Cara McDonough Photos
Observing Alexis Robbins’s Friday evening tap class, held on the top floor of Building 5 at Erector Square on Peck Street, one has to wonder if the people one floor below — and perhaps the people below them — are distracted by the sound. But one also has to wonder if those people, artists themselves, after all, might excuse the ruckus. It’s such a joyful noise.
The session in question — an “absolute beginner” tap class — is run by Robbins, the founder and artistic director of kamrDANCE, a collective that focuses on tap, percussive movement and contemporary dance. It’s one of a few classes she holds in Studio i at Erector Square, including “Advanced Beginner” and “Intermediate” classes as well.
Three participants were present at the outset of the class, a number that increased as latecomers appeared and the time for the advanced class approached; the two usually overlap. The students didn’t wait for Robbins to begin class officially (she clearly doesn’t mind) before quickly donning their tap shoes to click and clack their way around the hardwood floor of the small room, laughing and hugging their hellos.
If these participants — who, like many of Robbins’ students, are in their 60s — were ever self-conscious dancing, the feeling’s been abandoned by now.
That’s notable because many of her students have “never danced — ever,” Robbins said. “It’s a huge honor to be their first dance teacher. And a big responsibility.” Some of them tell her that tap dancing has given them a “new lease on life.”
Robbins moved to New Haven from Brooklyn about a year and a half ago. There weren’t many tap classes available in the Elm City, so she eagerly began her own, renting space in Erector Square. She joked that in the beginning, she could count on a solid “zero to three” people showing up, but word of mouth and flyers around town brought more tap-curious souls through the door. Eventually she had enough students to hold three classes per week, with absolute and advanced beginners on Friday evenings and intermediate students meeting on Wednesday evenings.
She’s taught in a few different spaces in Erector Square since, and is currently renting space from two visual artists who share Studio i there. The space contains lovely, large paintings, and poetry painted right on the wall, although not any dance imagery or paraphernalia. That didn’t matter, though. All this group needed was their shoes and the floor underfoot.
The classes aren’t overly serious and students aren’t meant to learn difficult routines — or to memorize anything at all, said Robbins. They are also, notably, affordable, at $10-$15 a class on a sliding scale (you can learn more about signing up on her website).
Robbins believes that everyone can, and should, dance. Most important, she wants her students to learn to keep time — the bread and butter of tapping — and requires that they use the class to try some improvisation, which is “deeply rooted” in the dance style. She said many are nervous at first but get over it quickly once they try.
Beyond the pure fun of improvised tap dancing, their eagerness is likely due to Robbins herself.
The upbeat dancer and choreographer is a well-trained professional. Robbins graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in dance and B.S. in exercise science from Hofstra University, and has received notable awards and achievements in the dance world. She has choreographed routines for a variety of venues and kamrDANCE, the dance group she founded, has performed at events and festivals. One of Robbins’s works, “Generations of Rhythm,” which involved members of the New Haven community, was commissioned for 2019’s City Wide Open Studios.
This Sunday, Feb. 9, she is hosting and producing a tap jam at Whitneyville Cultural Commons in Hamden from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.; that will be a monthly event through June. On April 17 and 18, she will performing at the Providence Dance Festival with sister and collaborator Sarah Robbins, in a piece that combines dance and poetry.
(The “kamr” by the way, is a compilation of the initials of her full name. KamrDANCE was the name of an hour-long show of her work she produced in college for her senior practicum. She liked incorporating her initials and identity into her artistic expression and said that, from then on, she knew it would be the name of her company).
Taking a class with Robbins was like learning from a relentlessly encouraging, contagiously upbeat friend. After queuing up the music, she began her class with a “warm up” for the feet, guiding her crew through some basic exercises. She then moved into a few actual routines, revealed, at first, at a slow pace, as the students watched and repeated them back.
McEvoy.
Tap isn’t easy, and its lexicon — “shuffle,” “heel,” “brush,” and “flap,” to name a few key terms — isn’t entirely intuitive. It’s remembering complicated patterns, then performing those patterns using only your feet, in quick, subtle movements; it’s wearing loud footwear while still remaining graceful. The mind-body connection and associated benefits inherent in this dance form are why some participants — including Victorya McEvoy, who was in the Friday beginner class — were taking it. She’d read research suggesting that tap is particularly good for seniors’ bodies and brain power.
But it’s also fun, undoubtedly so. The Friday night class members were serious, yet smiling. Robbins took turns demonstrating moves and checking in with the class, yelling out a cheerful “Ok?!” or a “Right!” over the taps, when she saw that everyone was getting the swing of things. She could easily break out into a professional-grade, quadruple-time routine at any moment — and did, occasionally, dance her way through her thoughts when a student asked a question about a particular step — she moved right along with the beginners as they thought their way through increasingly lengthy routines.
In addition to her teaching skills, Robbins incorporated tap history into her lessons and the weekly emails she sends her students. This is important, as tap’s history is a heavy one.
“It’s an African American art form that came about because of a history of oppression,” Robbins said. Tap — an American dance genre created through a fusion of British and West African musical and dance traditions — has roots that reach back to slavery. The form was also part of racist minstrel shows of the 1800s. Robbins believed it was important for her students to know tap’s complicated history as well as celebrate its champions. For Black History Month, she plans to introduce her classes to a different African American tap dancer during each of her weekly newsletters. During Women’s History Month, in March, she’ll introduce them to some of the women who’ve made their name in the genre.
Robbins knew her history and her moves. What she loved most about tap, however, was its singular ability to fuse dance and music in one person. Or in many.
“We’re just all coming together to learn how our bodies can be instruments,” Robbins said about her classes, and the reasons people should try it themselves. “I love to tap because I get to make music. It’s this very specific way of expressing yourself. You’re equally a dancer and a musician.”
Or, as McEvoy said, tapping buoyantly across the floor, “I’m taking tap dance because I was never allowed to make this much noise at home.”
KamrDANCE is located in Building 5 of Erector Square on Peck Street; visit its website for more information on classes. The next tap jam at Whitneyville Cultural Commons, 1253 Whitney Ave., in Hamden, happens Feb. 9 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It’s a potluck and all are welcome.