Mentor Messages

Nicholas

Nicholas Van Young is a dancer, musician, choreographer, and a 2014 Bessie Award recipient. He began his professional career at age 16 under Acia Gray and Deirdre Strand with Tapestry Dance Company in Austin, Texas, eventually rising to principal dancer and resident choreographer. Since moving to New York he has performed with Manhattan Tap, RumbaTap, Dorrance Dance, and Beat the Donkey; he has toured as a drummer for Darwin Deez; and he spent almost a decade performing with STOMP, where he performed the lead role and acted as rehearsal director. Young tours both nationally and internationally teaching and performing at various tap festivals, and founded Sound Movement dance company and IFTRA, the Institute for the Rhythmic Arts. He is thrilled to have found a home with Dorrance Dance, co-creating and developing ETM: Double Down, and the Guggenheim Rotunda Project, both collaborative efforts with Michelle Dorrance.

Charles Renato was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. He began tap-dancing at the age of 6 mentored by his teacher Adriana Brunato. Charles has won several renowned awards throughout his career including Best Dancer of the Festidança, Joinville Dance Festival and also the winner of the "Tap in Rio Challenge” in 2007. On TV, he won the network TV Globo Challenge Show in 2009 and 2010. Renato was a member of the "KS Tap Company," directed by Kika Sampaio, which is responsible for bringing together the most sought after teachers of the nation. In 2010 he launched his international career joining the cast of the musical “Sinatra – Blue Eyes.” in Lisbon, Portugal. After that Mr. Renato was invited to represent Brazil at the Rhythm World in Chicago. Ever since, Renato has been sought after to perform, choreograph, and teach in over many cities in the United States. In 2018 Mr. Renato is going to tour in Europe passing by Croatia, Ukraine, Italy, Ireland and United Kingdom. Renato has choreographed for the famous samba school Águia de Ouro Samba school, where he was responsible for the carnival float titled “The Biggest Festivals,” which hosted some of the most distinguished performers in Brazilian music such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Rita Lee, Cauby Peixoto, and Angela Maria. In 2013, he was also invited to choreograph the hit TV show Chiquititas. In 2013 he was was asked to choreograph a piece for the Chicago Human Rhythm Project Festival featuring students from all over the world. He directed the video "I'm not afraid" for Chloe Arnold's Apartment 33 which lead him to work with video production and editing.

This season Charles was invited to be Artist Residence at American Tap Dance Foundation directed by Tony Waag. He is also launching in 2018 the CHR Project , a collaboration with young NYC tap talents which will be premiered at Rhythm in Motion in July/2018.

Sarah Reich (Performer, Choreographer, Instructor, Composer) has emerged as one of the new leaders in the Art Form of Tap Dance. This Los Angeles native has been sought after to perform, choreograph, and teach in over 40 countries.  "I want to continue to bring tap into mass media with great respect and quality," she says, focusing on "reprogramming the minds of the general public on their perception of tap dance." (Dance Magazine 2017)

Sarah has become one of the art form's pop culture ambassadors, thanks to her appearances in videos with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. Her videos with them (A Star Wars–themed tribute, "The Tap Awakens," & “Thriller”, a Michael Jackson cover featuring Wayne Brady) have garnered millions of views on YouTube, all receiving rave reviews. She has toured the world with Postmodern Jukebox playing prestigious venues such as Radio City Music Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Sydney Opera House as well as a televised PBS special filmed in Las Vegas. Previously she was seen on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance under companies by Chloe Arnold and Jason Samuels Smith. With her own company, Tap Music Project, she has choreographed and performed at the Ford Amphitheatre, UCLA’s Jazz Reggae Music Festival, Blue Whale jazz club, and the televised LA County Holiday Celebration. Sarah was also a performer at Madison Square Garden for the opening of the NY Knicks 2013-2014 season. She was sought out to perform at Jazz at the Lincoln Center for a tribute to Duke Ellington in New York City in 2017. In addition to her vast international travels and countless television appearances, Sarah has had the honor to perform at some of the most prestigious venues back home in Los Angeles such as The Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theater with Mexican Pop-Star, Cristian Castro and the Dolby Theater with the great Herbie Hancock. With her Tap Music Project intensives in various cities, Reich teaches tap dancers how to dance with more musicality, communicate with musicians and write music. Using a live band in class, she instructs students on how to "scat" rhythms or transcribe choreography with rhythm notation, among other skills.  Sarah is developing new, and exciting works with her company Tap Music Productions, including her debut Tap Jazz Album titled New Change. This album is originally produced, composed from percussive tap rhythms, and performed by a great selection of musicians to create a unique sound. She hopes this is just the beginning: "I want to be the first tap dancer to win a Grammy Award!"