ON FOOT

A cool Jazz Ensemble with five hot tap dancers
Saturday, May 20, 7:30pm, Port Theatre
Tickets: $38
Students and Seniors: $25

Directed and Choreographed by Danny Nielsen

Original Music Composed by Danny Nielsen and Noah Franche-Nolan

Arrangements by Dan Reynolds and Danny Nielsen

Dancers: Laura Donaldson, Elise McGrenera, Johnathan Morin, Danny Nielsen, Veronica Simpson

Musicians: Dan Reynolds (piano), Ken Lister (bass), Hans Verhoeven (drums)

Lighting Design by Jack Chipman

Improvisation by all Dancers and Musicians

Danny has been producing and presenting work since 2013 and also has toured globally as a soloist. Danny has two main mantra’s in his work. To use live musicians in his work and to make his work accessible to audiences. His full length first project Love.Be.Best.Free was created with the aid of the Santa Aloi Award for the Scotiabank Dance Centre and premiered at the DC in 2013. The show later toured on the Made in BC circuit in 2017 with the aid of Canada Council for the Arts. His most recent creation On Foot was molded in Calgary with the aid of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks Creative Residency program and premiered at DJD in October 2019. With the aid of Canada Council, the show also premiered in Vancouver as a part of Dance In Vancouver’s off programming.

Created in 2019, On Foot presents tap dance in a traditional concert setting yet pushes the boundaries of the art form. Traditionally in a concert setting, tap dance is done to jazz music with each dancer calling a jazz standard and improvising to it.. Wanting to expand past the confinements of working to jazz standards, Danny Nielsen and Noah Franche-Nolan collaborated to create original music and new takes on old standards. Featuring choreography by Danny Nielsen and NYC’s Lisa La Touche, five of Western Canada’s finest tap dancers introduce audiences to the beauty of tap dance visually while engaging their auditory senses through the rawness of cutting edge improvisation, captivating rhythms and memorable melodies. In this iteration of On Foot, Dan Reynolds brings his considerable musical direction expertise and piano chops to the evening where he will work with local musicians, Ken Lister (bass), Hans Verhoeven (drums), to weave the cool sounds of jazz with the heat of tap by Danny Nielsen, Laura Donaldson, Elise McGrenera, Johnathan Morin, and Veronica Simpson.

Featuring choreography by Danny Nielsen along with five of Canada’s finest tap dancers introduce audiences to the beauty of tap dance visually while engaging their auditory senses through the rawness of cutting edge improvisation, captivating rhythms and memorable melodies. Backed by a trio of some of Vancouver’s best musicians and lighting design/direction by one of Vancouver’s most brilliant dance minds Shay Kuebler, this high energy and fast paced show will leave audiences wanting more.

Photo credits: Dayna Szyndrowski

BIOGRAPHIES/CREDITS

Directed and Choreographed by Danny Nielsen

Original Music Composed by Danny Nielsen and Noah Franche-Nolan

Arrangements by Dan Reynolds and Danny Nielsen

Dancers: Laura Donaldson, Elise McGrenera, Johnathan Morin, Danny Nielsen, Veronica Simpson

Musicians: Dan Reynolds (piano), Ken Lister (bass), Hans Verhoeven (drums)

Lighting Design by Jack Chipman

Improvisation by all Dancers and Musicians

LAURA DONALDSON – Tap Dancer

Laura Donaldson is a tap dancer and choreographer from Calgary, Alberta. Laura continues to develop her artistic voice through practice, research, teaching, and performing in Canada and abroad. Laura has performed in works by Lisa La Touche (Tap Phonics), Danny Nielsen and Tasha Lawson (Tri-Tone Productions). Highlights include Fall For Dance North, Fluid Festival, The School at Jacob’s Pillow and Tap Dance Days at tanzhaus nrw. Most recently Laura has co-founded the tap dance collective Boys’ Club which premiered their first full length work in Europe and also performed in (in)sight dance’s commissioned Mirror/Water/Doorway at the Toronto International Tap Festival. Laura is also researching a new work which has been supported by Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and The GRAND. 

KEN LISTER – Bass

A professional jazz bassist and teacher for over 35 years, Ken Lister has played, recorded and toured with some of the top musicians in the jazz world, playing on two Juno Award-winning recordings; one with Hugh Fraser’s Quintet (Best Mainstream Jazz Album – 1997), and another with Phil Dwyer’s Orchestra (Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year – 2012).

Having started his career in the Vancouver music scene in the 1980s, Ken now lives on Vancouver Island, teaching and performing with many great local musicians. He maintains a connection with the Vancouver scene, which often finds him playing with visiting greats from New York City and elsewhere.

ELISE McGRENERA  – Tap Dancer 

Elise McGrenera is a tap dancer from Vancouver, Canada. She fell in love with tap dance at the age of four and has not looked back since. Elise is an alumna of the School at Jacob’s Pillow and has performed in works by Danny Nielsen and Jeffrey Dawson. Most recently, Elise co-founded the tap dance collective Boys’ Club which debuted their first full length work in Europe. Elise continues to grow her understanding of jazz music and tap dance and is grateful for any opportunity to share her love of the art form with others. 

