Tap Dance | Legacy in Rhythm Guest Speaker
July 31
Producer, choreographer, performer, and teacher, Roxane Butterfly is a direct heir of The Original Hoofers with whom she learned all about the tap dance craft. Given the name ‘Butterfly’ by bebop tap legend, Jimmy Slyde, Roxane’s worldwide career has spanned 35 years and has featured work with renowned bands and orchestras throughout international music venues, and amongst some of the most established tap companies in the country including Lynn Dally’s Jazz Tap Ensemble (Los Angeles) and Tamangoh’s Urban Tap (New York).
Roxane has been a featured performer in major productions such as Kenneth Feld’s MADhattan (Las Vegas), toured her all women-troup BeauteeZ’n The Beat across the United States, and was a pioneer on the world-music scene with the Roxane Butterfly’s Worldbeats Ensemble, blending the jazz tap aesthetics with North-African music and flamenco. Thanks to the generous support of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, New York Foundation For the Arts, Meet The Composer Fund, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Funds, Roxane Butterfly’s Worldbeats Ensemble has performed around the world throughout France, Germany, Spain, Canada, and in New York City at venues including the Public Theater, Central Park’s Summerstage, Lincoln Center, and Symphony Space, among others.
After teaching for over two decades at prestigious universities and performing arts schools, Roxane founded the Jimmy Slyde Institute in Barcelona, Spain and continues to teach in the professional training division of the Juste Debout School, at the Conservatoire Frédéric Chopin, in addition to the Pôle Supérieur de Boulogne Billancourt. Currently, Roxane continues to develop work with her internationally-touring project, Company SmARTS, which features her daughter who has down syndrome. And since 2018, Roxane has taught at the Paris Summer Tap Intensive.
Roxane was the first woman in tap history to receive a Bessie Award and thus, she has opened the door for future generations of women present in the tap industry. Moreover, Roxane was the first immigrant dancer to be granted permanent residency in the United States as a tap dancer.
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