Tap ensemble performs summer show

Whitefish local Feat x Feet youth tap ensemble will be performing its annual summer show Friday, June 18, at 8 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish.

Special guest is professional Derick K. Grant from New York City.

Each summer Grant makes a trip to Whitefish to teach and perform with the students of Feat x Feet. Grant started under the direction of two-time Tony Award winning director George C. Wolfe. He was an original company member and dance captain for “Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk” at both the Public Theater and on Broadway. He was also the tap choreographer for the TV hit “So You Think You Can Dance?”

Grant created Imagine Tap that had a successful run in Chicago, and “A Night Out: Tap!” which toured the country for three months. He is a faculty member of Steps on Broadway in New York, where he nurtures and cultivates the future of the language and art form of tap.

“One of the blessings of coming every year is seeing the growth, being part of this community, part of the village raising these kids,” Grant said. “I’m grateful. It really has become home away from home.”

Ashley Smith is the owner and artistic director for Feat x Feet. She’s been bringing tap professionals to the Flathead for the summer workshop for the past 25 years.

“I love watching the kids get that experience,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a fun show. “It’s a really amazing coming together of musicians, professionals and our local students all on one stage. It’s very unique and upbeat.”

The company will be joined on stage by the workshop’s attendees.

Tickets are $25 and are all reserved seats. Beer, wine and other beverages will be sold throughout the evening. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 471-4400 or visit www. featbyfeet.com.