HEATHER CORNELL

ABOUT HEATHER

Heather Cornell creates visual music ensembles where she functions as the percussionist.  As artistic director for Manhattan Tap, one of the busiest music/dance companies in the world in the 80’s and 90’s, she is known as a mover and shaker of the tap dance renaissance.  She has toured worldwide with her shows “Finding Synesthesia”, “CanTap” and “Conversations” and as a soloist.  She was recently commissioned to create an evening for the Distinguished Artist Series at Bergen Community College. She is co-director of “Walk to the Beat” and co-founder of Making Music Dance, a tap, flamenco and world music ensemble, releasing their first CD this spring

 

A pioneer of concert tap and of working with world music, Heather trained directly with the first generation tap masters, and has taught and inspired three generations of tap dancers, musicians and actors internationally. Called “the Oscar Peterson of hoofing” (Globe and Maill), she was the sole tap dancer mentored by the infamous bassist, Ray Brown.  TapMotif in Lefkada, Greece was her laboratory for 8 seasons, where she trained free-thinking “bilingual” artists in music and dance.  This year she celebrates the 25th Anniversary of her NYC Rhythm Tap Intensive with live music.

 

Her TV, radio and film credits include:  “Thinking on Their Feet, Women of the Tap Renaissance” (Jenai Cutcher), “Gotta Move, Women in Tap” (Lynn Daly), ”“KQED special with Honi Coles and the Jazz Tap Ensemble; “Gregory Hines’ Tap Dance in America” for PBS; featured MT special on “Sounds Impressive”; and, WYNC’s live radio show, “Around New York” for 5 years.  She choreographed “The Play What I Wrote” for Broadway and “Three Penny Opera” for Atalaya in Sevilla, Spain.  She is the recipient of numerous awards for her excellence in tap dance and in leading the international tap community.