The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble to perform at Cherry Street Pier, April 11

The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble is proud to announce its first public performance in over a year, which will occur at Cherry Street Pier on Sunday, April 11 at 5 pm in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month. The free, 60-minute concert will include company favorites and 3 premieres performed by the ensemble’s First Company and Apprentice dancers.

 

“Given the shared history between jazz music and tap dance, we were so excited to be a part of last year’s Jazz Appreciation Month,” recalls Artistic Director Kat Echevarria Richter. For the Philadelphia-based all-women ensemble, this included a series of performances presented in partnership with the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and the Free Library, all of which were canceled due to the pandemic. “But we’re tap dancers!” Richter says, “We’re used to making do with very little, and to think on our feet. One silver lining of the past year has been the chance to get tap out of the studio, out of the theatre, and back into easily accessible public spaces throughout Philadelphia.”

 

Since the pandemic, the ensemble has been rehearing both virtually and outdoors in socially distant rehearsals hosted by Bartram’s Garden and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. Through its #HoofersAtHome film series, launched to critical acclaim in March 2020, and the inaugural streaming of THE TAPCRACKER AT HOME in December, the ensemble’s roster of tap dancers from PA, NJ, and DE have been hard at work bringing tap to new audiences, both regionally and around the globe.

 

“We’ve been holding improv jams along the Delaware River and costume fittings along the Schuylkill,” explains the ensemble’s Managing Director, Katie Budris. “It’s a totally new way of working for us—essentially building a rehearsal studio out in the open—but we are so thankful for the support we have received from the DRWC in helping us to keep our dancers safe and our art alive.”

 

Next Sunday’s performance is free and open to the public. Per the City of Philadelphia and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all visitors to the Waterfront are required to wear masks and practice physical distancing (maintaining at least 6 feet of space between other people).

 

The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble produces original choreography works while preserving the tradition of improvisation in American rhythm tap, bringing innovative percussive dance to diverse audiences. Founded in 2011, the Philadelphia-based, all-women ensemble is led by Kat Richter, Founder and Artistic Director, and Katie Budris, Managing Director. Through choreographic commissions, a bi-annual concert series including THE TAPCRACKER and ON TAP, free community performances, and arts education programming. The ensemble centers the work of women artists and contributes to the revitalization of Philadelphia’s rich tap history by challenging the public’s perception of percussive dance. Support for The Lady Hoofers was provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. 

 

The Lady Hoofers Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month
Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 5:00pm
Run time: 60 minutes
Free and open to the public