Draft:Anita Feldman

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Anita Feldman (born 1951) is an American choreographer, dancer, educator, and writer known for her innovative work in tap dance. She integrated tap with contemporary music composition, co-inventing the Tap Dance Instrument (TDI), and expanded the artistic and musical boundaries of percussive dance.[1] Awards include the New York State Dance Education Association's 2016 Outstanding Dance Educator Award (Post Secondary),[2] and five National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowships.[3] Her professional archives are housed in the Anita Feldman Tap Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.[1]

Early Life and Education

Feldman was raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Her mother, Jeanette Feldman, was born in Vienna and worked as a bookkeeper; her father, Louis Feldman, was an engineer. Both parents encouraged her interest in dance—her mother played piano and her father was a serious amateur photographer. Feldman began tap lessons at age five, alongside ballet and jazz, at the June Rold School of Dance. In middle school she began studying tap with master Jimmy Payne,[4] who taught complex Afro-Cuban rhythms accompanying himself on bongos, fostering Feldman's early appreciation for live music, rhythm, and musical structure. At the University of Illinois she majored in dance education while studying new music, percussion, and African drumming.

Drawn to modern dance as an art form, after graduation Feldman moved to New York City, where her aesthetic of percussive performance began to evolve. She performed in the modern dance companies of Marta Renzi, Ruth Barnes, Beverly Brown, and Marilyn Wood, developing a style and philosophy oriented toward that of Merce Cunningham. She also presented her own modern dance choreography with collaborators including Debra Loewen.

In 1978 she enrolled in the Dance Education Master's Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, studying choreography, improvisation, and Laban Movement Analysis with Robert Ellis Dunn, a John Cage associate. Dunn's choreography classes had led to the Judson Dance Theater in the early 1960s; he became an important mentor and supporter of Feldman's early work. One of Feldman's early partners was fellow Columbia student Carol Hess, a tap and modern dancer who ultimately chaired the dance program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.[5]

After receiving her master's degree, Feldman returned to tap dance, recognizing it as the ideal expressive medium for combining her skills in mathematics, percussion, new music, modern dance, and tap. She studied with many tap masters, including Bob Audy, Mary Jane Brown, Chuck Green, and Brenda Bufalino, and performed in Bufalino's first tap company. Her compositional influences included collaborators Lois V Vierk, Gary Schall, Larry Polansky, Guy Klucevsek, and David Behrman.[6][7]

Career and Artistic Contributions

Anita Feldman Tap

In the early 1980s, Feldman founded her company, Anita Feldman Tap, which became a platform for her experimental approach. Her choreography featured complex rhythmic structures, polyrhythms, and non-unison phrasing, treating tap dance as both a visual and sonic art form. In all of her works she collaborated with new music composers, including Lois V Vierk, David Behrman, Gary Schall, Guy Klucevsek, Toby Twining, Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson, and Michael Kowalski. She also realized already-composed works as tap dances, including Larry Polansky's original work for tap dance and percussion, Steve Reich's Clapping Music, and James Tenney's Three Pieces for Drum Quartet. Her works have been performed at over 100 venues across the United States, Japan, and Germany.[1][8]

Selected Performance Highlights

The following is a selection of notable performances by Anita Feldman Tap:

