Denise Caston-Clark, Owner and Director of Tap Dance Detroit + Performing Arts Center, was a Radio City Rockette for 10 years and toured nationally with the Tony Award winning musical, Crazy For You. Denise has also had the honor of performing the choreography of Savion Glover at a showcase in New York City. She performed on tour in Australia, dancing all over the continent in Elvis to the Max. Her choreography has been seen in many productions in which she performed, including shows at Caesars Windsor in Ontario, Canada. Credits also include film, television, commercials, and industrials.
She was on the faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway in NYC, and is thrilled to be launching Tap Dance Detroit. Other teaching credits include Debbie Allen Dance Academy Summer Intensive, Gregg Russell’s Tap Into the Network, Big Apple Tap Festival, and The Rockette Experience© at Radio City Music Hall.
In 2011, Denise was invited to speak at the TEDx Detroit Conference about her contributions to the cultural landscape in Detroit, including founding and producing Motor City Tap Fest and founding the Detroit Tap Repertory.
In 2014, she was awarded a prestigious MaTilDa Award from her alma mater, Oakland University, for Alumni Achievement in Dance.
Certified by the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum
“At age 35 my mother started tap dancing and suggested I try too; I’ve been tapping ever since.” Heidi has been teaching tap for more than 30 years and hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps and tap for decades to come.
Heidi started her tap journey in the 1980s at Annette & Co. School of Dance in Michigan and eventually ended up teaching and performing in Washington, D.C. for over 20 years. Before moving back to Detroit in 2016, Heidi taught tappers of all levels—from absolute beginners to professionals—at the Joy of Motion Dance Center in Washington, D.C.. Heidi is the founder, director, and choreographer of the rhythm tap company Tappening that has, since 2000, created pieces to a wide range of music such as R&B, electronica, reggae, hip hop, bluegrass, classical, jazz, and rock and performed at several D.C. venues including the Kennedy Center. In 2010, she started another rhythm tap company, Tappenstance, for adult tappers. In 2008, she made her Broadway debut at Lincoln Center as part of a tap chorus with the New York Philharmonic. Heidi was also an adjunct dance professor at American University for several years.
Heidi has studied, performed, and jammed with finest tap dancers across the U.S. Her tap family includes such greats as Chloe Arnold, Maud Arnold, Michelle Dorrance, Jason Holley, Jason Janas, Quynn Johnson, Toni Lombre, Joseph Webb, and Baakari Wilder.
Jayda Powell graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance on a Four-Year Dance Talent Scholarship, and is currently a Professional Apprentice with Take Root Inc. out of Rochester Hills, MI. While at Wayne State University, she trained under artists such as Meg Paul, Biba Bell, BAIRA, Lisa Wilmot, and more. Jayda has had the opportunity to perform works by Della Hamby, Adam McGaw, Meg Paul, Jill Cassidy, and Stephanie Troyak amongst others. Jayda is from Jackson, Michigan, and began dance at the age of three. At the age of twelve Jayda became a dance teacher assistant, and at fifteen she started teaching classes independently. Jayda has experience with many dance genres, masterclasses, instructors, and performance opportunities in state and out of state. Jayda also received her Dance Masters of America certification in both Ballet and Jazz. A favorite dance experience would be Jayda’s invitation to attend the American College of Dance Association in Brockport, New York, and performing in the final gala with Wayne State University her freshman year.
Megan Drabant (Detroit, MI), graduated with an MFA Dance Science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, England, with her thesis research focusing on the effects of fatigue on tap dancers. Previously, Megan received a BFA in Dance from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She performed professionally with the Michigan Dance Project, directed by Kathy King; Detroit Tap Repertory, directed by Denise Caston-Clark; M.A.D.D. Rhythms, directed by Bril Barrett; Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s BAM!, directed by Lane Alexander; and CoCoDaCo Mezzo Company, directed by Ronn Stewart. She has choreographed for the feature film Needlestick, written and directed by Detroit-based film writer Steven Karageanes, and has written articles for the hyperlocal dance portal site, Dance Panorama. In September 2012, Megan was featured in Dance Magazine for initiating a tap course at Wayne State University. Megan is a certified STOTT Pilates instructor, PTA Global Personal trainer, AFAA Group Fitness instructor, and a Gray Institute 3DMAPS and CAFS certified coach. She is a regional judge for Triple S Dance Competition, and is on faculty with Dancewerks Regional and National Werkshops- leading sessions in Pilates, contemporary, tap, and dance science.
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