Dance is competitive, we all know that.  Anyone who wants to become a professional has to have a thick skin to survive all the corrections given by teachers and choreographers.  But what do you do if you are told time and time again that you'll never live your dream?  What if your problem is not your attitude, your work ethic or your training, but is instead the one thing you can't change - your body?  Read on to hear how one professional tap dancer - Laura Chiuve - overcame both the odds and the limitations of her own anatomy to succeed not only in tap, but in other forms of dance as well.

On May 10, 1899, Mrs. Austerlitz gave birth to a little baby named Fred in Omaha, Nebraska.  Seven years and one name change later, little Fred Austerlitz hit the stage as Fred Astaire, partnering his older sister Adele in a popular brother-sister act that would endure until Adele's marriage in 1932.  Although modern audiences know Fred Astaire for his on-screen partnering of Ginger Rogers, he was equally (and in some cases even more) suited to dance with hats, canes, coat racks, firecrackers, sports equipment and animated mice.

Here's Fred in one of my favorite numbers, though some of you may like the clip after the jump more.

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.

Props are tough for a tap dancer - they can add all sorts of rhythmic and visual appeal, but they can also distract both the dancer and the audience from what's happening at floor level.  Fred Astaire was, of course, a genuis at using props, as the clip below shows.  Still - there are a few modern dancers who can give him a run for his money.  Who do you think is best in the prop department?

Renowned dancer, choreographer, and director Tommy Tune, a nine-time Tony Award winner, will receive the first Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement award at the 2008 Fred & Adele Astaire Awards on June 2 in NYC. Actress Brooke Shields will present the prize at a gala in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center Studios to benefit the Auditory Oral School of New York, a non-profit organization which specializes in teaching deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Tickets to this special event, which honors excellence in dance on stage and in film, are available for a limited time.

For details and ticket information, read more after the jump.

One of the best things about living in New York City is the plethora of artsy activities to explore and participate in. There's a creative energy that permeates the city, something that makes New York such an exciting and unique place to live.

Recently, I just learned about a really cool monthly dance series that takes place at The Tank, a performance space for the exporation of non-traditional works by upcoming artists and performers. The series is called "The Raw and the Cooked" and it combines both choreography and improvisation while also incorporating live music and video mixed-media curated by Tatyana Tenenbaum.

Find out more about "The Raw and the Cooked" after the jump!

Last weekend, I had the honor of judging the USASF Worlds dance team competition held at Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida. The top teams from across the country and around the globe competed in divisions of pom, jazz and hip hop for the chance to be considered the best of the best. Dancers attended from 30 countries, including China, Germany, Chile, Mexico, Italy, Japan and the Ukraine.