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Click for review from Triangle Arts and Entertainment May 2011. North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble is Live Performance at its Best Posted by Denise Cerniglia • May 1st, 2011 In February, 2011 NCYTE performed in front of a lively house at the GPAC in Pembroke, NC. Read the press release... "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce the premier youth tap ensemble in the world; The North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble." (Michael N. Horowitz, President, Board of Directors, Chicago Human Rhythm Project) Article from the Daily Tarheel April 23, 2009 See a press clip from The Stage Whisperer about Torrance, CA show Jan 2008 See a press clip about NCYTE's show at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH Feb 2008 Alumni Quotes "It's a rare opportunity for any young person to be so vastly exposed to the small, dynamic group of individuals that make up the international tap community. I consider myself incredibly privileged to have been able to come of age in NCYTE, where I learned to stretch the limits of my creativity, and open myself up to connect with people across the world who shared so much love for this dance form. I will always credit a large part of who I am to that experience. Every youth should be so fortunate to be a part of something so intimate, yet so enormous." Danielle Purifoy, NCYTE Alumni '02 Reviews "Tap City is a jovial affair that wastes little time getting to the goods. It its gala program, seen Tuesday at the Joyce Theatre, the artistic director, Tony Waag, masterminded a best-of sampler that featured stellar performances by dancers like Brenda Bufalino, Sarah Petronio and Jason Samuels Smith. ... Ms. Bufalino, with her fluid, unpretentious style intact, performed two solos, and the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble lent Ms. Bufalino?s energetic 'Jump, Monk' adorable heart." (Gia Kourlas, The New York Times, June 30, 2005) "... hundreds of young dancers have kept [tap] going, in all sorts of fascinating directions, and Waag's 'Tap City' brings that together. Last night?s eclectic kickoff show put veterans like Jimmy Slyde and Dianne Walker alongside the North Carolina Youth Ensemble, 25-year-old Michelle Dorrance and Karen Callaway Williams of Riverdance. ... Anyone who thinks tap is a curiosity from Fred Astaire movies just hasn?t been listening." (David Hinckley, New York Daily News, June 29, 2005) "Tap City 2003 got off to a perfect start last Wednesday night with a gala performance at the Duke on 42nd Street that said it all in a laid back kind of way. The dancers' individual styles, the relaxed staging and the genial patter of the tapmeister Ton Waag, who organizes this annual festival, showed that this distinctively American art form not only has a history but is alive and well in all its improvisational glory. ... Next came the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble ... in 'That Bullfrog Shuffle,' a bluegrass tap number ...." (Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times, July 23, 2003) "For 19 years, the Mallarme Chamber Players have made us expect the unexpected, but last night's performance at the Durham Arts Council still came as a surprise. In a program titled 'Mostly Mozart,' Violinists Hsiao-mei Ku and Carol Chung, violist David Marschall and cellist Leonid Zilper teamed up with members of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) to present a program of mostly Mozart's music. Choreographed by NCYTE's director, Gene Medler and some of the dancers, it was an evening of surprise and delight for audience and performers alike. ...The program ended with Barnett, Kiel and Steponaitis of the NCYTE dancing to the last movement, Allegro assai, of Mozart's String Quartet in B Major, K.458, known as the 'Hunt' Quartet. It was a virtuoso performance ..." (Joe and Elizabeth Kahn, Classical Voice North Carolina [www.cvnc.org], September 9, 2002) "Tap dancing to Mozart? But we?re talking here about the North Carolina Youth Ensemble. ... So perhaps it?s not surprising that the Mallarm? Chamber Players agreed to perform Mozart with the young tappers at the Durham Arts Council. ... the music?s inherent humor was highlighted as the kids, with understated gesture, turned Mozart?s rhythms and lines into fistfuls of percussion on the floor. ... Mallarm? was among the first ensembles to enliven the Triangle with this sort of collaboration. This was another successful one." (Susanna Rodell, The News and Observer [Raleigh, N.C.], September 9, 2002) "Brenda Bufalino, artisitic director and choreographer for both the American Tap Dance Orchestra and the International Tap Dance Orchestra, was invited ... to choreograph ... Jump, Monk (Charles Mingus), a large-scale piece for Medler?s North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble. ... [This] was a beautifully synchronized assignment for Medler?s young troupe." (Don McDonagh, Dance Magazine, July 1999) "NCYTE went beyond 'correct' to that nervy place on the tightrope between control and chaos. And the audience followed again and again. ... The audience sensed that thrilling place where all the lines of music come to a head. When it did, we all stood up, hundreds of us, and applauded like fools." (Whitney Vaughan, Spectator Magazine, April 1999)
"What a joy to work with such a talented group of young adults. These dancers are fearless, fierce, and sensitive. The future of rhythm tap is secure in the hands of Gene Medler and NCYTE." (Margaret Morrison) "The North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble really lays down the iron. Their technique and fire burn up the floor." (Brenda Buffalino) "The North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble harnesses the ferocious energy of youth with the gentle and capable reins of its director, Gene Medler. The company's exuberance is guided by Gene's vision and unified by his brilliant teaching, which together make a true ensemble. Gene's work is ground breaking and will set the standard for tap ensembles around the world." (Lane Alexander)
"They were so fresh ... the whole performance felt new but familiar at the same time." "... all our family members were enthralled." "Impressive! The company was able to bring something new to the Morris stage." (Audience comments, Edson Auditorium, University of Minnesota, Morris, September 2004) "All of us, faculty and students were riveted by the performances. In my 27 years as a school principal, I have never witnessed students being so intent on a performance, and the performers got a standing ovation to boot." (Stephen Scroggs, Principal, McDougle Elementary School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, February 1999) "Our town was treated to a performance of the highest quality. This performance was magnificent and the audience left the theater breathless after a standing ovation. I can highly recommend this group for school performances as well. The format of their program brings out the roots of tap in African and Irish dance and chronicles its history and evolution to current times." (Susan C. Clark, Director, Chowan Arts Council, Edenton, North Carolina, March 1999) |
