Bringing you invigorating events to fuel your passion and love for dance.
THE 36TH ANNUAL JAZZ ON TAP FESTIVAL
March 10-12, 2023
Buford Community Center
2200 Buford Hwy
Buford, GA 30518
Jazz On Tap is a weekend dance festival for dancers ages 8+, packed full of master classes from captivating instructors and performances from dance studios, pre-professional companies, and professional companies. The festival began in the hopes of bringing the fire and excitement of live dance to the public and over the years dancers have traveled to Georgia from 20+ states to add their spark to the flame.
Scroll down to learn more and to register.
JAZZ ON TAP 2023 INSTRUCTORS
J. Koby Parker
Musical Theatre
Favorite Atlanta credits: Freddie Mercury in Somebody to Love, Frankie/Young Soldier in Parade (Buicentennial Productions and WBTC), George in Wedding Singer, Cosmo in Singin’ in the Rain, Malcolm in The Full Monty (Atlanta Lyric), and A Christmas Carol 2016/2017 (Alliance Theatre). Favorite Choreo/Directing credits: Little Shop at the Carrolton Center for Performing Arts as well as Beauty and the Beast and Joseph...Dreamcoat at Pace Academy. He also teaches Jazz/Tap at Orbit Arts Academy and Tap at the Carrollton Center for Performing Arts. Along with being a performer and arts educator, Koby is also a Realtor at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metrobrokers and would love for you to reach out on Facebook and Instagram! @therealsingingrealtor @jkobyparker
DARVENSKY LOUIS
Contemporary Hip Hop
Darvensky Louis, a professional dancer, choreographer, photographer and videographer, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Darvensky holds a B.A. in Dance from Kennesaw State University, where he was awarded the Outstanding Senior of his class. He is also signed to Xcel Talent Agency.
His professional dance career includes dancing for/on The BET hiphop awards, HBO Max, Showtime, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, staibdance, Annalee Traylor and Omar Román De Jesús from New York City, Dr. Ivan Pulinkala, Lisa K. Lock, and more. Darvensky teaches around Atlanta and is also a freelance videographer and photographer. He currently serves as Director of SequenceOne, a college alumni dance company, and with this leadership hopes to inspire future undergraduate creatives by bringing concert dance internationally through the collaboration of college alumni. He was also Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" for 2022.
BRE STERLING
Hip Hop
Bre Sterling, a creative director, choreographer, and dancer was born and raised in Washington, DC. She is an alum of Kennesaw State University, with a major in Dance (Modern Concentration). Bre’s formal training started at Black Experience Dance Troupe (B.E.D.T), where she studied west african, modern (Graham and Horton technique), liturgical, tap and ballet. As she grew older, she trained with Footsteps Dance Academy learning jazz and lyrical. She then moved to Georgia and trained with The Royal Dance Academy under Sarah Haslock-Johnson and Jay Johnson, where she studied multiple dance disciplines including Hip Hop, modern (Horton and Graham technique) and the international ballet curriculum of the Royal Academy of Dance. Bre has also had the opportunity to perform in works by Madia Cooper-Ashirifi, Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Jolie Long, James Graham, Sean Nguyen-Hilton, and Omar Román De Jesús. Bre started working summer programs, but her content creation blending hip-hop and contemporary, put her in high demand. Her choreography has earned a ton of awards and recognition, including outstanding choreographer awards and double platinum awards. With Bre having the opportunity to teach at different dance studios in Metro-Atlanta, she is more than honored to share her knowledge with those around the world.
JAY FAGAN
Tap
Jay hails from Chicago and is amongst the most sought after Tap Masters in the industry today. After completing two years with OKCU in its artist in residency program, Mr. Fagan is once again touring with festivals, workshops, and conventions. His polished performances have been seen by the President of the United States, at the Kupio Dance Festival in Finland, Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, Canadas Windsor Casino Showroom, and Las Vegas’ Flamingo, Luxor and Suncoast hotels. Jay has worked with DEA, DMA, CNADM, Dance Olympus, Starquest, The Kansas Tap Festival, Southeast Tap Explosion, Third Coast Rhythm Project and the Chicago Human Rhythm Project.
DAKOTA KUHARICH
Contemporary
Dakota Kuharich {BA, MFA} is a performer, instructor, and creator in the Tampa Bay Area. Originally from Litchfield, CT, Dakota attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts where she spent her four years of high school as a Musical Theater Major studying acting, voice, and all styles of dance. Dakota is a graduate from the University of Tampa (BA-Applied Dance) and Jacksonville University (MFA-Choreography, expected 2023) where she was able to explore her passion for movement through performance, Brain Compatible Dance Education, and choreographic practice. Dakota is currently the Assistant Dance Director at the Y Dance Academy in St. Petersburg, FL and teaches Brain Compatible Dance Education at Tampa Preparatory School (Tampa, FL) where she is the Head Dance Instructor. Previously, Dakota was a Dancer/Choreographer/ Board Member for contemporary company, Moving Current Dance Collective (Tampa, FL), and Captain of the Tampa Bay Tornadoes Dance Team (AAL). She has been honored to work with local dance companies, projectALCHEMY (St. Petersburg, FL), Poetica Dance (Tampa, FL), and professional practitioners/ choreographers Jon Lehrer, Bill Evans, Terry Goetz and Nita Little.WEBSITE: www.elitedancewerks.com
LIZ BOROM
Leaps & Turns
Liz Borom got her start at the age of 6 in South Carolina studying classical ballet with the Columbia City Ballet. She was a soloist for the Spartanburg Civic Ballet before receiving an honors scholarship to attend the SC Governors School for the Arts where she trained under
the direction of Edward Villella, Mel Tomlinson, and Sandra Neil. She continued her training in all genres of dance and studied in several notable studios and programs from SC to NYC. She went on to study dance performance and choreography in college. Since college, Liz
has been teaching, choreographing, and dancing all over the US for the past 25 years. Professionally, she has danced in commercials, film, television, and performed in several full-length stage productions with several professional companies throughout the US. Liz is
currently on faculty as an Adjunct Dance Professor at Western Carolina University in NC. She is also on faculty for several dance conventions and she travels nationwide teaching and choreographing. Liz’s choreography has won multiple awards regionally and nationally. She writes a blog for dancers and dance teachers on her website geared toward using innovative ways to build technique. Teaching is her passion and her classes are full of
strong technique and passionate choreography.
FOR DIRECTORS:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN JAZZ ON TAP 2023!
Jazz On Tap is an annual festival consisting of dance master classes and performances.
REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION TO PERFORM AT THE 36TH ANNUAL JAZZ ON TAP IS NOW OPEN!
THIS COMING YEAR:
-In 2023, the festivals will take place at the lovely Buford Community Center/Sylvia Beard Theatre.
-The cost to perform is $80 per piece.
-There is a maximum of 6 pieces per studio per show. No solos, duos, or trios.
-After you register the amount of dances you'd like to perform, fill out the Google Form below to tell us your #1 and #2 preferred show times.
-We have four performance opportunities for Jazz on Tap. Each show is expected to last a maximum of 1 hour and 30 minutes.
-Here are the times available for performances:
Friday, March 10th @ 7pm
Saturday, March 11th @ 4pm
Saturday, March 11th @ 7pm
Sunday, March 12th @ 4pm
-Master Classes will take place during the following times:
-Saturday, March 5th from 9:30am-3:00pm
-Sunday, March 6th from 9:00am-3:00pm
-Master Class tickets will be available on January 1st, 2023 and tickets are $25/class. Our Master Class schedule will be available soon.
-Tickets to our performances will be available on January 1st, 2022. The performance ticket price is $25.