About Footnotes
Footnotes Tap Ensemble (FTE), a non-profit professional tap company, was founded by Robin Vail and Mimi Benjamin in 2002. The Ensemble’s mission is to promote, educate and perform this truly unique American dance art through annual Ensemble Concerts, Community Concerts and Tap Workshops. FTE continues to gain recognition throughout the Triangle and the tap community for its varied and highly acclaimed repertoire and affordable workshops teaching “classic tap.” Footnotes has commissioned works from Michelle Dorrance, Josh Hilberman, Robert Perera, Dorothy Wasserman, Lane Alexander and Gene Medler; Director of the highly acclaimed North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE).
Download the Footnotes Tap Ensemble brochure
Footnotes Announcements
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Dancers
Robin Vail, Co-founder and Artistic Director, received her training in jazz, tap and ballet in San Francisco and 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, and has studied with Gene Medler since 1995. Robin teaches tap, ballet and jazz at
The Ballet School of Chapel Hill where she is a partner and the School's administrator. In 2009 her work was selected for the Choreographer's showcase as part of the NC Dance Alliance's Annual Event in Winston-Salem. She is the North Carolina Representative for the International Tap Association and is on the NCYTE board.
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.
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.
Whitney Lanier grew up in Cary, NC and began studying tap, ballet and jazz at an early age. She continued her dancing at East Carolina University where she received her BFA in Dance Education. Whitney became the 2009 recipient of the East Carolina University Outstanding Senior Award in the area of Dance Education. She continues to share her passion for dance as a teacher at Premier School of Dance and joined Footnotes in September 2010.
Lisa Mace grew up in Seven Lakes, NC, and trained at Dancer's Workshop in Sanford under Tori Melby. Starting at age 3 through high school she studied tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and acrobatics. Lisa graduated Magna Cum Laude from East Carolina University with her BFA in Dance Performance. She was named talent winner at Miss North Carolina in 2009 with her tap solo "It Don't Mean a Thing," where she was also a top five finalist. Lisa is currently a teacher/choreographer at Dancer's Workshop, is certified through Dance Masters of America to teach tap, jazz and acrobatics, and is an active member of CDM, Chapter 15.
