Her favorite dance experience was going to Vancouver with the ensemble for almost two weeks filled with tap. Traveling and creating new tap experiences alongside her friends in the ensemble was amazing! Carmen would like to thank Tasha Lawson for creating Tri-Tone, which has influenced her life in numerous ways, including her dancing and the person she is today. She would also like to thank her fellow ensemble members for constantly inspiring her in each and every rehearsal and for keeping her spirit lifted.
“You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity, because you don’t know how long it will be here.”
His main focus turned to tap once introduced to Mackenzie Greenwell, who gave Connor his first insights into rhythm tap. With his newfound inspiration, Connor took classes from and jammed with Mackenzie until he left town.
His favorite aspect of tap is the beautiful spontaneity and unpredictability of improvisation which his strong drumming background, jams with Mackenzie and hours spent on a board in his garage have all had a huge influence over.
After a year of tapping on his own, Connor returned to King Edgar Dance Studio where he was welcomed as a teacher, choreographer and assistant for several tap classes and was shortly after introduced to the amazing Tasha Lawson. Under her tutelage, Connor continues to learn and feel inspired every day, getting a feel for what the world of tap is as she has introduced him to world class artists and provided many opportunities to learn from them.
Connor’s favorite dance experience was training on Gabriola Island, not only because was he training and tapping with friends who are straight up fun to be around, but also because they performed in a show, watched several of today’s greatest tap artists perform, and got to enjoy the ocean, beautiful scenery and culture of the island while they were at it. Planning to continue learning and teaching tap as he grows old, Connor hopes to inspire many others to do the same.
“Dance is an ultimate form of communication and expression, and there’s nothing not to love about that.”
As a child, Evan loved to move to music, and he credits his mother with recognizing that dance classes would be a perfect fit. Since then, Evan has performed works by Brian Foley, Cyndi Scott, Sarah Dolan, Lukas McFarlane. Tasha Lawson, Dianne Walker, Derick Grant, Travis Knights, Terry Brock, Brenda Bufalino, Michelle Dorrance, Danny Nielsen, Lisa TaTouche and Ryan Casey.
One of Evan’s favorite dance experiences was his very first Grandstand Show where he performed for 20,000 people and was featured in a number of special roles. Evan gives thanks to his mom and dad for supporting him throughout his years of dance, driving to rehearsals, flying him across the country, paying for his dance education and being extremely supportive in all of his endeavours. He would also like to thank Lukas McFarlane (winner of Britain’s Got to Dance 2013) for being a mentor in his formative years of dance.
“Dancing is one of the most entertaining, and liberating, forms of exercise that one can pursue and it can bring a lot of joy into your life.”
She graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and is currently taking hip hop classes at DJD. Kelly would like to thank Danny Nielsen for taking her tap dancing to the next level in terms of musicality and improvisation and for continuing to inspire her, and Tasha Lawson for her ongoing support and mentorship and for the incredible opportunity to grow as an artist, performer, and teacher as part of the Tri-Tone Rhythm Ensemble.
Luke’s most memorable dance experience so far was studying with Dianne Walker, Brenda Bufalino, and Terry Brock on Gabriola Island, BC. School and Dancing keep Luke pretty busy, but when he gets the chance, he likes to watch a movie or draw. Luke would like to thank all of his teachers and especially Tasha Lawson, for giving him the opportunity to be in the ensemble, and for supporting him in his dancing. He also sends a big thank you to his family for supporting his dreams.
“Follow the dream, share the dream, encourage the dream.”