Chicago Human Rhythm Project presents Winter Tap Jamboree January 24-26 at the American Rhythm Center

CHICAGO, IL – The  Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) welcomes students and performers to its annual Winter Tap JAMboree January 24-26, featuring master classes, Tap Scholarship Auditions, a panel discussion and a Tap JAM at the American Rhythm Center, Chicago’s collaborative arts space in the historic Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago.

Winter Tap JAMboree faculty and class schedule

Among those teaching classes are Ayodele Casel and  Sarah Savelli, who will appear that same weekend in Savion Glover’s STePz at the Harris Theater. Also on the faculty are some of Chicago’s finest, including CHRP Founder/Director  Lane Alexander, Starinah Dixon, Bril Barrett, Nico Rubio and more. Classes for teens and adults take place Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Faculty members will participate in a panel discussion on a topic to be determined Sunday, January 26 from 12 noon to 1 p.m.

Tap Scholarship Auditions

CHRP is offering up to $10,000 in tuition awards to dancers between the ages of 12 and 18 who compete in its annual Tap Scholarship Auditions Saturday, January 25 at 7 p.m. at the American Rhythm Center. These scholarships make it possible for deserving young tap dancers to attend CHRP’s annual Rhythm World, the preeminent festival of American tap, taking place July 7-August 3, 2014, with a faculty of more than 25 master teachers/performers from around the globe. Participants must register for at least one Tap JAMboree class

Master classes are $20 per class plus a $15 registration fee. Tap Scholarship Audition registration is $15. To register, visit chicagotap.org. The Tap JAM, which takes place Sunday, January 26, 4-5 p.m. at the American Rhythm Center, is open to the public for a suggested donation of $5 at the door.

Funding

CHRP is supported by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Target, The Boeing Company, The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, The Arlen and Elaine Cohen Rubin Charitable Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, The Jeanette & Jerome Cohen Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development, Live Marketing, The James S. Kemper Foundation, Dr. Scholl Foundation, Arts Midwest, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg Family Foundation, L&L Hardwood Flooring, So Danca, People’s Gas, The Service Club of Chicago, The Walmart Foundation and generous individual donors.

Chicago Human Rhythm Project

Founded in 1990,  Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) builds community by presenting American tap dance and contemporary percussive arts in world-class and innovative performance, education and community outreach programs. During the last 22 years, CHRP has produced multiple community-based collaborations involving shared revenue programs, concerts and touring opportunities, including:

• annual National Tap Dance Day concerts, featuring an array of tap and percussive dance artists
• a shared revenue program designed to assist Chicago’s budding tap community to build capacity through audience development, created in 2001
• Thanks 4 Giving, another innovative shared revenue program launched in 2005 as part of its annual Global Rhythms concerts at the Harris Theater, through which CHRP has partnered with more than 100 Chicago-based nonprofits to raise funds for a wide variety of service agencies
• participation in the 5th Anniversary Beijing International Dance Festival, assembling 70 artists to represent the United States
• establishment of the American Rhythm Center (ARC), providing a shared, affordable and sustainable education, rehearsal and administrative facility for several leading Chicago arts organizations in the historic Fine Arts Building
• curating the first ever, full-length performance of concert tap dance on a main stage of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 7, 2012

CHRP’s vision is to establish the first global center for American tap and percussive arts, creating a complete ecosystem of education, performance, creation and community in a state-of-the-art facility uniting generations of diverse artists and the public.