20 APRIL 17-23, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Tapping to Ten ROCKY MOUNTAIN RHYTHM CELEBRATES A DECADE WITH TAPS ON TAP, AN ANNIVERSARY SHOW. BY TONI TRESCA In 2014, performer and choreographer Claire Sheek started a Facebook group for local tap dancers. The following year, she expanded on the idea. “She had wanted to start a tap company, so she got fi ve of us together; we all talked about it and that’s how Rocky Mountain Rhythm started,” recalls Elijah Meader, a founding member of RMR who’s now the now artistic director. “It was very hard to fi nd adult tap classes at the time in Denver or around the area. A passion of Claire’s and ours as well is that we wanted to make tap dance more accessible for adults and more advanced tap dancers.” This month, RMR celebrates a decade of dance with Taps on Tap, a milestone per- formance on April18-19 that marks its tenth anniversary. The show at the People’s Building in Aurora will feature a mix of nostalgic crowd favorites, like the group’s very fi rst routine set to “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” and fresh cho- reography created specifi cally for this event. “I hesitate to say it will be our largest performance, but we have the most tickets available we’ve ever had,” says Kaitlyn Mc- Morran, RRM’s executive director, dancer and choreographer. “It’s a larger venue than we’ve ever done for more nights. We’re also showing videos. One of the things that Claire did a lot in the beginning was dance fi lms, so we’ve got fi lms we’re going to play. Also, a fun thing that we do in this show is we invite audience members onto the stage with us for our fi nale to do the shim sham with us.” For McMorran and Meader, the per- formance is more than a showcase — it’s a refl ection of a decade-long effort to rees- tablish tap dance as a living, evolving art form in Colorado. Not too long ago, tap was relatively easy to fi nd in Colorado. “There used to be a really big tap scene here back in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” Meader says. “Dancers would come out from New York and teach festivals. I went to a few as a kid, and then that just kind of went away.” McMorran points to shifting trends in the dance world. “I grew up a competitive dancer, and I think as other styles got more popular, it took excitement away from tap,” she says. “As a teacher in a dance studio myself, when I started ten years ago, my advanced tap class was three people, whereas now it’s eighteen, so it defi nitely ebbs and fl ows.” RMR was founded by Sheek in response to this decline. Inspired by mentor Barbara Duffy and a commitment to tap’s Black and grassroots origins, Sheek wanted to revive the art form in Colorado while honoring its history. That passion attracted a small group of like-minded dancers, including Meader, who joined after taking Sheek’s class. What started as an informal online re- source grew into a formal performance com- pany in 2015. When the group was fi rst getting started, RMR’s performances were modest — small venues, casual events and lots of hustle. “In the early days, we were mostly perform- ing in little coffee shops,” Meader says. “We would also busk downtown on the streets. We started the Clock Tower performances in 2016 and our fi rst big performance was Pride 2017. That was a real turning point for us because before that, it was in more intimate venues.” When McMorran joined in 2018, the group was still focused primarily on perfor- mance, but over time, she and Meader helped expand its mission to include education and outreach. “There was this gap,” McMorran says. “People who loved tap but weren’t in studios anymore didn’t have anywhere to go. We wanted to change that.” Sheek left the company in 2019 to dance professionally in Texas, passing the leader- ship to McMorran and Meader. Together, they’ve expanded RMR’s footprint from a scrappy performance crew to a full-fl edged nonprofi t with community outreach, public classes and a clear educational mission. The group offers weekly donation-based classes out of Motion Dance Center in Little- ton, where it found a generous partner in the studio owner, who doesn’t charge the group for the space. These classes serve a wide range of adult dancers — from those returning after years away to seasoned hoof- ers — thanks to RMR’s rotating teaching staff and two-tiered class levels. “People really show up for both levels, and rotating teachers is also great; it keeps us from burning out, and it offers opportunities for other company members to teach other adults, which I’m really passionate about,” McMorran says. “The classes are a great opportunity for us to learn alongside the community. It all centers around community, which is really what we want it to feel like. We want tap to feel open, comfortable and fun.” That community is wide-ranging. Some dancers come back after years off, while others are looking to deepen their technique. “It’s also interesting, because as a tap dancer, when you take a few years off, you know everything in your head, but it takes a while to get back down to your feet,” Meader says. Becoming a nonprofi t in September 2024 has helped RMR lean further into its out- reach goals. Last spring, the group brought live tap performances into local elementary schools; it’s now planning more education programs for the coming year. The group has also started building an online resource hub with video tutorials. “We’ve got a little tutorial on that if you want to teach yourself how to do the shim sham,” McMorran says. “So then, when you do come to our shows, you can come on stage and do it with us. As well as a resource of where you can take tap classes around Colorado. It’s not about us; it’s about building a community of tap in Colorado.” This year’s Taps on Tap show is a decla- ration of RMR’s commitment to the future of tap in Colorado. With sixteen company members, three new original works debuting and the largest venue RMR has ever booked, it’s a bold step forward. For the fi rst time, the show will feature only RMR performers — no guest artists — which McMorran sees as a sign of the company’s growth. As RMR moves into its second decade, the goals are clear: expand its outreach programs, offer more school performances, collaborate with national artists and even take its holiday show on tour. McMorran and Meader also plan to launch an online hub with tap dance resources, further building the community that began with a Facebook post. “It’s crazy to think about doing this for another ten years,” McMorran says with a laugh. “But we’re just getting started. We’re going to keep pushing through, chugging along and growing the tap community here in Colorado.” Taps on Tap, 7 p.m. Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19, the People’s Building, 9995 East Colfax Avenue, Aurora. Tickets are $28-34; learn more at rmrdance.org. CULTURE KEEP UP ON DENVER ARTS AND CULTURE AT WESTWORD.COM/ARTS Rocky Mountain Rhythm’s dance ensemble. COURTESY OF ANDREWS ARTISTRY
