Check out tap choreographer Mark Yonally

Stacie Strong | May 08, 2008 | there are 7 comments

Mark Yonally in performance. Photo by Josh Hawkins.

I recently had the honor of interviewing Mark Yonally, one of the tap world's most innovative and accomplished choreographers. His vision of tap is utterly unique and becoming more and more popular every year. As Artistic Director and principle choreographer of Chicago Tap Theatre, he's taking artistic risks that no one else is, all while bringing in new audience members by the truckloads. It's quite a story.

If you ever have the chance to see Mark Yonally perform or take one of his master classes, do it. He's an amazing performer as well as a fantastic teacher. I won't repeat the contents of the interview here (you can catch it in the May 2008 issue of Dancer magazine or click here http://www.danceruniverse.com/stories/issues/200805/MA20-On-the-record/), but it's well worth reading, even if I do say so myself!

The one thing that this blog can do that print articles can't is give you links to some examples of Mark's work. You can find out more about Mark, his company, Chicago Tap Theatre, and his dancers at http://chicagotaptheatre.com/, but you can also go directly to the posted videos at http://chicagotaptheatre.com/about/videos. His work is fiendishly difficult while also retaining a humanity and emotional appeal that is amazing. "Wow!" doesn't even begin to describe it!

You can also catch Chicago Tap Theatre on YouTube, performing at Lollapalooza 2007 with the Polyphonic Spree. How many tappers do you know that have the opportunity to perform to 30,000 screaming fans? The live recording of the performance is also available on iTunes, and you can hear the tapping much better. The track is "Mental Cabaret" - Mark's solo taps can be heard on the studio version, with the tone (but not the speed!) tweaked to sound like a high hat drum.

Mark has done some pretty amazing things in his career and is an inspiration to all who meet him. Many thanks to Dancer magazine for inviting me to do a profile on this up and coming choreographer!