From The Top
From the beginning, I struggled academically. From first grade through twelfth grade, I attended thirteen different schools—and my family never moved. I was slated to repeat first grade because I couldn’t read.
What’s more, I never could catch, see, hit, kick, or dodge a ball. My failures on the court, on the track, in the gym, and in the classroom were nothing compared to what happened on the playground. I was a goofball who spent most of recess playing on the swings alone or sitting inside a classroom to avoid getting beat up by the other kids.
Flap Ball Change
Dance education and the performing arts are the foundation of my life. I grew up dancing at my mother’s studio in New York, The Adele Johnson School of Performing Arts.
I have eight siblings who all know how to execute a mean time step. One of my brothers, Kevin, will swear he taught me everything tap dance. However, one look at his flap ball change reveals the truth.
Education
A pivotal life moment occurred when mother used the word, “opportunity.” This resulted in me attending college.
I earned my BA from the George Washington University. I majored in Political Science because my goal was to be the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
While earning my undergrad degree I served as a Congressional Intern on Capitol Hill for a member of the United States House of Representatives.
I moved in 1993 from Washington, DC to Austin and earned an MBA from The University of Texas. I’m a Longhorn.
Corporate Life
I worked at various Fortune 500 companies including The Sara Lee Corporation in Winston-Salem.
They recruited me after business school to brand managed a line of panty hose.
I quit after five months because life without show tunes and show business was unbearable.
Author
I’ve authored three books:
- Dance into Life, co-authored with the legendary Joe Tremaine, 2018
- TAP-IN to Your Full Potential, 2010
- Rich by Choice, Poor by Habit, 2004
Rich by Choice, Poor by Habit is out of print. Hard copies are available for sale on line. There’s also an e-book. Here are the links to the paperback and digital versions. Thank you.
Drum Call
I traveled to Guinea, West Africa to study Djembe with Les Percussions de Guinea and Les Ballets Africains. Mother went with me.
Three Sister's Tappin'
I toured with two of my sisters as part of a tap dancing and drumming trio called, Three Sister’s Tappin’. Then my younger sister quit (family drama).
My older sister and I carried on as Two Sister’s Tappin‘. Then she quit. Today I’m A Sister Tappin’.
Tremaine Dance
I am currently on faculty with Tremaine Dance Conventions @Tremainedance and in 2015, won, by national voters’ choice, the Industry Dance Awards title “Favorite Dance Convention Teacher.”
I’m honored to teach the skill of tap dancing.
Tap Shoes
What started as a personal project designing tap dance shoes for myself blossomed into a 3D printed, on demand headquarters for consumer dance footwear.
Co-create with a team of 3D designers, engineers’, and scientists to develop a 3D printed dance shoe with material that replicates leather without using the actual material.
3D Printed Shoes
3D scanning along with the latest 3D printing innovation to create a tap dance shoe that’s beautiful, comfortable, functional, and recyclable.
Pioneering future fashion-tech to merge art, 3D design, and emerging tech to revolutionize/reinvent the future of dance footwear.
New Heights
Family, friends, teachers, and colleagues referred to me for years as a first-class, out-to-lunch daydreamer. I’ve been told all my life that I’m on cloud 9.
To that end, preparation is under way to display as a digitalized, Virtual Reality, 3-D avatar who tap dances through the untapped space of the Tapaverse – which of course is in the metaverse . . . somewhere on cloud 9.
Home Life
I am a Los Angeles based performing artist and I live with my wife, Brie.
We met at a bar/club. She assumed I was part of that evening’s entertainment.
This is how she tells it: “Your teeth were so white. I just assumed you were a singer in the band because you just looked like an artist. I remember watching you on the dance floor and thinking, “She’s gotta be a singer . . . because she certainly ain’t no dancer.”
