Percussive Footwork Ensemble
Dedicated to developing and promoting awareness and appreciation for the art of percussive dance through education, performance, and collaboration
Open Technique Classes
Advanced Technique Class
Advanced level
Tuesdays
7:00-8:00 PM
All ages welcome
$5 drop-in fee
See social media for more details and weekly updates.
All classes held at eMotion Dance
9119 Monroe Plaza Way, Sandy, UT
Check Out Our Instagram
Videos
Upcoming Performances
Soundsation
March 15th, 2022
Covey Center for the Arts, Provo, UT
Contact percussivefootworkensemble@gmail.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook for more information.
Meet the Dancers
Jacob Madsen
Artistic Director
. . .
Jacob is from Tucson, AZ and started tapping when he was just a little boy. He graduated with a BA in Dance from Brigham Young University where he toured with the International Folk Dance Ensemble through several countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Jacob is now adjunct faculty in the world area at BYU where he teaches tap, clogging, team classes, and is the rehearsal specialist for IFDE. Although he has a love for clogging, Canadian step dance, and Irish hard shoe, tap will always be the one closest to his heart.
Lynette Yorgason
. . .
Lynette has been dancing since she was three and has been teaching dance for nearly ten years. She has always loved jazz music and percussion, so tap was often a favorite even though her dance studio didn't have much tap. Lynette graduated from BYU in 2012 with a degree in History Teaching. While at BYU she toured with the International Folk Dance Ensemble throughout the United States and Eastern Europe. At BYU she was able to get more tap experience as well as experience with other percussive dances. Currently, Lynette teaches tap at Wasatch Arts Academy. For her day job, she teaches history and government at East High School in Salt Lake City, UT.
Adriana Cottle
. . .
Adriana, aka The Rhythmic Spice of Tap Dance, was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She started dancing at the age of 4 and tapping at the age of 8 and has been doing it ever since. Adriana was a member of the Alchemy Tap Project in Seattle for 4 years before moving to Utah. She is currently studying French and Informations Systems at Brigham Young University and teaches tap at Studio K and Synergy Dance. Simply put, Adriana LOVES tap and couldn't be more excited to be a part of Percussive Footwork Ensemble!
Amber S Frostad
. . .
Amber was born in a small town in southern Illinois. She started dancing at the age of 3 and immediately fell in love with tap. Later in life, she attended Brigham Young University where she performed and traveled with the IFDE for four years. During this time, her love for percussive footwork grew exponentially. She’s had the opportunity to teach at BYU as well as other local dance studios and continues to try and share the love of tap wherever she goes. She is so excited to be a part of this group and can’t wait to grow as an individual, a performer, and a community.
Mary Beth Johnson
. . .
Mary Beth Johnson is excited to perform with PFE for their second year! Mary Beth recently graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.A. in Dance. She is from Farmington Utah, where she grew up studying ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance. At BYU she took her first tap class and fell in love with it! She currently teaches dance at Provo Canyon School and loves tapping with PFE on Tuesdays
Carissa Moser
. . .
Carissa graduated with her dance major from BYU in 2018. There she was a member of the International Folk Dancers for 3 years and toured to southeast Asia, Europe, and parts of the US. She currently teaches beginning tap at BYU and is excited to be dancing on PFE for her second year. When not dancing, Carissa can be found cheering on her BYU Cougars and tap dancing in puddles.
Olivia Fordiani
. . .
Olivia is currently a student at Brigham Young University studying Genetics, Genomics, and Biotech with a double minor in Business and Family History-Genealogy. She grew up in Payson, Utah where she was trained in tap, ballet, contemporary, and jazz dance styles. Olivia dances on BYU’s folk dance team where she has loved being introduced to new percussive styles and learning dances from all over the world. Tap has always been her favorite style of dance and she is ecstatic to be a part of a group that will challenge her and give her the opportunity to do what she loves. When Olivia is not dancing, you can find her playing tennis, hiking, or looking at pictures of puppies.
Parker Stone
. . .
Parker started clogging at the age of eleven. At fifteen, his clogging team was invited to represent the USA at an international dance and music festival. This meant branching out from just clogging to learn many other forms of dance with most of the new dances being historical American dances, including a few tap dances. This festival team brought him to perform across the United States, France, and Spain. At Seventeen, he expanded his knowledge of various world dances at Brigham Young University-Idaho and performed with their top dance team Dance Alliance touring Canada. After serving a two-year mission to Colorado, he transferred to Brigham Young University with a dance scholarship and was a member of their Folk Dance Ensembles Tier 2 and Traditions (a.k.a. SPAC). After BYU, he continued with the festival team as a teacher and performer which brought him to Czechia, Germany, and Italy. Although he enjoys many forms of dance, he particularly loves percussive footwork styles such as clogging and tap!
Kathryn Rogers
. . .
Originally from Arizona, Kathryn Rogers began her early training in ballet, jazz, and tap. As a senior at Brigham Young University majoring in Dance, Kathryn has embraced all types of dance from Ballroom to Hungarian. While she is an eclectic dancer she has a preference for percussive footwork styles, tap being the frontrunner. When she is not working in the studio or cross-training you can easily find her prowling restaurants for the world’s best french fry.
Emmanuel Valdez
. . .
Emmanuel was raised in Provo Utah and was involved in folk and ballroom dance as a child. He wasn’t formally introduced to tap dance until his freshman year in college; it quickly became one of his favorite styles of dance. He is currently a member of the Brigham Young University International Folk Dance Ensemble and looks forward to many great performances and touring opportunities with BYU.
Jann LeVitre
Apprentice
. . .
Jann is a local tap dancer/teacher/choreographer with over 25+ years of tap experience. She was a member of SLC Tap under the direction of Deborah Robertson for 6 years and has been a member of Utah Tap Cooperative based in Salt Lake City for the past 5 years. She started her tap training learning tap from her mom, Judy Levitre, at Dance Concepts. Since then she has had the opportunity to study with Janet Grey, Russ Canino, Terrance Bennett and Deborah Robertson as well as many guest artists such as Brenda Buffalino and Diane Walker. She has been a choreographer for various theater companies in the Salt Lake Valley most recently choreographing “Mamma Mia” at the Sandy Amphitheater. When not dancing, she works as a consultant software engineer for her company, JL Tek Solutions.
Isabella Arnett
Apprentice
. . .
Isabella Arnett grew up training in various styles of dance throughout the Midwest and Utah. She has recently graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Modern Dance. While at UVU, Isabella was a member of Synergy Dance Company for two years and worked as an Assistant to the Directors of the company. Isabella co-founded the Tap Club and the Choreography Club at UVU and was the director of both for two years. She was the recipient of three dance scholarships through the UVU Department of Dance and had the opportunity to work as a TA for the Dance Kinesiology class at UVU. Isabella is passionate about choreography and has presented her work at Salt Dance Fest, Utah Dance Festival, the SCULPT Showcase, Salt’s Shape Festival, and Salt’s LINK Choreography Festival. Isabella is currently teaching tap at Utah Valley University as an adjunct professor and is excited to expand the tap opportunities available there. Isabella is thrilled to be dancing with Percussive Footwork Ensemble this season!