  • 1998 – Smithsonian Institution. Featured guest in "Women in Tap," Washington, D.C.
  • 1998 – Tour of Germany. Sponsored by L'Art pour L'Art, a new music organization. Venues included Hessischer Rundfunk/Theaterhaus (Frankfurt), Galerie Rose (Hamburg), and Schauburg Theater/Radio Bremen (Bremen).[9]
  • 1998 – Dance Place. Washington, D.C.[10]
  • 1997 – 92nd Street Y. Series of lecture-performances for New York City Public Schools.[11]
  • 1996 – Dance on the Edge. Towson State University, Maryland.[12]
  • 1993 – Florida Dance Festival. National Performance Network Residency.[13]
  • 1993 – Podewil. Berlin, Germany. USArts Festival.[14]
  • 1992 – Colorado Dance Festival. Boulder, Colorado.
  • 1992 – Houston's Great Tap Gathering. Houston, Texas.
  • 1991 – Helena Presents. Myrna Loy Theater, National Performance Network Residency, Montana.
  • 1991 – Dance Place. "Percussive City Dance" festival, Washington, D.C.[15]
  • 1991 – Morningside Dance Festival. Riverside Church, New York, New York.[16]
  • 1989 – Dance Theater Workshop. New York City season.[17]
  • 1988 – American Dance Festival. Two company performances and commission, Durham, North Carolina.[18]
  • 1988 – Whitney Museum at Equitable. New York, New York.[19]
  • 1988 – Central Park SummerStage. New York, New York.
  • 1987 – American Dance Festival. Young Choreographer Project, Durham, North Carolina.[20]
  • 1986 – Tour of Japan. Four weeks. Venues included KSK Hall (Kyoto), Nara Royal Stage, Osaka Cultural Center, Kobe Gakuin University, Seibu's Tsukashin Hall (Osaka), Tezukayama Gakuen College (Nara), Spiral "Cay" (Tokyo), and Seibu's Studio 200 (Tokyo).
  • 1986 – Oberlin College. Residency and company performances, Ohio.
  • 1983 – CalArts New Music Festival. Los Angeles, California.
  • 1983 – Roulette. New York City.[21]

Tap Dance Instrument (TDI)

In 1988, Feldman co-invented the Tap Dance Instrument (TDI) with instrument builder Daniel Schmidt, funded by Feldman's first National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship.[22] The TDI is a multi-timbre wooden and brass platform designed to amplify, diversify, and in some cases electronically transform tap sounds. It consists of six modular parts: a seven-key marimba for the feet (patented September 11, 1990),[23] three contrasting wood hexagons (one oak, two fir for deeper resonance), and two small brass floors that ring. It became a central feature in many of Feldman's choreographic works.

Collaborations and Notable Works

Feldman collaborated extensively with contemporary composers. Notable works created for Anita Feldman Tap include:

  • Three Monk Tunes (1983). Score for tap dancer, marimba, wood blocks, vibraphone, rototoms, and whistling by Larry Polansky; thirty minutes; one tap dancer and one percussionist. Premiered at New Performance Gallery, San Francisco.[24]
  • Three Quartets for Eight Feet (1984). Tap dance realization of James Tenney's "Three Pieces for Drum Quartet"; ten minutes; four dancers. Premiered at Roulette Intermedia Center, New York City.
  • Tapping Music (1985). Tap dance realization of Steve Reich's Clapping Music; one dancer and one percussionist. Premiered at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, New York City.
  • City/Riffle (1985). Music by Michael Kowalski; eight minutes; one dancer and synthesizer tape. Premiered at the University of Montana.[25]
  • Milwaukee Blues and Study for Milwaukee Blues (1987). Tap parts and saxophone composed by Larry Polansky; ten minutes; one live dancer, one live saxophone, and one tap part, four saxophone parts, and singer on tape. Study has three tap dancers, five minutes. Premiered at the Emanu-El Midtown Y Dance Series, New York City.
  • The Next Step (1987). Collaboration with Gary Schall; ten minutes; one dancer and one percussionist. Premiered at the Emanu-El Midtown Y Dance Series, New York City.[19]
  • Shimmer (1987). Collaboration with Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson; twenty minutes; three dancers, digital delay, trumpet, cello, percussion, keyboard, violin, flute. Premiered at the American Dance Festival, North Carolina, as part of the Young Choreographers and Composers Project.[20]
  • Hexa (1988). Collaboration with Lois V Vierk; fifteen minutes; three dancers on the Tap Dance Instrument, percussion, and live electronics. Premiered at the American Dance Festival, North Carolina.[19][26]
  • Landings Takeoff (1989/1990). Collaboration with percussionist Gary Schall; twenty minutes; one dancer and Gary Schall playing the Tap Dance Instrument with large mallets. Premiered at the Colorado Dance Festival.[16]
  • City Scraped (1991). Collaboration with accordionist/composer Guy Klucevsek; fifteen minutes; three dancers and Guy Klucevsek. Premiered at Dance Place, Washington, D.C.[15]
  • Hooved Mammals (1992). Collaboration with software designer/composer David Behrman; twenty minutes; two dancers on the Tap Dance Instrument and interactive electronics. Premiered at Dance Theater Workshop, New York City.
  • Twister (1993). Collaboration with Lois V Vierk; twelve minutes; one dancer on the Tap Dance Instrument, cello, marimba. Premiered at Merkin Recital Hall, New York City.[27]
  • Swash (1994). Collaboration with Lois V Vierk; seventeen minutes; two dancers, two singers. Premiered at Woodpeckers Tap Dance Space, New York City.[27]
  • A Pitch is a Groove (1996). Collaboration with singer/composer Toby Twining; twenty-two minutes; three dancers, three singers, one percussionist. Premiered at the Columbia Festival of the Arts, Maryland.
  • Shoo: Floored, Shoo One, Shoe Too (1998). Collaboration with Lois V Vierk; thirty minutes; three dancers on the Tap Dance Instrument, two singers, percussionist, cellist. Premiered at The Kitchen, New York City.[26]

