A Rising Star

Stacie Strong | Mar 13, 2008 | 9

Phil Brooks in performance with Chicago Tap Theatre

Chicago is known for its many professional tap companies - Chicago Tap Theatre, M.A.D.D. Rhythms, BAM!, ETC, Jump Rhythm Jazz Project - all of whom create wonderful, exciting works.  Many tappers would jump at the chance to dance with just one of them.  Phil Brooks has already had the chance to dance with two, and - at 23 - he's only just begun his career.  Find out the secrets to his success, including the challenges he's had in dancing with companies with very different approaches to the art form.

Phil Brooks brought down the house in a break-out duet with Chicago Tap Theatre's Artistic Director, Mark Yonally, in "Mixology," a live-music show this past February.  Performing "Killing Me Softly" with resident musicians "The Rhythm Four," Phil and Mark traded riffs in an intensely emotional and highly explosive performance that had the audience roaring for more every night over a three-week run.  The piece - which relied heavily on Phil's impressive improvisational skills - has already become a company favorite.  We talked to Phil about his training and what brought him to Chicago Tap Theatre after two years with another of Chicago's top tap ensembles, M.A.D.D. Rhythms.

SS: How long have you been tapping and what brought you to the dance?
PB:  Well, I have been tapping since the ripe old age of 14, when I was a freshman in high school.  The first time I saw tap dancing was during a high school performance of "A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine."  The only step they were doing was a running flap entrance, but I was hooked. That night I went home and taught myself how to do the step barefoot on carpet until I got the basic concept. The next day I enrolled in the theatre program and started my tap life.  About the same time, I also started my social dancing career at a ballroom dance studio called Strictly Dancing in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Strictly Dancing provided me with professional training in partner dance ranging from the waltz to East Coast swing and everything in between.

SS:  When did you first discover M.A.D.D. Rhythms, the first company you danced with in Chicago?
PB:  The first time I saw M.A.D.D. Rhythms was also in New Mexico, at a tap jam held at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.  I was a sophomore in high school and got the opportunity to attend the festival on a scholarship. I was reading over the program of the festival and noticed a class named "The Basics of Rhythm Tap," taught by the funk man himself, Bril Barrett.  He taught a routine to a hip hop version of the Nutcracker where we tapped out the melody, and I knew that I needed to come to Chicago to study under him.

SS:  When did you get involved with M.A.D.D. Rhythms?
PB:  I moved to Chicago in June of 2005 and got to know the whole M.A.D.D. crew shortly thereafter.  I hung out with them for about 2 1/2 years.  I wouldn't call it an apprenticeship as much as an eye opener into the tap life, the tap scene and the tap world. They gave me an opportunity to see what respecting the dance is all about and what it means to tap versus what it means to be a tap dancer. For that, I am forever in debt and forever grateful.

SS: How did you get to be an apprentice with them?
PB:  Honestly, I don't know, because the talent level of M.A.D.D. Rhythms is astronomical.  But I will say this - through the whole time I was training with them I kept one attitude: "Failure is not an option, it's not even a word in my vocabulary."  No matter how good they were and how intimidated I was, I knew that I had the heart for the dance to get me through the rest.

SS: What was their apprentice program like, in terms of training, interaction with the company and performance?
PB:  Well, the apprentices were known as "The Wreckshop," and we rehearsed on Sundays from 2:00 to 4:00, and then I moved into the company rehearsal for an hour from 4:00 to 5:00, so I was there for about three hours. But I also took class on Saturdays for another three hours, so I was there for about six hours on the weekend in total. The transition from the Wreckshop to rehearsing with the actual company was one of the toughest experiences in my life, but I enjoyed every minute.

SS: When did you learn about Chicago Tap Theatre?
PB:  I actually learned about Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT) the same year I learned about M.A.D.D. Rhythms.  The two guest artists at the New Mexico Tap Jam were Bril Barrett and Mark Yonally.  I ended up attending the jam for the next three years, and they both were regular guest artists. I actually remember going to an after-party with [modern dance legend and New Mexico resident] Bill Evans and Mark after one of their performances [Yonally was a member of the Bill Evans Dance Company before starting CTT] and seeing a video of CTT in their early years and wondering how cool it would be to be in a company with all ladies (except for Mark).  Now look at me!

SS: After having been an apprentice with M.A.D.D. Rhythms, what drew you to move to CTT?
PB:  When I moved to Chicago, I moved with the drive to study with both Mark and Bril to get (a) the most tap in my life and (b) the best of both styles.  In the beginning it was working out great, but eventually my savings ran out, and we all know how teachers need to get paid as well.  Thankfully Bril let me work for classes, and I gradually fell out of touch with training with Mark. So it's not that I was drawn to CTT, the drive had always been there, I just couldn't afford all the training that I wanted.