JOHNATHAN MORIN – Tap Dancer

Johnathan Morin is an indigenous artist of cree descent  and a leading force in Canadian Tap dance today. Hailing from Treaty 6 Edmonton Alberta, the 31 year old professional tap dancer is making a name for himself across the country and around the world. He was recently nominated for a  Dora Mayor Moore Award  for his role in the ensemble of “Tap Legacy Concert” produced by Dance Immersion ; choreographed by Lisa La Touche and Travis Knights. He is also  the Co-Artistic Director and Producer of the tap dance company called “Rhythm & Sound”. Established in 2015, Rhythm & Sound has since been presented by Feats Festival of Dance in Edmonton in 2017 and also the Toronto International  Tap Dance Festival in 2017 as well.Other accolades include principle dancer in the tap dance production “Love.Be.Best.Free” Directed and choreographed by Danny Nielsen in which they went on tour for 3.5 weeks in B.C. This was the first tap dance tour in Western Canada in 35 years. He was on faculty for the 2014 Vancouver International Tap Festival as well as the 2017 Toronto International Tap Festival. Johnathan has performed at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival in 2013 and 2016 as a guest and most recently Johnathan was presented as a featured artist as part of the 2019 festival as well. He also has been brought out by Feats Festival to teach workshops in Edmonton in 2015 and 2017. In 2018 he danced with Toffan Rhythm Projects alongside the Toronto Jazz Orchestra as part of the 2018 Edwards Summer Music Series. Johnathan is currently living in Toronto where he teaches at various well respected studios in the GTA. 

DANNY NIELSEN – Tap Dancer, Choreographer

Danny Nielsen has emerged as one of the leaders of tap dance in Canada. Originally from Calgary, he began to further his knowledge of tap studying at various festivals throughout Canada and the U.S. around the age of 14. His prolific technical skill and musical sensibility launched him on to the international stage at the age of 23. Danny has taught and performed at many national and international tap festivals including Zurich Tap Fest, Tap Ahead in Germany, North Carolina Rhythm Tap Festival, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Taptastic Festival in Germany, and Portland Tap Fest.

Danny was an integral part of  Vancouver based dance company Radical System Art’s (Shay Kuebler) production Telemetry. The show was a hit and toured for over 3 years at notable venues such as the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Place Des Arts in Montreal, the White Bird Dance Series in Portland, the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, and the Schritmacher Festival in Germany.

In 2012, Danny was the recipient of the Santa Aloi Award from the Scotiabank Dance Centre. He used the grant to create and direct his first full-length production Love Be Best Free, which toured BC for a month in February of 2017. He also co created Night Cap with Joel Hanna which featured American tap icons Martin ‘Tre’ Dumas III and Jason Samuels Smith. He later created his second full length production entitled ‘On Foot’ which premiered in both Vancouver and Calgary in the fall of 2019.

Danny has just returned from NYC where he was cast as a lead in Derick K. Grant’s newest production “What Is This Thing Called Love?” with additional choreography from Dormeshia. 

DAN REYNOLDS – Musical Director 

Dan Reynolds was born and raised in Vancouver. He spent four years in Montreal playing music and studying at McGill University where he got his B.Mus in Jazz Performance. He was awarded the Oscar Peterson Grant for Jazz Performance from the Hnatyshyn Foundation. With the McGill Jazz Orchestra he got to perform with Joe Lovano and Ben Monder. He has performed with some of Canada’s finest jazz musicians. He has performed in the Vancouver Jazz Festival as well as the Montreal Jazz Festival. He has toured across Canada with Calgary based singer Ellen Doty. He has also performed with many wonderful tap dancers such as Jason Samuels Smith, Danny Nielsen, Joel Hanna, Andrew Nemr and Demi Remick. He is currently based in Vancouver where he is busy composing, teaching, performing and recording.

VERONICA SIMPSON – Tap Dancer 

Veronica Simpson is a dancer and theatre artist based in Toronto. Some of her credits include projects with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Rhythm and Sound, (in)sight dance, Dianne Montgomery at Fall For Dance North, and Michelle Dorrance at New York City Center. In 2021, she attended the School at Jacob’s Pillow as part of the Tap Dance Performance Ensemble studying closely alongside Michelle Dorrance, Derick Grant, Dormeshia, and Jason Samuels Smith. Veronica is also the co-founder of the tap dance collective Boys’ Club, which has been selected for national and international residencies and performances at tanzhaus nrw, Leña Arts Residency, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, the Claquettes Club, and Golem’s Theatre.

HANS VERHOEVEN – Drums

Originally from British-Columbia, drummer Hans Verhoeven has lived and worked in some of the most vibrant music scenes in Canada. Recognized for his authenticity and joy of play, he has accompanied Oscar Stagnaro, Brandi Disterheft, Dave Turner and Hugh Fraser amongst others. Currently living in Montreal, Hans can be heard with Vanessa Rodrigues, Joel Miller, Dave Turner, Paul Shrofel, Kim Zombik and Sara Latendresse. He holds a Bachelor of Music from McGill University where he studied with Chris McCann, and has since begun exploring Afro-Cuban and Afro-Peruvian percussion with Rafael Zaldivar and Kullak Viger Rojas.

JACK CHIPMAN – Technical Director 

 Jack is a Vancouver based projection designer and technologist. His work integrates physical elements into digital spaces through the use of cameras, digital props, and image filtering. He is excited by the merging of different mediums to create an immersive experience. Jack’s past credits include An Undeveloped Sound (Electric Company Theatre), Szepty/Whispers (Rumble Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra), Dance Craft (Joe Ink), and Ghost Forest (Simon Fraser University)