Feelin' the Beat Productions

Paul Arslanian (Musical Director for Dancing Feet...and More) is a pianist, composer, and dance accompanist. His career began in the 1970’s in San Francisco, where he led his own jazz and Latin ensembles and composed and played piano for Bishop Norman Williams. He also recorded with such notables as Pepper Adams, Pharaoh Sanders, Dave Leibman, Woody Shaw, and Bill Summers, and with his own trio, backed up many top artists, including Freddy Hubbard and Terri Gibbs. Since becoming a New Englander in 1984, Arslanian has been a pianist for the Archie Shepp Quartet and is currently a member of the Charles Neville Quartet. Arslanian’s musical compositions have been recorded by George Coleman, John Hicks, Roy Hargrove, and Bertha Hope. As a dance accompanist, he has toured extensively with many tap dancers and tap dance companies including the Jazz Tap Ensemble, Savion Glover, Honi Coles, Jimmy Slyde, and Gregory Hines. At present, Arslanian is a staff accompanist and lecturer for the dance department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Sharon Arslanian (Instructor, Middle-Eastern Dance workshop) is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and videographer whose specialties include Tap Dance and Middle-Eastern Dance. With graduate degrees in Dance and Dance History, she has taught at various colleges and universities, including Smith College, Temple University, and the University of California, Riverside. Currently, Arslanian is Coordinator of the Dance Department at Greenfield Community College, where she teaches tap, Middle-Eastern Dance, Dance in Culture, and Dance History. In addition to her academic career, Arslanian has taught numerous classes at dance festivals and in the community and has also taught private classes. She has been the Massachusetts Representative for the International Tap Dance Association since 1994.

Kurt Albert & Klaus Bleis (Tap Dance instructors and masters of “Tray Tap Dancing”) have been working together for over fifteen years, and are one of the most successful tap dance acts in Europe. With their elegant dance style and precise footwork, Albert and Bleis revive the tradition of the Class Acts of the 30’s and 40’s. They are particularly known for their specialty of Tap and Tray, the spinning and dancing with large silver trays, an old variety art which they learned from their mentor, the late Carnell Lyons of Kansas City. Called the “Sigfried and Roy of Tap” by the New York Times, the two regularly bring audiences to their feet with their magical and seemingly effortless performances. Albert and Bleis are also world champions in the tap style of Paddle and Roll, and with their longtime friend, Josh Hilberman, they produce the annual “Paddle and Roll World Championships” in Nuernberg, Germany. Albert and Bleis appear regularly in Germany and Europe, and have also performed with Brenda Bufalino’s International Tap Dance Orchestra, Thomas Marek’s new Funk Tap Show, “The Power of Tap,” and at various tap festivals around the world, including the NYC International Tap Festival. Learn more about Kurt & Klaus at www.tap-and-tray.de.

Josh Hilberman (Tap instructor and emcee of Dancing Feet...and More) 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.

Marilyn Middleton-Sylla (African Dance instructor and Director of Bamidele Dancers and Drummers) has taught and performed throughout the US since 1987, with engagements at Jacobs Pillow; the Omega Institute in Rhineback, NY; and the Kripalu Center in MA, to name just a few. Middleton-Sylla has taught African dance from a cultural perspective at many dance festivals, as well as at colleges and universities, including Mount Holyoke, Smith College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Hampshire College, and Greenfield Community College. In 1998, she received an award from the University of Massachusetts for “Outstanding Support to Women of Color.” Middleton-Sylla is the Director of the Bamidele Dancers and Drummers, and has performed extensively with this group in this country as well as in Senegal, West Africa. She regularly returns to Africa to continue her studies in African dance and music. For more information about Marilyn and the Bamidele Dancers and Drummers, visit www.bamidele.com.

Drika Overton (Tap Instructor/ Latin Rhythms) is the creator and Artistic Director of the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival and Clara’s Dream: a jazz nutcracker. She began her career in San Francisco in 1980 as a modern dancer who soon discovered tap. She co-founded the five woman tap and rhythm dance ensemble, Take Five, and began to study and perform with a number of the legendary tap artists of our time, including Jimmy Slyde, Charles “Honi” Coles, Brenda Bufalino, Dianne Walker, and Dean Diggins. Overton co-founded the tap ensemble Stop Time, and the music and dance trio Suite: Feet. In addition to her work as a teacher, performer and choreographer, she currently co-directs and choreographs for the Youth Jazz Dance Project. Find out more about Drika at www.jazzandtap.com.

Bob Thomas (Lindy Hop Instructor) is a multi-talented dancer who has taught and performed tap dance, Lindy Hop, and comedic dance. With his wife, Idy Codington, Thomas directs the Kamikaze Jitterbugs, a professional dance troupe specializing in American vernacular dance styles from 1900 to 1960. On July 4, 1995, the two danced with The Boston Pops at the Boston Esplanade before a live audience of 325,000. Thomas has toured Asia with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, danced partner Tango and Tap with Yo Yo Ma, and done the Lindy Hop with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band at the Newport Jazz Festival. He has also taught master dance classes at Harvard University, the American College Dance Festival, MIT, Boston University, and the University of New Hampshire. Thomas currently teaches at Roger Williams University. Visit Bob Thomas's homepage at www.bobethomas.com.