Hoosier Tap Co. performs first production

Ten members of the Hoosier Tap Company stood on stage, lined up with their backs to the audience, for nearly a minute. Audience members cheered each member’s name, eager for them to begin.

The music began abruptly, and the members turned around, tap dancing in an organized, sequenced fashion.

The Hoosier Tap Company presented “Tap into Art,” their showcase performance, at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Willkie Auditorium.

The collaboration included a wide variety of performers in addition to the Hoosier Tap Company.

Other campus groups such as a capella group Ladies First, InMotion Dance Company, Hooshir A Cappella, the Indiana Hoosierettes dance team and students from IU’s Contemporary Dance Program also performed.

Hoosier Tap Company is a student-directed dance company that gives IU students the opportunity to share their passion for tap dancing, according to its Facebook page.

IU junior Laura Miller and senior Hannah Morton founded the company.

“Our vision for ‘Tap into Art’ was to provide a showcase for the many different art forms and artists represented at IU,” Morton said. “It is a part of our mission to bring awareness to tap dancing as an art, but we also wanted to give other performance groups the same opportunity to share their passions and incredible talents.”

The company was launched in the fall. This weekend’s performance was the first showcase to which Hoosier Tap Company played host.

Many of the musical acts that took part in the event came from the many connections the Hoosier Tap Company built when it contacted and invited the performers in the fall.

The auditorium was nearly full of audience members who clapped along and chanted with every performance.

“We were thrilled with the excitement and support from our audience, and HTC was so grateful that so many people came to see the show,” Miller said. “It is always more fun, as performers, to know that your audience appreciates all of your hard work, passion and time spent preparing for the event.”

IU junior and pianist Nat Zegree collaborated with the other acts and received a positive audience response for his own solo performance of “Beyond the Sea.”

“The most important thing is to have fun and simply share your music to anyone that will listen, and that’s exactly what I did, and I thought it went very well,” Zegree said.

Zegree expressed his interest in the success of Hoosier Tap Company.

“The talent that this University fosters is unbelievable,” he said. “This tap company is a stellar idea, and I will continue to applaud and support their efforts in any way I can.”

Miller and Morton said company members enjoy collaborating at other dance events, and they hope this helps promote the Hoosier Tap Company at IU.

“We hope to make ‘Tap into Art’ an annual show,” Miller said. “Student dancers, musicians and vocalists deserve a place to showcase their work, and HTC was honored to be able to do that with this event.”