West Coast (S)Wing

Stacie Strong | Jul 25, 2008 | 0

John Kloss of Stepology. Photo by Andy Mogg.

Everyone knows that New York and Chicago are great for tap dancers, but what's out there for people on the West Coast?  Well, the San Francisco Bay area has its answer - a fantastic tap outfit known as STEPOLOGY.  Run by the amazing John Kloss, Stepology runs performance and educational programs throughout Northern California and elsewhere.  Read on to hear about what John can do with a pack of non-traditional musicians, some novel ideas about what tap is all about and a completely unexpected educational background!

John Kloss is no newcomer to tap.  Inspired by the great tapping film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, he went on to become a talented tapper in his own right, appearing as an ensemble member and soloist with the Los Angeles-based Jazz Tap Ensemble, Especially Tap Chicago and the percussive dance performance group PowerTap. He was also a founding member of the Swift Brothers and the Chicago Tap Authority.  In addition to his tap skills, John holds a law degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1997.  He has generously given us some time from his busy schedule to talk about the great things he has going on at Stepology.

SS:  So first, I have to ask - a law degree?  That's pretty impressive.  How did that happen?
JK:  I got a law degree because practicing law was something that I thought I would be into, and I had a lot of natural skills related to those pursuits. Midway through law school, I decided that lifestyle would not be a good choice for me. At that time, I was getting more into tap, and tap was way more enjoyable. So I finished school and passed the bar.  I'm currently licensed out of Illinois but on inactive status and not practicing anymore. Founding and directing a nonprofit requires the ability to immerse oneself in and analyze vast quantities of information, as well as the ability to be proficient in a wide variety of responsibilities, so the training as an attorney comes in very handy.

SS:  That's pretty cool.  A lawyer!  It just goes to show that dancers really are a multi-talent lot. Now we'd like to know a little bit about Stepology. How did it get started and what's it all about?
JK:  I organized Stepology as a California nonprofit corporation in November of 2003 to serve as an umbrella for a variety of tap-related efforts. I actually conceived it in 2002 when I was living in L. A. and visiting San Francisco periodically. I would walk San Francisco's Civic Center area and get all inspired and think, "what a great city for a tap festival" (I had found tap through the festivals in Chicago and St. Louis). It started with a three-day workshop at San Francisco Dance Center that I organized in 2003 before I had actually relocated to S.F. Later that year, I made the move and began teaching ongoing classes there at San Francisco Dance Center and also at Rhythm & Motion Dance Center, which is now part of the Oakland Dance Center program. There was not a lot of tap activity going on, but there was a lot of dance, and I felt like the community in general would really appreciate all the great stuff that tap and tap dancers have to offer.

SS: It seems as if education is a big part of Steplogy. What kind of things do you do?
JK:  It's really whatever helps spread the word, increase awareness and build community - lecture/demonstrations, ongoing classes, special workshops, performances/events, newsletters, archival/preservation efforts, etc.

SS:You also have a program called "Talking Tap" that goes into the schools. How did that come about?
JK:  I did probably over 100 school performances from 2000-2003 down in L.A. with Jazz Tap Ensemble.  I had a blast performing with tremendous artists like Mark Mendonca, Channing Cook Holmes, JTE Music Director Jerry Kalaf, etc., and it's always such a rush when you have an audience full of youngsters, especially when many of them haven't really been exposed to tap dancing. So, I put the concept together and got in touch with Young Audiences of Northern California, which presents school assembly performances in the region. The school shows are great way to introduce tap to a new generation, to create new performance ideas and to provide more work for tap dancers all at the same time.

SS:  Which schools do you go to?
JK:  The assembly performance is suited to levels kindergarten through high school, and we'll go wherever they'll have us.

SS:  What do you do in "Talking Tap" and who's on your team?
JK:  We jam a little, introduce ourselves, talk about how we do what we do, jam some more, play with the audience a bit (audience participation), open it up to questions and them jam a little more at the end. Sam Weber and I tap in the show, Carlos Aguirre (a.k.a. Infinite from the group Felonious) provides the vocal percussion and Kevin McHugh provides the keyboard accompaniment.

