Make Some Noise Tap Festival 

Brush off those tap shoes and join us for our 3rd Annual "Make Some Noise" Tap Festival. Featuring an amazing faculty of tap educators. Mark Orsborn (The Jam Project, World of Dance), Ryan Johnson (Stomp, Cirque du Soleil), and Artistic Director, Karen Muccioli (Rage Box Dance Center). Classes in Step Fusion, Rhythm Tap, Body Percussion and Time Step Fun. Open to beginner through advanced tap dancers age 7-Adult. Only $75/Day

Mark Orsborn is a tap dancer, choreographer and teacher born and raised in Washington, D.C. He is a former soloist with the Tap America Project (TAP) and was featured at the Kennedy Center 25^th Anniversary and Smithsonian 150th Anniversary.  Mark's early professional training started when he was a member of the pre-professional tap company "Tappers With Attitude" (TWA).  He also studied with Debbie Allen and was an original cast member of her show, “Brothers of the Knight”.  Mark co-founded his company, The JaM Project, in 2007 and has been recognized by The Washington Post, Dance Spirit, and numerous film festivals for his projects. The JaM Project was a winner at the 2016 Capezio Ace Awards, which recognizes the top emerging choreographers in the commercial dance industry.  In 2017, the company's show, "Good Times, Bad Times" premiered a 30-minute set at Dancerpalooza's "25 Live" in Long Beach, CA and a 60-minute set at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  The JaM Project was featured on Season 2 of NBC's "World of Dance" and continues to perform around the country.

Recently, Mark began directing The JaM Youth Project, a youth tap company focused on choreography and dance film production. The company has already attracted young tap dancers from all over the country and received support from news outlets and national recording artist, The Doobie Brothers.  Tap dance films created by the company have screened at the L.A. Dance Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Philadelphia Screendance Festival, American Dance Festival's "Movies by Movers" and Cascadia Dance & Cinema Festival (Vancouver, BC).  They have also been featured in Dance Teacher Magazine. 

Mark's choreography was recognized in 2015 by the Young Choreographer's Festival in NYC and he co-choreographed the closing number at both the 2015 and 2016 Fred & Adele Astaire Awards in New York City.  Recently, Mark was a contributing choreographer and performer for YouTube's "Brandcast" at Radio City Music Hall.  He was also a part of the Signature Theater's choreography team for its production of "Billy Elliot" and was nominated for a 2019 Helen Hayes Award.  Mark has recently been on faculty for numerous tap dance festivals including DC Tap Fest, Jersey Tap Fest, OC Tap Fest, Orlando Tap Fest, Make Some Noise Tap Festival, RIFF: Rhythm in Fusion Festival, and Taps Alive.

Ryan Kenneth Johnson [@rkj.dance] is a virtuosic performer, choreographer and Founding Artistic Director of SOLE Defined, a company in residence at Dance Place in Washington, D.C. He is a well--known global performing and teaching artist who has been called "purely amazing" by Septime Weber, Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Ballet. Johnson started his professional journey in the arts performing with Gregory Hines and Marvin Hamlisch with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. In 2008 & 2018, Johnson's was awarded Individual Artist Award for Choreography from Maryland State Arts Council. Johnson made history in 2010 by becoming the first tap dancer to win the D.C. Metro Dance Awards: Outstanding Solo Performance. That same year, Johnson was a finalist for the D.C. Metro Emerging Artist Award. Johnson believes that he was created to perform, entertain, and use the arts to enhance the lives of people globally.  
 
Johnson spent two decades on stages including; The Beatles LOVE by Cirque Du Soleil as Sugar Plum, and One Drop by Cirque Du Soleil under the direction of Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar. He was in the New York City and Tour of the Americas cast of the hit show STOMP where he played Particle Man and Ringo. Johnson was the soloist, and production manager for the world renown step company Step Afrika!, and the resident tap dancer for The Washington Ballet's "The Great Gatsby," under the direction of Septime Weber. Johnson performed in the Tony Award-winning show After Midnight created by Jack Viertel and choreographed by Warren Carlyle with NCL Productions.  
 
While on stage, Johnson continues to develop his passion for the arts by creating work for social change.  He was the lead choreographer for the 2010 Season Premier of Extreme Makeover Home Edition in Baltimore, MD starring Raven--Symone. He has premiered new works at the International Body Music Festival in Brazil, New York City Tap Festival: Tap International, and Cirque Du Soleil with The Nevada Ballet's "A Choreographers' Showcase" in Las Vegas. Of this performance, the Las Vegas Review Journal wrote, "Urban Jungle: The Village, by Ryan Johnson of The Beatles LOVE, is a burst of pure feeling, the most infectious entry of the program."  
 
Johnson has been commissioned to teach workshops, residencies, lecture demonstrations, and art integrated programming at universities, dance festivals and conventions worldwide.  He has partnered with United States Embassies to participate in cultural exchange performances and workshops throughout Africa, North America, South America, and SouthEast Asia.  
 Johnson co--founded SOLE Defined with Quynn Johnson, an award--winning percussive dance company that intersects music, movement, and imagination, creating an exciting twist on theater and percussive dance. SOLE Defined's mission is to educate youth,  empower communities, and entertain the masses through high quality performing arts and impactful arts education programming.  The Washington Post has noted SOLE Defined as presenting "the coolest number of the night with its high--stepping and toe-tapping blend of styles." Under the Artistic Direction of Johnson, SOLE Defined has performed on stages globally including DancEncore, Jacobs Pillow, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and The World Children's
Festival in Turin, Italy. SOLE Defined has premiered five new shows, Black Amer--I--Can (2013), The Experiment (2014), Phenix (2015) and Frequency (2016), and Zaz (2018) all written and directed by Ryan K Johnson.