tap Dance workshop on Saturday, November 1 at 10 am for 30 participants who are immediate level and above. To register, contact Bethany Pithan at 360.423.1011 x13 or bethany@columbiatheatre.com.