Brenda Bufalino (Instructor, Tap Dance) the award-winning Grande Dame of Tap Dance, has appeared as a guest soloist in such prestigious arenas as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Apollo Theater, the Joyce Theater and the Kennedy Center.

She performs regularly as a tap-percussionist musician in jazz ensembles, and has collaborated with musicians, poets, and mixed-media artists worldwide. From 1975 to 1983, Bufalino toured Europe and the US with her former teacher, mentor and partner, the great Charles "Honi" Coles. She also interviewed Coles for the WGBH Archives.

A trailblazer in the renaissance of jazz and tap dance, Bufalino has been one of the guiding forces in the creation of numerous tap festivals, reunions and workshops throughout the world. She is the director and choreographer of both The American Tap Dance Orchestra and The International Tap Dance Orchestra, and has appeared with her companies on PBS Great Performances/Tap Dance in America.

An author, producer, actress and director as well as a dancer and choreographer, Bufalino directed and produced the award-winning two hour documentary, Great Feats of Feet, featuring the Copasetics, and wrote the texts for her touring one person shows, Cantata & the Blues, and Unaccompanied. She was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award at Town Hall in New York City and The Tapestry Award in Boston, both presented for her contributions to the art and craft of tap dance. Visit Brenda Bufalino's homepage at www.brendabufalino.com/.

Josh Hilberman (Instructor, Tap Dance and emcee of Tapapalooza!) is one of the leading tap dancers and tap choreographers in the field today.

Gregory Hines labeled him "one of the best of the new generation of tap dancers." Versatile, witty, and full of energy, Hilberman tours regularly, both nationally and internationally, and has performed at the New York City Tap Festival; the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival; the St. Louis Tap Festival; Montana's Rhythm Explosion; and the TAP festival in Dusseldorf, Germany, to name just a few. He spent three years with the noted company Manhattan Tap, and began dancing with Brenda Bufalino's American Tap Orchestra in 2001.

Hilberman was both dancer and master of ceremonies in the fourteen city tour, Fascinating Rhythms, which featured tap greats Jimmy Slyde and Savion Glover, and was selected as guest choreographer and soloist in the 10th anniversary celebration of Tappers With Attitude.

A well-loved and respected teacher, Hilberman has been a faculty member of the Leon Collins Dance Studio, Roger Williams University, and Mount Holyoke College. Visit his homepage at www.hilbermania.com.

Thelma Goldberg (Instructor, Tap Dance) has been the director of The Dance Inn in Lexington, Massachusetts for more than two decades, serving more than 700 students of tap, jazz, and ballet weekly. In addition to teaching jazz and tap dance, she is the artistic director of the awardwinning Legacy Dance Company, and is currently on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory's Musical Theater Department.

Goldberg's Legacy Dancers perform regularly for charitable events, and the group has also had the honor of performing in the 2001 and 2002 Tap City Youth Concerts.

Under Goldberg's founding and direction, Tapestry has become New England's premier National Tap Day celebration, attracting dancers and aficionados from throughout the East Coast. Since 1997, Tapestry has honored tap legends Dianne Walker, Buster Brown, Sue Ronson, Jimmy "Sir Slyde" Mitchell, Brenda Bufalino, LaVaughn Robinson, Jimmy Slyde, and Sarah Petronio.

Through her non-profit organization, Dance Inn Productions, Goldberg produces a youth ballroom program and offers master teacher weekends in the arts of tap, jazz, and hip-hop dance. Through Dance Inn, Goldberg also produces intensive workshop events for all ages and levels.

Joshua Nelson (Gospel Singer) Internationally acclaimed for both his musical talent and his unique ability to blend the cultural and religious aspects of his life, Joshua Nelson is an African-American with a deep appreciation of Black American culture and history, and a devout Jew with a great love for his religion.

As both a Hebrew teacher in the Orthodox Jewish tradition and the Minister of Music at the Hopewell Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, Nelson is well-known for his ability to bring cultures together in the name of peace and harmony. His performances attract people of all faiths and backgrounds, and his singing leaves audiences touched, mesmerized and just plain happy.

Nelson has performed in synagogues, churches, theatres and at various outdoor venues. He has appeared with such musical icons as Wynton Marsalis, Billy Preston, Aretha Franklin, and the late Cab Calloway, to name just a few. At age 15 he sang at the funeral of jazz great Sarah Vaughan at the request of her family. In 1999, he performed before President Clinton and an audience of 10,000; and in Sweden, he sang to an audience of 30,000, backed by a 5,500 voice choir, full string orchestra, and band. In 2001, he was named an official "Ambassador of Peace through Song" by the Swedish government.

Nelson is the featured subject in Keep on Walking, by Tana Ross, Jesper Sorensen, Freke Vuijst and Vibeke Winding. The film, which won the 2001 Northampton Film Festival's Best of the Fest Documentary Award, has also received top honors in several film festivals around the world, including the Paul Robeson Award at the Newark Film Festival. Nelson continues to tour the US and Europe to full houses and joyful audiences.

Jimmy Locust (Instructor, Hip Hop) Professionally trained in ballet, jazz and modern dance, Jimmy Locust began his career in Chicago with the world renowned Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, and choreographed his first solo with that company. Since that time, the four foot, nine inches tall artist has shown his talents in all facets of the performing arts.

Locust's work can be seen in films, television, videos, commercials and industrials. He has lent his choreographic talents to superstars such as Debbie Allen, Quincy Jones, Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson; choreographed the first promo tour for Arista recording artist Monica; and staged the US tour for actress/singer Raven Simone.

Locust's resume also includes the position of Head Choreographer on commercials featuring Nicholas Cage and Andy Dick, and his role as one of the Head Choreographers for both the opening and closing ceremonies at the 1996 Olympics. Add to all of the above Locust's status as choreographer, producer and director of Reebok's Global Summit fashion show, and his work as choreographer for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks Dance Team for four seasons, and the breadth of his talent becomes clear.

Locust received top honors from the Inland Theatre League of Los Angeles for his choreography in the musicals Sweet Charity and Jesus Christ Superstar. He was also nominated for an American Choreography Award 2001 in the television category for his work on the WB's Nikki. Locust works in New York, and is presently the Artistic Director for The Extremist, set to open this year. He also directs a children's dance studio in Stamford, Connecticut. This is Locust's first appearance at Feelin' the Beat, where he will teach "The Spirit of Hip Hop."