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.

The star-studded No, No, Nanette opens tonight to conclude this season's City Center Encores!  The show features the classic tap dancing style of choreographer Randy Skinner and is bursting with big name starpower.  Rosie O'Donnell headlines a loaded cast that includes Sandy Duncan, Mara Davi, Tony winner Beth Leavel, and a slew of the finest tap dancers in town.  No, No, Nanette is part of City Center's Great American Musicals in Concert and has a brief run from May 8 - 12.  

Check out cast interviews and highlights from the show on this weeks Broadway Beat

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.

Evolution Dance Center presents the 2008 EDC Awards:

"Imagine, Create, Evolve"
Directed by Gee Bethancourt

May 31st, 2008!  Tickets on sale now!

For more info, please visit our website:
www.Evolution-Dance.com