SS:  Why did you pick this particular lineup?
JK:  This provides for a unique combination of performing "voices" that blends well together and makes for a versatile group where every member can both take a solo and provide a foundation for the others.

SS: What do they bring to the table that's important to your message?
JK:  Each of these guys has incredible chops, and can maintain a strong connection with the audience (not always easy to find a good combination of both talents). They all are receptive to new ideas, and are also comfortable performing in a variety of musical genres.

SS: Why is it important to you to integrate different kinds of music in the "Talking Tap" program?
JK:  The precision, musicality and improvisational skill inherent in tap are qualities that we value can relate to in all types of music, and I want to make sure that the show reflects that. I also want to make sure that audience members, especially those being exposed to tap for the first time, aren't conditioned to limit their ideas about tap and its musical associations.

SS:  I see that you bill the "Talking Tap" program as a "mutli-sensory experience."  What's involved with that?
JK:  It's multisensory in that it's a fusion of sight and sound, and the audience will also get to use their sense of touch when they join in the participation segments. But because tap dance is so athletic and expressive, audiences tend to relate to it on a visceral type level too. Hopefully the multi-sensory thing stops there, and they don't wind up smelling us too. . . .

SS: What's the message that people come away with from "Talking Tap?"
JK:  How rhythm plays an essential role in many aspects of life and engages people in a way that encourages us to celebrate what we all have in common.

SS:  That's cool!  I hope you can get the word out to students about that.  I see, though, that Stepology also has a performance side. Do Stepology dancers have a particular focus or style?
JK:  Dancers tend to bring their own focus and style to the mix - we just wind up in novel situations a lot, so in that sense, if you're seeing a Stepology performance, I've often created an environment, organized a performing situation or taken a gig where something unusual can happen and tap can be seen in a different light. For example, I recently brought a few dancers to a private event and performed onstage with a band that included phenomenal Indian/World Music musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Sivamani. We did a little planned segment of a few minutes with four or five dancers, and then without any rehearsal, I wound up improvising with the band over a jam of a techno-dance tune Shankar had done for a Bollywood movie. I also have this solo bit I do for Nutcracker as a tap dancing Harlequin doll to the original classical music in Act I. At our annual festival, I've been fortunate to have really gifted performing cast members like Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Sam Weber, Channing Cook Holmes, Deborah Mitchell and Robert L. Reed, etc., who are tremendous performers in their own right, but who are also willing to take risks with the ideas I've thrown at them - dancing behind a knee-high scrim so they're only seen from the thigh-down, wearing white gloves and white spats and dancing in front of a blacklight, and for the upcoming '08 show in August. . . oh wait, I can't divulge that one yet. . . readers will have to come see the show.  :)

SS: Does the Bay Area have a regional tap style?  
JK:  Bay Area jazz tap has a smooth style that is characteristic of tap on the West Coast in general. Tap in the region has also been heavily influenced by the work of local pedagogues such as Sam Weber, Berle Davis, and Stanley Kahn.

SS: What do you and Stepology have coming up?
JK:  Well, August 11th to 17th will be San Francisco's Bay Area Tap Festival, with myself, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Channing Cook Holmes (as dancer and music director), Deborah Mitchell, Sam Weber, a special guest appearance by the Barbary Coast Cloggers and more. There's workshop classes all week at San Francisco Dance Center, and shows on Friday August 15 and Saturday August 16 at San Francisco's historic Herbst Theatre. More info is available at www.stepology.com. Before that, I'll be in Chicago teaching and performing with another incredible artist roster at the Chicago Human Rhythm Project in late July/early August.

Thanks so much for sharing all that information with us, John, and good luck with all your upcoming events.  I've already got them on my calendar and look forward to seeing you soon - I hope to see a lot of you readers there, too!

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