Welcome to the wonderful world of Tap!
This class offering is for 6 weeks, Tuesdays from 11 am-12 pm, starting February 17th. This open level class is for those who wish to discover tap dance and those who wish to continue exploring.
Classes will be led by Starr Hergenrather, Mindy Copeland and Gabe Copeland. A limited supply of tap shoes is available for use at the class. Please contact us ahead of time to ensure we have the right size for you.
Participation fee is $120 for the session (six classes), $90 for OCA members.
Tap Dance provides an avenue for developing coordination, balance, musicality, rhythm, and general love for movement. We will learn the basics (if a beginner) and beyond, through warm-ups, discover the language of tap dance, learn the Shim Sham, and routines that will launch you onto your own exploration of the dance form.
Tap is an extremely fun and rewarding form of dance. Tap Dance originated in the 19th century through a fusion of African and Irish dance styles, becoming a unique American art form in the melting pot of New York City. It developed through percussive footwork, initially on plantations and in urban cellars, and later gained widespread popularity through minstrel shows, vaudeville, and Hollywood musicals. Innovators like Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly to name just a few, who shaped its evolution, which continues today with new fusions in contemporary dance. May 26, Bojangle’s birthday, is National Tap Dance Day.
Starr Hergenrather has been teaching Theatre and Dance for over 54 years, dancing for 70 years, which is amazing since she is only 45 years old! She received her Theatre Arts and Teaching Credentials in 1971 from Denver, CO. Starr has taught theatre/creative dramatics/improvisation/dance to all ages and directed and produced theatre for many, many years. She and her family moved to Sebastopol in 1983. In 1987, she received her Dance credential and degree from SSU. Starr loves the theatre and dance and everything about them. She has performed on stage and in film throughout her teaching career. Before joining the staff at Analy in 2001 where she became the Theatre Arts Program Director and taught one dance class starting in 2010, when the high school lost its Dance instructor due to No Child Left Behind, she taught at Brookhaven School from 1990-2001 teaching a myriad of subjects, including Theatre and Dance, and Rincon Valley Junior High School from 1987-1997, as BJ Van Noy’s choreographer and asst. director of her Music Program. Starr’s tap mentor was a Vaudeville and later Broadway song and Dance man by the name of Jack Williams. Starr studied with Jack for almost 20 years., until his waning years.
Tap, which is a magical form of dance, btw, is Starr’s first dance love, next to swing, salsa, and partner dancing, and then just plain social, wild hippie dancing at concerts.
Starr also teaches Private Tap Lessons for any level dancer. Starr has a studio at her home.
Gabe Copeland (pictured with Mindy on flier above)
Gabe has been a dance educator for over 20 years. He has performed nationally and internationally as a featured member of the Los Angeles based touring company Rhapsody in Taps. Other credits include ABC’s Gong Show, China’s Dream television show, soloist in KIN Dance Company’s Down Around Brown Town and soloist on an international tour with Caution: Men At Work Tap! He has also performed in many Southern California Civic Light Opera productions such as Cole, Crazy For You, and Rodgers & Hart: A Celebration. Most recently, Gabe performed in the critically acclaimed Jazz Tap Jam! Show for the Lively Arts Foundation honoring Gregory Hines and had the privilege of performing a piece originally choreographed by the tap legend himself.
Mindy Copeland
As a dance educator since 1995, Mindy has also enjoyed a career in performance. As a member of the Los Angeles based touring company, Rhapsody in Taps, Mindy performed the choreography of Linda Sohl-Ellison, Gregory Hines, Fred Strickler, Sam Weber, Brenda Bufalino and Foster Johnson. She was a featured soloist in the international tour of Caution: Men At Work Tap! Mindy appeared in the short film, Tap Heat with choreography by Danny Daniels, and appeared in and choreographed for national and international television shows including the Jerry Lewis Telethon, China’s Dream Show, Spain’s Extremo Urbano, and ABC’s Gong Show. Other stage credits include, appearing with the legendary Chester Whitmore in A Tribute to Jeni Le Gon, and KIN Dance Company’s James Brown tribute show, Down Around Brown Town. Most recently, Mindy directed and performed in the critically acclaimed 2023 Jazz Tap Jam! Show for the Lively Arts Foundation.
The Copelands have shared the stage with tap legends Dianne Walker, Arthur Duncan, Fayard Nicholas and Bob Carroll and performed Begin the Beguine together in Swing Into Spring. They direct Tap Overload which has a collection of original tap dance film shorts on its YouTube channel and produced an original tap dance comedy show-Office Beat. The show received rave reviews and the official Hollywood Fringe Festival Award, Best of Physical theatre and Dance as well as the Robby Award for Best Choreography of LA Theatre in 2016.