Break the Floor Stroming, Gil performer Concert 2001-04-24 Henry Street Settlement April 24-26, 2001 August 10-26, 2001 With Gil Stroming, Lauren Binkowski, Mandi Bryan, Tatiana Cardenas, Katie Carroll, Chris Erk, Greg Farkas, Ricci Milan, Orialis Serrano, Mike Schulster Directed and choreographed by Gil Stroming. Assistant Choreographer Mike Schulster. (The Gene Pool, Mike Fredo, Chris Erk, Ricci Milan, Wike Warshaw. With special Guest: Colin Dunne) Began as a desire to create a blockbuster tap show using diverse talent from around the world. "Combining live rock music with stunningly precise rhythms and technique, Stroming achieves an impressively innovative mix of tap and contemporary culture that connects tap to a new generation." On a barren stage, 10 vivacious girls get the program underway with an ensemble tap sequence that is polished as it is endearing. Ponytails swinging and shoulders shaking, the child tappers...fill the space with infectious energy. A makeshift DJ spins a funky pop beat and when the song ends, the stage goes black and a booming voice declares, "Isn't tap exciting?...It is now." Enter the big kids, twenty-something guys and girls with enough adrenaline to quake the stage with force off their feet...pounding through their steps with sexy abandon. Centerstage: a lone tapper on an under-lit platform in silhouette...Raw and exposed, the stage offers no manufactured distraction to compete with the captivating precision choreography. A live band infuses its electric reverberations offering yet another vehicle for rhythmic interplay, ..Fog machines and shifting colored spotlights enhance the rock concert aura...Gil Stroming and his clan announce their mission: "We want to dance to rock and roll. We want to be the first tap music video on MTV." (Lawrence Van Gelder, "A Fusion of rock and Tap With the Requisite Energy" New York Times August 25, 2001; Sarah Carlson, "Tap 'o the World" www.offoffoff.com, August 26, 2001.) Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Schlesinger, Carl and Renee: The Carl and Renee Schlesinger collection of tap dance programs and fliers 1995-2006. Personal collection of postcards, fliers, programs (). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.1630