Critical Reception

Critics have written the following about Feldman's work:

Among the most venturesome of innovative tappers...A new kind of synergy between tappers and musicians.

— Alan M. Kriegsman, The Washington Post, April 15, 1991.[15]

Like some postmodern, high-tech update of the old sand dances, Feldman's work makes you marvel at the myriad bold or delicate sounds the human foot can tease out of a hard surface.

— Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice, June 30, 1992.

Anita Feldman...certainly proves that there is avant-garde tapping and this is it.

— Jennie Schulman, Back Stage, October 12, 1984.

Albeit joyous, tapping can be predictable. No predictability here and plenty of satisfaction.

— Elizabeth Lee, Durham Morning Herald, July 7, 1987.

So varied in mood and rich in dynamic shadings that they could be called abstract paintings in motion.

— The New York Times, October 2, 1988.[19]

She is clearly a thinking tap dancer and, without denying her art's past, she is trying to make sure it has a future.

— Jack Anderson, Dancing Times (London), 1988.

Feldman and Schall are virtuosos...the visual aspect of the performance is as compelling as the musical. Schall's four-foot mallets zip among Feldman's darting feet and whiz over her head in a tour de force that needs but one word of praise: Wow.

— Tom Strini, The Milwaukee Journal, October 16, 1992.

Teaching

Prior to joining Hofstra University as a full-time professor, Feldman taught as a guest artist throughout the United States, at Peridance Center in New York City, and as an adjunct at several universities including Marymount Manhattan College and LIU Post.

At Hofstra University, Feldman served as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Dance (1995–2007), full-time Assistant Professor of Dance (2007–2013), and Associate Professor of Dance (2007–2017). She developed courses in tap dance, choreographed modern tap pieces for faculty concerts, and designed and directed the first—and still only—undergraduate dance education program on Long Island, New York, teaching tap dance, kinesiology for dancers, and dance education courses.[28] She also established a program with AHRC in which adults with learning disabilities attended choreography classes at Hofstra led by students, culminating in a semester-end performance. She holds the title of Associate Professor Emerita in Drama and Dance at Hofstra University.[29] She is also teaching at the Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre's New Studio of Dance.[30]

Published Works

Book

Feldman authored Inside Tap: Technique and Improvisation for Today's Tap Dancer, published by Princeton Book Company in 1996.[31] The book was reviewed in the International TAP Association Newsletter (Volume 7, Number 3, September–October 1996).