SS: How did you get to be an apprentice with CTT?
PB:  I hooked up with Mark about two weeks before the audition in August (I don't even remember why), but he told me about the audition and that I should come and check it out. Well, I showed up at the audition, and I think my audition number was number 22 out of, like, 40.  My first impression when I saw all those people was like, WOW, this is the place to be!  After the audition started and they started cutting people, I found myself making it to the last round and then it was over.  Whew!  About a week or so after, I got a call from Mark asking if I would like to accept an apprentice position with the company, and our relationship has grown from there.

SS: What is CTT's apprentice/training program like?
PB:  If I were to sum it all up into one word, it would be GRUELING. Suffice it to say, if I thought the feeling of training with company members in M.A.D.D. Rhythms was bad, I was in shock when I came to the first rehearsal with CTT.  Those girls are fierce!  Sometime when I'm in rehearsal and Mark throws down new choreography and everyone in the company picks it up except me, I think to myself, "Why am I here? Holy Moly!"  Then I take it home and practice for a week and get the step, only to come back to rehearsal and have him throw down another piece for me to take back home and master again. It's an endless grueling cycle. From fear of sounding negative, let me say this, and I actually take words from Mark: "Don't get caught up in competing with other dancers, the only person you have to compete with is yourself."  That holds true for me to this day.  As long as I feel better about my own skills and how I'm improving, then all is good in the world. And I love dancing with CTT, especially during rehearsals, because that is where tap is born and where it grows. The moment you no longer have a learning curve from your teacher, then it's time to move on.

SS: What was it like improving with Mark at Mixology? You're both very different dancers with different styles.
PB:  Definitely different styles!  What's it like?  Well, think about it this way:  when you sit at home and you're watching one of your favorite tap movies or even your favorite style of dance, and you see your idols on the screen, all you can think is how wonderful it would be to be in that scene with them or how fabulous it would be to be dancing next to them. I get that every time I hit the stage with Mark.  Not only is he a well-respected dancer in his own right, but he is someone that I have looked up to for quite some time now. You know, I moved to Chicago to follow my dreams of becoming a tap dancer, and all I can say now is that I've captured just a little part of that dream every time I share the stage with Mark. Thank you, Mark.

SS: What are some of differences between the two companies?
PB:  One of the things is the relative weight on improvisation.  M.A.D.D. Rhythms was about ninety percent improv, whereas with CTT it's only about ten percent.

SS: Do you prefer improv or choreography?
PB:  Hmmm... Good question.  I definitely love improv, but I love good choreography as well.  I like when choreography allows the freedom of improv within the piece so you have structure but you have freestyle as well. If a piece starts out with a strong beginning and goes into some improv that isn't up to par with the strength of the choreography, then it breaks the entire piece. But when you have great improv and great choreography, that's where the sweet spot is.

SS: Has your improv style changed since joining CTT?
PB:  Yes!  It's because Mark's style is so off the floor, light and fluffy, and Bril's style is so down and heavy.  Now my improv is tangled mess of trying to balance the two in harmony. It's not where I want it to be, but it's getting there.

SS: Who are your models for improv or tap in general?
PB:  You know, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the old timers, for they are real living legends. But the people I look up to the most are the ones doing it in the industry now. There are way too many names to list off, but for a few:  Lisa LaTouche, Jason Samuels Smith, Ayodele Casel, Derrick Grant, Joseph Wiggins, Mark Yonally, Bril Barrett, and not to sound too cliche, but I strongly believe that if I hadn't seen Gregory Hines bring tap to the "main" screen like he did, I wouldn't have the drive that I do today. Though we never met, I will always hold a special place for him as well.

SS: What do you recommend to people wanting to improve their improvisational skills?
PB:  DON'T STOP DANCING. . . . EVER!  And I mean it - in the store, in the car, at home in your socks, at work on the elevator, on the bus - wherever your feet take you, make sure they are moving to your own beat. And when you jam, whether it be by yourself or with friends, always do it to music. If you get a chance to jam alone put on a song and try and copy the melody exactly from the song with your feet. If you can master that, your improvisation will rocket.

SS: Where do you see your dancing going in the coming years? Where do you want to take it and yourself?
PB:  That's a hard question to answer.  For starters, no one knows what the future holds. You know, the definition of success is different to everyone, and for me, one of my dreams is to see my name up in lights. As I read this question, it brought to mind a story that Bril once shared with me about the time when Bril had the opportunity to study with the late Gregory Hines. Gregory was giving a talk to the class and was asked a similar question.  His reply was that you can go wherever your feet can take you. If there is one thing I've learned in life that connects all people in the world, it's the love and joy of music. Tap dancing for me is a way that lets what's inside me come out so that I may share it with the rest of the world in the form of the beat. The beat which is always in every song, every dance, every lyric, in all music.  Tap is music.

Look for the inspiring and amazing Phil Brooks in performance with Chicago Tap Theatre in Chicago and on tour on the East Coast later in 2008.  He is definitely one to watch.

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Tap, Performance (all tags)