peggy spina tap company
  
     
 
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  Peggy Spina, having created over 100 dances for her tap ensemble, is probably the most prolific tap choreographer on the East Coast. Commenting about her work and company she says,

"Some of my dances are like poems. Emotional states or imaginary visions transform through rhythmic structure into tap abstractions. There is no carbon copy look about the Peggy Spina Tap Company. My dancers are talented and smart individuals who are equally capable as part of a quintet, duet or solo. They can hit the floor in a percussive robust manner or caress it lightly; they can jump cleanly and lightly into the air; and spin with apparent abandon."

  
     
 
The Peggy Spina Tap Company:
 The Joel Forrester Quartet:  
  Sarah Buscaino Joel Forrester, piano  
  Noreen Carruthers Matt Garrity, drums  
  Laura Coleman Dave Hofstra, bass  
  Maya Krishnasastry Vito Dieterle, sax  
  Alison Manning    
  Misty Owens    
  Kathleen Voss    
  Katy Wood    
       
  Biographies  
     
  Sarah Buscaino, Dancer  
  Sarah Buscaino was born and raised in New York.  She began her dance training at The American Theater Dance Workshop on Long Island under  the direction of Madeline Dempster and Sophia Semler.  She is currently pursuing a BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College under the direction of Katie Langan.  There she has had the honor to perform works by Edgar Zendejas and William Soleau.  This is Sarah's debut performance with the Peggy Spina Tap Company and she couldn't be more thrilled.  She would like to thank her family and friends for their continued love and support.  
     
  Laura Coleman, Dancer  
  This is Laura’s sixth year performing with the Peggy Spina Tap Company.  She studied various forms of dance at a local studio in her hometown of New Haven, Connecticut, from age four until her teen years.  She began spending weekends in NYC to study with Peggy when she was 14 and then returned full-time when she began attendance at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2002.  Laura studies and plays drums and sings in a New York-based rock ‘n roll band,  Murder Mystery.  She graduated from NYU with a concentration in dance and music, as well as psychology.  She is currently studying at NYU Steinhardt School to earn a Master’s in Psychology.  Laura wants to thank her family and Peggy for their love and support.  
     
  Maya Krishnasastry, Dancer  
  Maya has been dancing with the Peggy Spina Tap Company since 2003.  She has a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College and is a licensed massage therapist.  She has been a member of RASTRO Dance Company since 2005 and has performed with Oh Dear Dance Theater, Ellen Stokes Shadle Dance Works and for Pat Catterson in the past.  Maya currently teaches tap to adult beginners.  Maya thanks her family, Dave and Peggy for their love and support.  
     
  Alison Manning, Dancer  
  Alison Manning graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Art History from Marymount Manhattan College in 2008.  There she performed works by Bahiya Sayed-Gaines, Robert Battle, Jennifer Muller, Twyla Tharp, Merce Cunningham, and Steven Petronio.  In 2007 she was selected for the Contemporary Traditions program at Jacob’s Pillow, working with choreographers and teachers Milton Myers, Robert Moses, Banu Ogan and Elaine Kudo. Alison has been dancing with The Peggy Spina Tap Company since 2005, and a member of Xodus Dance Collective  under the Direction of Karen Gayle since 2008.  Most recently she has been working in Boston with the inter-disciplinary Kinodance Company under the direction of choreographers Alissa Cardone and Ingrid Schatz.  Alison is currently the part-time Director of Development for The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, assisting to promote and support the Yard Arts Festival and the choreographic residencies.  She also works as a publicist for Way Off Broadway and The Peggy Spina Tap Company, and guest teaches at The Yard, The Performing Arts Center of Connecticut, North Country School of Dance and North Country Union High School.  Alison would like to thank her family, and her New York ‘family’, for all of their love and support.  
     
  Misty Owens, Dancer  
  Misty has been dancing with the Peggy Spina Tap Company since 1993. She received her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2006, she received honors from both the New York City Tap Festival naming her “Teacher of the Year” and she was presented with a proclamation from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office dedicating July 17th to her and her tap company, Fulton Feet Express, in celebration of their outstanding community service throughout Brooklyn. Misty has performed and taught throughout U.S., Japan and Mexico with the Bill Evans Dance Co. and with the Absolut Tap promotion. She presented her modern dance choreography at DTW on the Move-Judson Church, Jennifer Muller’s The Hatch, and as part of the QCC Spring Dance Concert. Misty is currently on faculty at Long Island University – Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn Friends School, and the Mark Morris Dance Group – where she is the Artistic Director of two student companies, as well as a founding teacher of the dance for Parkinson Disease Program.  
     
