About
Genesis features New York City’s Brenda Bufalino, a pioneer of the 1970s tap renaissance and creator of the American Tap Dance Orchestra (ATDO), joined by dancers from the Brenda Bufalino Residency Program.
The set will include her original poetry and musical compositions, choreography from the ATDO repertoire and new original choreography created specifically for this ensemble.
The evening will kick off with the highly anticipated commission debuts from Ryan Foley, an established and celebrated dancer and teacher, and Victoria Miller, an emerging artist forging her path through consistent musical collaborations. There will be a brief break for changeover between commissions, followed by a 15-minute intermission.
About Brenda Bufalino
Brenda Bufalino is a mixed-genre artist: dancer, choreographer, author and ceramicist. As a soloist and choreographer/director of The American Tap Dance Orchestra, Bufalino has performed and taught internationally for over 30 years. Her collaborations with her partner and mentor, the great Charles’ Honi’ Coles, and her many performances with Gregory Hines, the Nicholas Brothers and the many giants of tap dance have infused her with the essence of the form she now shares with her stories, teaching and dances. Her experimental work, with taps, electronics and poetry, has influenced the next two generations of tap artists, and she is still creating new experimental and traditional tap works and performances.
She has performed solo and with her company, the American Tap Dance Orchestra, at all the major venues: Carnegie Hall, The Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, The Kennedy Center and significant theatres across America and Europe. The ATDO toured Eastern Europe for the State Department, introducing the new democratic theatres to tap dance. With her company, she appeared in the PBS special Tap Dance in America with Gregory Hines.
Bufalino has received several awards from the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA deemed two of her choreographies for the ATDO “American masterpieces.” Several noted companies have performed her choreography; most recently, Dorrance Dance performed her piece Jump Monk at City Center, New York City.
She has been awarded the Flobert Award, the Tapestry Award, the Tap City Hall of Fame Award and the prestigious Bessie Award, all for outstanding achievement and contributions to the field of tap dance.
About Victoria Miller
Victoria Miller’s love for tap dance is rooted in the intersection between music, improvisation and authentic expression. Her credentials include the 2022 Toronto International Tap Dance Festival (directed by AllisonToffan and Juliana Kelly) where she performed historical repertoire of Tap Master Leon Collins under the advisement of Dianne Walker and assisted by Ian Berg. She was a featured choreographer and performer in the February 2023 showcases Fever After Dark: RIP (directed by Jerome Bobb) and Unite Dance Showcase: Routlette (directed by Kiana Smith).
Miller’s collaboration with musicians includes hosting the Conversation: a Tranzac Jam (produced by Vincent Marchesano) where she brought together a band and set arrangements to which they performed and improvised to. She is a part of the Rhythm Ensemble (directed by Juliana Kelly) where she will work toward producing and performing in a show with fellow company members and directors. Miller is also an avid tap dance educator, currently working at multiple venues across the GTA.
About Ryan Foley
Ryan Foley has had the opportunity to study and perform with many talented artists. He currently teaches and performs in Toronto with the Toronto Rhythm Initiative, City Dance Corps, Tap Dance Centre and his family-owned studio, Performing Dance Arts. He has worked with TRI in all 16 shows since their conception in 2011. In the summer of 2013, Foley was a featured artist at the TD Toronto Jazz Festival with TRI, performed in Tap Internationals as part of the NYC Tap City Festival (Lisa LaTouche) and was an original cast member in Love.Be.Best.Free, a full-length tap show in Vancouver choreographed by Danny Nielsen.
In 2014, Foley returned to Vancouver for the show’s second engagement at the Vancouver International Tap Festival and was also on faculty that year. He then embarked on a six-week B.C. tour of the show that closed with rave reviews. Ryan was involved with The Big Band Tap Revue (Allison Toffan and Josh Grossman) in 2014 and again in 2015, directed by Emmy Award winner Ted Louis Levy. He is a regular contributor to Rhythm & Sound, produced by Cori Giannotta and Johnathan Morin annually in Toronto. Other highlights include featured soloists in Putting on the Ritz (The Art House), featured performers in both Johnathan Morin and Dianne Montgomery’s commissioned works at the 2017 Toronto International Tap Dance Festival, Fall For Dance North and a return to Boston to teach and perform at Tap United, featuring tap dancers from across the globe. Foley continues practicing, teaching, performing and sharing his passion for the dance.