Millikin University recently welcomed Rhythmic Circus to Kirkland Fine Arts Center on Saturday, May 7. As part of the visit to campus, Millikin fine arts students in a Beginning/Intermediate Tap Class were treated to a Master Tap Class on Friday, May 6 with dancer and Rhythmic Circus member Nick Bowman.
Bowman arrived the day before his show to teach the students techniques and warm-up drills often used by the high-energy dance troupe.
"If you find yourself getting frustrated, just remember that it's not that serious," said Bowman. "Consider your tap shoes the drumstick and the floor your drum."
Rhythmic Circus has quickly risen from an underground percussive dance phenomenon to an innovative live performance company known for transforming their tap shoes into instruments of rhythm. Home grown hoofers from Minneapolis, Minn., Rhythmic Circus is hitting the road this year with a trunk full of tap shoes, funky costumes and a big brass band with its current production, Feet Don't Fail Me Now! The troupe was the 2012 winner of the Edinburgh Festival Spirit of the Fringe Award.
Millikin University consistently brings working professionals into the classrooms to work with the students. Sean Morrissey, interim chair of Millikin's Department of Theatre and Dance, feels the students receive a professional's opinions and approaches.
"Part of Millikin's brand of education is Performance Learning," said Morrissey. "They get a much broader look at the same techniques from multiple perspectives."
Click here to read more about the masterclass in an article from the Herald & Review.
