TCYEMacysDayParadeRelease

For Immediate Release

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TAP CITY YOUTH ENSEMBLE HAS BEEN INVITED TO TAKE PART IN THE ANNUAL MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE®, NOVEMBER 25TH

Those snappy youngsters of Tap City Youth Ensemble -36 talented and dedicated dancers between the ages of 12 and 21 - will dance their way through the 84th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, performing a Gumboot dance created for them by renowned South African dancer/choreographer Molutsi Mogami. American Tap Dance Foundation took advantage of Mogami's presence in New York in 2007 when he appeared in Drumstruck at New World Stages, and engaged him to stage this traditional African dance for Tap City Youth Ensemble (TCYE).

TCYE will be singing, stomping, and performing their most spectacular gumboot moves throughout the parade route, finishing with a condensed one-minute version of the suite in Herald Square to be shown on NBC-TV as part of the parade festivities on Thursday, November 25th.

Gumboot dance is a popular and traditional form in South Africa, a tribute to the country's cultural dance history springing from the days of migrant labor in the gold mines. Mogami named his work "Izzici," a Zulu word meaning "the sound the feet make as they stomp on the ground," and the full five-minute suite also features several African folk songs along with the traditional gumboot dance. Through their work with Mogami, the ensemble has been exposed to and educated in a different culture and world history, as well as a different style of rhythmic dance. "Izzici" contributes to the diversity of the company repertory, while at the same time giving to the dancers the gift of an experience that they never fail to find exhilerating and exciting.

The young ensemble performs regularly in a variety of New York area venues, including Symphony Space, City Center, the Duke Theater on 42nd Street, public schools, and community centers. Founded by, and under the auspices of, American Tap Dance Foundation, the ensemble was created to give aspiring young dancers the chance to learn and perform classic and contemporary choreography and to study with master artists from around the globe. Indeed, the dancers, who hail from NYC, Long Island, Upstate NY, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, rehearse weekly with Ensemble Director and choreographer Susan Hebach, and work frequently with guest teachers and choreographers including Brenda Bufalino, Barbara Duffy, Harold Cromer, Michelle Dorrance, Jared Grimes, Tony Waag, Margaret Morrison, and others.