History of the LA Tap Festival

Information about the history of the LA Tap Festival, an annual Southern California tap dancing event established in 2003. See also About the Festival, and general information about Tap Dancing in California.

The L.A. festival was conceived in 2002, after dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen invited New York tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith, then 21, to develop a tap program for the dancing school she opened in 2001. Allen was impressed by Samuels-Smith when she saw him perform in the Broadway musical "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk".

Debbie invited Jason and Chloe Arnold to establish an annual tap dancing festival at her studio, which at the time was located at 3623 Hayden Avenue in Culver City.

The inaugural LA tap Festival was scheduled for August of 2003 and it got a lot of publicity because Gregory Hines agreed to help launch the event by agreeing to participate for for only $5.00. Sadly he was unable to do so because he died of cancer on August 9, 2003, only a few days before the event.

The the LA tap fetival was originally co-directed by Chloe Arnold, and later co-directed by Cathie Nicholas, granddaughter of Fayard Nicholas of the famous Nicholas Brothers tap dancing duo. The 2019 festival was co-directed by the co-founder and executive director of Houston's True Sund Rhythm Festival.