Dancing at a Venue Near You - Including Airports?

Stacie Strong | Sep 29, 2008 | 0

We all look for more performance opportunites - but Chicago's O'Hare International Airport?  Why in the world would a dance group be performing there?

Here's a clip of Chicago's M.A.D.D. Rhythms doing just that.  Read on to learn why and how.

M.A.D.D. Rhythms is a fantastic organization, based in Chicago, that uses tap dance not only as a means of entertainment, but also as performance art in its truest sense. Their goal is to demonstrate, through rigorous hours of training and rehearsal, methods of honestly expressing one's self through "the dance." The company also uses tap dance to set examples of professionalism and discipline on and off stage. The teachers and staff at M.A.D.D. Rhythms aim to teach and enforce habits that will filter into other areas of students' life. As role models, the compnay members and students will show their peers that perseverance, determination, positivity and passion are the key ingredients to achieving success in any endeavor!

Although M.A.D.D. Rhythms performs all over the city, state and country, they were dancing in O'Hare recently as part of Chicago's 2008 Unity Month activities (Unity Month celebrates diversity and heightens sensitivity to issues of gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and ability/disability).  M.A.D.D. Rhythms is great in that it brings the dance to the people - they don't wait for people to come find them in a concert hall once or twice a year.  I think this driving need to go out and show people what tap is all about is part of M.A.D.D. Rhythms' fundamental philosophy that tap can be a means of changing peoples' lives for the better, whether they are exposed to it for 20 seconds, 20 minutes or 20 years.  I couldn't agree more - tap rules!

Though we can all take a page from M.A.D.D. Rhythms' performance playbook, it's also good to learn about their philosophy and approach to dance first hand.  If you live in the Chicagoland area, you have lots of opportunities to do so - M.A.D.D. Rhythms has reams of activities going on all the time, including ongoing tap classes and tap jams.  For those of you who live farther away, you can take advantage of M.A.D.D. Rhythms' third annual Chicago Tap Summit, which is coming up in a few weeks (Oct. 12-14, 2008).  It's a full weekend of classes and performances, and is well worth the drive into town (there's lots of public transportation available, too!).  

Check out their website at http://maddrhythms.com/index.htm to get more information on the Summit and on this great organization.  Don't wait for them to be performing in an airport near you - go find them! Taking charge of your own destiny is, after all, one of the lessons they will instill in you....

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Tap, Teacher, Enthusiast, Parent, Studio, Performance (all tags)