  Kathleen Voss, Dancer  
  Kathleen began dancing with the Peggy Spina Tap Company in 2008 after studying with Peggy at Marymount Manhattan College where she is currently working toward her BFA in Dance along with Minor in Theatre.  Kathleen grew up studying tap, ballet and jazz in Columbus, Ohio as part of the Straub Center and Otterbein College where she was given numerous performance opportunities.  Aside from her studies, Kathleen recently fulfilled a life-long dream of being a Radio City Rockette as part of the first National Arena Tour.  
     
  Katy Wood, Dancer  
  Katy recently performed at Westchester Broadway Theater in 42nd Street, directed by Randy Skinner, and has performed on the North American tour of 42nd Street  and on a USO Tour in the Mediterranean.  The past couple of years, she has performed musicals with the Prather Family of Theaters and Gateway Playhouse.  Katy earned her BA in Dance from Barnard College and hails from New Jersey.  She is thrilled to return to New York to perform with Peggy and her company.  
     
  Joel Forrester, Composer and Pianist  
  Joel is a one-time composition student of Thelonious Monk and has written more than 950 works for piano, voice and jazz combo. He co-founded the Microscopic Septet, recording and touring with them for twelve years. Joel's tune Fresh Air can be heard daily from coast to coast, as it is the theme song of the National Public Radio program of the same name. He shuttles between New York and Paris, leading bands in both cities. After recent concerts at The Louvre, he was hailed as the world's premiere accompanist to silent film. He has won the BMI prize for composition seven straight years. People Like Us, Joel's Quintet, has a new CD on Ride Label, Ever Wonder Why? Joel's solo piano can be heard at the Brandy Library, 25 N. Moore Street in Tribeca every Monday night. For updates, visit www.joelforrester.com.  
     
  Dave Hofstra, Bass  
  Master of the lower frequencies, Dave played for the Company in 1985 at the Marymount Manhattan Theatre and again on the Staten Island Ferry.  He has played with The Micros and Joel Forrester forever.  When playing with The Sewelsonics, one can hear that he is also a tuba virtuoso.  
     
  Vito Dieterle, Sax  
  Vito Dieterle has been gracing the stage since the age of 14 in and around the Chicago area.  Since moving to New York in 1996 to study at the New School University with such jazz greats as Arnie Lawrence, Barry Harris, Benny Powell, Lee Konitz, Reggie Workman, Junior Mance, Chico Hamilton and others, he has been fortunate enough to work with many talented groups in NYC.  Vito has been a featured soloist in groups at the Burlington Jazz Festival,  Chicago Jazz Festivals,  and  numerous  clubs  and  venues  in  NYC and around the country.  He can be seen performing frequently with People Like Us and/or The Trust, led by prolific composer and pianist Joel Forrester. Vito can also be seen and heard with the brilliant singer/songwriter and all-around renaissance man Ethan Lipton all over town, and every Sunday evening from 10:00 to midnight at Little Branch with his own trio featuring the brilliant young pianist Ehud Asherie.  Little Branch is located at 20 7th Avenue South at Leroy Street. See his profile at EthanLipton.com  
     
  Matt Garrity, Drums  
  Born in Ithaca, New York, drummer Matt Garrity attended William Paterson College’s jazz program, and has studied with John Riley, Rufus Reid, Carl Allen and Ed Shaughnessy.  Since arriving in New York in 1994, Matt has performed with some of the best in the business, including alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, vocalist/pianist Teri Thornton, Jerome Richardson, David Williams and Ron McClure, among others.  He is a full-time member of Joel Forrester’s People Like Us. Matt has performed all over New York in such notable venues as The Blue Note, Birdland, Smalls, Smoke and The Up Over Jazz Café. Garrity also leads his own band, ACTUAL TRIO, that performs extensively in the New York area, and has toured throughout the U.S.  Their latest recording is ACTUAL TRIO LIVE.  Matt is also involved in education and is currently a faculty member at The Turtle Bay Music School on Manhattan’s Upper-East Side. Visit www.mattgarrity.com.  
     
  James Buster Brown, Choreographer  
  Buster Brown, renowned for his unique style of B-bop tap dancing, began his career touring the vaudeville circuit with The Speed Kings.  He performed in South America with the Cab Calloway revue, Harlem Express.  In the sixties, he toured in Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert, and performed with Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and the Copasetics.  His broadway credits included Bubblin' Brown Sugar and Black and Blue.  James Buster Brown passed away at the age of 89 in 2002.  Every Sunday at Swing 46, Buster hosted an evening of improvisation, to which people came from all over the world for an opportunity to dance.  
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