Footnotes Tap Ensemble - About Footnotes

Dancers

Robin Vail, Co-founder and Artistic Director, received her training in jazz, tap and ballet in San Francisco & Los Angeles. She holds an undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts from UCLA and a minor in Music. In Los Angeles, Robin studied with Jim Taylor and Jamie Pisano. She has studied with Gene Medler since 1995. Robin teaches tap, ballet and jazz at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill where she is also the school's administrator. She is the North Carolina Representative for the International Tap Association and is on the board for the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble.

Mimi Benjamin, Co-founder and Guest Dancer, graduated from Brandeis University in 1982 with a degree in Theater Arts. She began a career in Musical Theater in NYC with credits including Up In Central Park (Off-Broadway) and the National tour of Fiddler on the Roof. In 1987 she returned to school and received a MD degree in 1991.

Erin O’Reilly began her dance training in Canton, OH and has a minor in Dance from SUNY Fredonia where she studied tap, jazz, ballet and modern dance. She continued her ballet and jazz training at Indiana University where she received a minor in ballet along with her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics. After moving to Durham, NC in 1998 Erin studied with Gene Medler, was a founding member of Footnotes in 2002 and has since choreographed many original dances for the Ensemble. Erin has studied tap with Michelle Dorrance, Josh Hilberman, Diane Walker, Dorothy Wasserman and Billy Siegenfeld among others.

Mary Fletcher Peña has danced since childhood, focusing in recent years on dance forms that put special emphasis on the feet - flamenco, Irish step dancing, and her favorite, rhythm tap. After studying under Gene Medler as a member of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble, Mary was afforded the opportunity to study European dance forms while working in the international arena.

Alexis Dunkle is from the San Francisco Bay Area where she graduated from UC Berkeley and enjoyed studying a variety of forms of dance since a young age. Having devoted herself to forms of dance rooted in jazz tradition, she has traveled the country and abroad as a part of the swing dance and lindy hop community since 1997. She began to focus on tap dance in 2004, studying with Mimi Benjamin and Gene Medler and joined Footnotes in April 2006.

Shannon Mølhave is a native of Canton, Michigan where she danced tap, jazz and ballet for 10 years with the Dancin' Feet Company. She graduated from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design, a professional skill she has donated to Footnotes by designing their printed literature and website. A resident of the Triangle since June 2005, Shannon has studied with Mimi Benjamin and Gene Medler, and has been a member of Footnotes since April 2006.

Whitney Goodman grew up in San Francisco and Chapel Hill, and after years of living all over, loves being back in the Triangle area. In the past years she has explored the field of conservation biology and environmental education, worked with her mom making chocolate confections, and now loves being a teacher in Durham. Whitney has performed nationally and abroad with Gene Medler and the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble, and joined Footnotes in 2007.

Zans McLachlan began tap dancing with Gene Medler at age eight. He became a founding member of NCYTE (nee The Children's Tap Company) at ten, continuing with the company through high school. Since majoring in Dance and Biology at Swarthmore College, he has taught, choreographed, and performed in North Carolina, Chicago, and Russia. Zans has wide influences, including Honi Coles, Thelonious Monk, Michelle Dorrance, George Clinton, Sam Weber, Duke Ellington, and Gene Medler.

Tina Allen is originally from Alexandria, VA, and has been studying tap and ballet since age five. She received a BS in Computer Science as well as minors in dance and math from Duke University in 2002. While at Duke, she was one of the founding members of the rhythm tap group "On Tap" and a member of the ballet repertory ensemble. She is currently working as a software engineer and discovered Footnotes after taking classes from Gene Medler. She joined Footnotes Tap Ensemble in January 2008.

Carla Barcelos studied tap in her home country of Brazil from her youth through college with Susan Baskerville and also assisted in teaching tap. In 2006, Carla moved to the United States and danced with Caitlin Spencer, Director of the Rhythm Room in Greensboro, NC and guest artist with Footnotes. She joined the Ensemble in January 2008.

Dana Taylor Smith is from Roxboro, NC and developed a passion for tap at an early age while studying under Toni Noblett along with dancing jazz and ballet. A resident of Raleigh since 1999, she attended North Carolina State University and received an BA in English in 2003 and an MS in Technical Communication in 2006. Dana currently teaches tap at Carolina Dance Center. She joined Footnotes in January of 2009.

Tiffany Wheeler grew up in Northern Virginia and began studying tap, jazz, and ballet at a young age. While living in the DC area she was a member of the former DC Rhythm Ensemble and performed and educated audiences throughout the region. She graduated from East Carolina University with a BS in Elementary Education and enjoys teaching second grade. Tiffany shares her passion for tap as a teacher at North Carolina Dance Institute in Raleigh. She joined Footnotes in January 2009.