Feelin' the Beat Productions

Brenda Bufalino (Instructor/ Tap Dance) This 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, Ms Bufalino toured Europe and the US with her former teacher, mentor and partner, Charles "Honi" Coles. She also interviewed Coles for the WGBH Archives.

A trailblazer in the renaissance of jazz and tap dance, Ms Bufalino has been one of the guiding forces in the creation of numerous tap festivals, summits, 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. With her Chamber Orchestra, she toured Eastern Europe and the Balkan States for the US State Department.

An author, producer, actress and director as well as a dancer and choreographer, Ms 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. As one of the top tap teachers in the field today she has created instruction video tapes and state of the art tap shoes for Leo's Dancewear.

Ms Bufalino 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 Jumpin' Jubilee: a jazz and tap rhythm revue) 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.

Bob E. Thomas & Idy Codington (Instructor/ Ballroom Dance) Thomas and Codington founded and direct 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, the University of New Hampshire, and Roger Williams University.Codington and Thomas regularly teach and perform in the public schools, and are mainstays at dance festivals around New England. Visit Bob Thomas's homepage at www.bobethomas.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 award-winning youth Legacy Dance Company, and is currently on the faculty of the Boston Conservatory's Musical Theater Department. Goldberg's youth team performs regularly for charitable events. The group 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, and Jimmy Slyde. Through her non-profit organization, Dance Inn Productions, Goldgerg 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.

Paul Arslanian (Instructor/ Improv for Dancers and Musical Director for Jumpin' Jubilee: a jazz and tap rhythm revue) 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, Introduction to Tap Dance) 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.

Kathy Keillor (Instructor/ Jazz Dance) is a highly skilled dancer, choreographer, and teacher who has a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Massachusetts, and an M.F.A. in Dance from Smith College. She has taught ballet, jazz and modern dance at various colleges and universities, including Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Greenfield Community College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Keillor has also taught creative movement, ballet, pointe, jazz, modern dance, improvisation, and composition at Stoneleigh-Burnham and The Bement Schools. As a performer, she was a ballet soloist for the State Ballet of Rhode Island and Nashua Ballet Company, and a dancer/choreographer with University Dancers. Keillor is presently the Director of Mixed Company, a performing company based at Greenfield Community College.

Jacqueline Maidana (Instructor/ Latin Dance) has been teaching dance in the Pioneer Valley for over twenty years. In addition to her work at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Maidana had taught at Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Holyoke Community College, Greenfield Community College and several area high schools. She is highly experienced in various social dances, and specializes in Latin Dance, including tango. At Feelin' the Beat 2003 Maidana will teach Salsa/Merengue in her own unique way, making participants "want to dance all night."