Annually, since 2009, Brandee Lara, Chapman University's tap instructor, has coordinated a show to showcase the work and art of her campus's tap dancers; always with the dream of turning it into a bigger and better opportunity to educate and entertain local audiences in all things tap. So Brandee called upon her friends who were heavy hitters in the tap dance community, and invited them to start performing at the Happy Chappy Tappy Show, as it was now known.
In 2006, Brandee championed the formation of an on-campus tap dance club, Chapman University Tap Ensemble (CUTE), and guided those students in producing the show as a team effort.
In 2022, Chapman University/Musco Center for the Arts, with Brandee’s guidance, produced Chapman’s first-ever tap festival, Tap Fest California, which included CUTE’s Happy Chappy Tappy Show as an unofficial event. Once again, Brandee’s longtime connections in the tap community facilitated bringing a multitude of well-known tap dance artists, including Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies, to the event. Due to an incredible response from the tap community, in 2023, Brandee convinced CUTE that it should continue to produce a festival in a smaller, more intimate setting. Thus, Tap Fest Cali was born…produced in earnest by Brandee, her students, her friends, and the Chapman student clubs organization.
Now, beginning in 2027, Tap Fest Cali is growing once again! Tap Fest Cali will continue its main focus on:
*Providing a quality festival of tap and related dance in a small setting at affordable prices
*Educating the public on the African American roots of tap dance, and its place as modern America’s vernacular dance form
*Preserving and advancing the art form
*Providing hands-on opportunities for local college students to work with industry professionals in producing a full scale dance event.
In addition, TFC will continue to provide scholarships in tandem with other tap festivals around the world.