Articles and Essays

  • Feldman, Anita, and Larry Polansky. "Collaboration: Tap Scored" and "Notes on the Three Monk Tunes for the Tap Dancer." Leonardo 23 (1990): 377–383.[32]
  • Feldman, Anita. "Robert Ellis Dunn: Method to His Madness." Movement Research Performance Journal 14 (Winter 1997).[33]
  • Feldman, Anita. "Music by the Foot." Inside Arts: A Publication of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (September 1996): 20–23.
  • Feldman, Anita. "The Tap Dance Instrument." International Tap Association Newsletter (February 1989): 8–9.
  • Feldman, Anita. "Tap Scored." International Tap Association Newsletter (Spring 1989): 8.
  • Feldman, Anita. "How to Get a Foothold." International Tap Association Newsletter (Fall 1989): 13.
  • Feldman, Anita. "Improv: Developing Your Own Style." International Tap Association Newsletter (September–October 1995): 3–6.
  • Feldman, Anita. "Dances of Warriors: New Paths in Tap." On Tap: A Publication of the International Tap Association (Winter 2003–Spring 2004): 46–53.
  • Feldman, Anita. "Tap Dance in Higher Education." On Tap: A Publication of the International Tap Association (March–April 2007).

Additional articles written by Anita Feldman can be found in the Dance Education Literature and Research descriptive index (DELRdi) of the National Dance Education Organization.[34]

Discography and Media Appearances

Recordings

  • Tellus #12: Dance (Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine, 1985). Includes a recording of City/Riffle.[25]
  • The NYFA Collection: 25 Years of New York New Music (New York Foundation for the Arts). Includes a recording featuring Anita Feldman Tap.[35]
  • Hexa the Videodance (1990). Video work by Anita Feldman, Lois V Vierk, and director/editor Jan Roberts-Breslin. Preserved with support from Save America's Treasures through a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service.[36]

Radio and Television

The following appearances are documented in the Anita Feldman Tap Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.[1]

  • Radio Bremen 2 Interview. April 23, 1998.
  • Around New York (WNYC). June 15, 1994. Feldman interviewed alongside post-minimalist composer Lois V. Vierk.
  • NPR Weekend Edition. May 19, 1991.
  • NPR Morning Edition (interview with Susan Penna). July 29, 1988.
  • Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt / American Dance Festival. c. 1988.
  • Let's Talk with Harry Antario. 1988.
  • Spotlight Special (TV6). December 6, 1988.
  • Eye on Dance, Episode #205. November 6, 1986. Hosted by Celia Ipiotis and Sally Sommer. Includes interviews with Feldman, Gail Conrad, and Jacqueline Raven.
  • New Yorking (Asahi TV Tokyo). 1986. Filmed in New York at the World Trade Center.

Awards and Grants

  • 2016 – New York State Dance Education Association Outstanding Dance Educator Award (Post Secondary). Presented at the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Conference, Washington, D.C., October 8, 2016.[2]
  • 1997, 1996, 1993, 1992, 1989 – Five Mary Flagler Cary Trust Commissioning Grants.[37]
  • 1996 – New York State Council on the Arts Challenge Grant.
  • 1996 – Commission, Columbia Festival of the Arts.
  • 1992–1996 – Five New York State Council on the Arts Company Grants (Tapping Music Inc.) for Professional Performance Touring or Professional Performances.[38]
  • 1992 – Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation Grant.
  • 1990, 1992 – Two Meet the Composer Composer/Choreographer Commissions.
  • 1989 – National Endowment for the Arts Dance/Film/Video Grant.
  • 1989 – Dance Theater Workshop Commission with funds from the Jerome Foundation.
  • 1988 – A.T. & T Foundation/American Dance Festival Commission.
  • 1987–1991 – Five National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowships.[3]
  • 1987 – Metropolitan Life/American Dance Festival Annual Award for Choreography.
  • 1986, 1990 – Two New York Foundation for the Arts Choreography Fellowships.[39]

Legacy and Archives

Feldman's professional archives—including choreography notes, performance footage, documentation of the Tap Dance Instrument, performance reviews, photographs, writings, and interviews—are housed in the Anita Feldman Tap Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.[1] Her work continues to influence contemporary tap artists and composers interested in rhythm, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

An oral history interview with Feldman was conducted by Susan Kraft in 2024 for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Oral History Project.[40] She was also interviewed for the Relative Rhythms podcast about her career as a choreographer, performer, and educator.[41] Excerpts of her choreography can be viewed on the Anita Feldman Tap YouTube channel.[8]

Her legacy at Hofstra University includes tap dance courses and the Bachelor of Science in Dance Education program she founded—the first and only undergraduate dance education program on Long Island, New York.[28]

References

External Links

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