The Mission

The mission of Measuring Time Dance Collective is to provide a diverse and inclusive space for artists, educators, students and audiences to be enriched by immersing them in the art of tap dancing.  This mission will be accomplished by providing opportunities for artists and educators to create diverse new works including live performances, classes, workshops, and lectures.

How is our mission accomplished?

Our mission will be accomplished by creating a  full length tap dance work to be presented in July 2025, which will then tour as a combination performance piece and arts education workshop.  Our company will conduct performances, residencies, masterclasses and community outreach through the art of tap dancing. 

How will the funds be used?

Funds raised will go towards creating this full length work, including rehearsal space, artists, original music, and production elements including a 16'x16' sprung maple floor.

Why does this work matter?

Art, culture, and history are tied together.  It makes us think, feel, speak, and respond to events in the world around us.  Oftentimes, art is a pathway to preserving identity in the face of enormous obstacles.  Tap dancing is a prime example. 

In the villages of West Africa history, folklore, and ancestral lineage were contained in the rhythms of the Djembe drum.  This rich musical culture crossed the Atlantic to the plantations of the American South, where enslaved African people continued to preserve their identity through the rhythms of their homeland.  

This tradition took and abrupt turn when the Negro Act of 1740 was passed in the colonial province of South Carolina making it illegal for enslaved people  to own property - including drums.  

Their response was to begin dancing in a percussive way, and beating out rhythms on the ground with their feet.  This developed into Patting Juba, a rhythmic call and response performed in a circle.   Even today tap dancers will stand in a circle and “trade fours,”  a continuation of this tradition nearly 300 years later.

From the deep South, the syncopated rhythms of West Africa made their way to New York City.  In the 1840’s in Manhattan’s Five Points Districtj and young man named William Henry Lane began to attract the attention of first the city, then the United States, then Europe with his spectacular percussive dancing.  

And so tap dancing has continued to be a vehicle by which to speak truth.

The Company

Becca Fox (Dancer) Becca is thrilled to perform as part of Measuring Time Dance Collective. Originally from Florida, she moved to New York City to pursue her studies in theater and dance. Recent credits include: El Niño, Lucia Di Lammermoor, and Eurydice (Metropolitan Opera), Penelope and Lolita, My Love (The York Theatre Company), Independence (La Jolla Playhouse), The American Christmas Carol (Carnegie Hall), Rhythm in Motion (Symphony Space), and ATDF’s Something’s Afoot (with Margaret Morrison). A visual & performing artist, she also leads the Afrofunk/indie dance band, Gentleman Brawlers. As a dancer, she trains in a wide range of styles, including workshops with the Verdon Fosse Legacy Estate, Pilobolus Dance Theater, Brenda Buffalino, Sam Weber, and Michelle Dorrance, as well as studying regularly with Lynn Schwab, Katharine Ponza, Ray Hesselink, and Derick Grant. A huge hug to my friends and family! @beccafoxdesign @gentlemanbrawlers.

Michael Dauer (Dancer) Michael is an international dancer | choreographer | educator based in New York City. He has been seen on stage in the National Tour of Chicago as well as in regional productions at Maine State Music Theater, The Fulton Opera House, Ogunquit Playhouse and Westchester Broadway Theater. Michael's choreography has been featured in many dance shorts and on stage throughout the Tri-State Area as well as Lima, Perú. A proud alumni of Wright State University's Dance Program, he enjoys inspiring the next generation of dancers with his 20+ years of experience in the entertainment industry.

Darin Chumbley (Dancer)  Darin grew up in the dance world and has extensive experience as a company dancer, choreographer, and master teacher. Despite his diverse dance training, tap has always held a special place in his heart. He's toured internationally with  The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Gypsy, 42nd Street, The Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Open Road Tour, and performed with the Australian tap sensation, Dein Perry's Tap Dogs. Darin was also part of a two man tap show, On Tap, which headlined on land and around the world on Holland America Cruise Lines.

David John Madore (Composer) David has written the incidental music for many world premiereproductions around the United States as well as various on-spec works, such as: “One
Good Thing” (recorded by the cast of Broadway’s Matilda); The Neophyte Rag (International ScottJoplin Festival); In the Beginning (commissioned for choir); Time to Take Your Turn
(Neighborhood Playhouse); “Supersize Me!” (Off-Bway for Epic Fail) and many others. His
works cover various styles, including ragtime, musical theatre, choral, and various instrumentals from New Age to symphonic. David is also an accomplished music director, Broadway vocal coach, and pianist. Selected MD Credits: A Chorus Line; Joseph...Dreamcoat (Arvada Center); Battlecry!; The Band’s Visit (original reading); Cross That River (w/Donna McKechnie - Kennedy Ctr, NYMF, the O’Neill); Prison Dancer (NYMF); The World Goes Round (Mus.Theatre of CT); South Pacific, The Who’s Tommy, Les Miserables, Happy Days; (West Virginia Public Theatre); Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Live! (Tour); Peace, Love, and Cupcakes; Flight School (Vital). Other music dept: Seussical (Bway); Les Miserables (Bway reh. accomp); The Fantasticks; Newsical the musical (Off-Bway pianist); Man of La Mancha (Nat’l Tour); Dear
World (w/Jerry Herman); Red, Hot & Blue; On the Twentieth Century (Goodspeed); Sweet
Charity; The Game (Barrington Stage); Man of La Mancha; The Sound of Music; Smokey Joe’s...
(Mus. Circus), All That Glitters (B’way workshop); Far From the Madding Crowd (workshops).

Warren Curtis (Artistic Director) Warren is an artist and educator whose career has spanned Broadway National Tours to intimate performance venues.  His award winning tap choreography has be seen on staged across the U.S. Credits as a performer included the 1st National Tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 42nd Street, and numerous companies of A Chorus Line and West Side Story.  His primary focus is sharing the art of tap dancing - the one that has enriched his life the most.  Many thanks to my wonderful tap teachers - Charles Goddertz, Derik Grant, and Lynn Schwab.



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