“Tap City,” a showcase of the all-American art form, tap dancing, took place over the weekend at Independence Park Theatre with a cast of monumental talent.”Tap City” is a traveling production of dancers featured in the New York City Tap Festival. Tony Waag, producer and performer in “Tap City,” said the show represents the festival he began eight years ago.”It’s a short, tourable version of what I produce in New York City, which usually has about 200 performers,” Waag said.Waag said one of the goals of the show is to show the variety of styles of tap dance with a variety of music.”It’s everything from jazz to swing. There’s a Spanish number,” Waag said. “There’s all kinds of different music. The cast is full of variety as well. The youngest member is 15.”Waag said people most enjoy the energy of the cast and the variety of the show. He said tap dancing is a very open art form, so viewers of all ages can appreciate what “Tap City” has to offer.”It’s certainly a lot of fun. I think a lot of the people will walk out thinking ‘Oh, well I can tap dance too,’ Waag said. “You can be 9, 90, from anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world and learn the American art form of dance. It’s very open.”Warren Craft, the youngest of the cast, was the 15-year-old Fred Astaire of the performance. He said he loves the diversity of the group.”When we walk down the street, we always wonder what people must be thinking because we’re such a motley crew,” Craft said.Craft said although rehearsals and traveling are fun, he enjoys performing the most.Kendrick Jones, “Tap City” performer and drama student at NYU, said the best part about performing with “Tap City” is growing and watching other cast members grow with every performance.”It’s always a learning experience. You’re always learning something else about the dancers around you,” Jones said. “I feel like I have many teachers around me feeding me knowledge and feeding me ideas.”Derick Grang, a performer in the show, opened the show donning a red T-shirt that read “Got Rhythm?” And he proved quite quickly that he did.Grang said he believes people have their own ideas about tap dancing but don’t know what it really is.”Any recollection people have of tap dance is of people like Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire or Gregory Hines,” Grang said. “They come in to the show without really knowing what to expect and see how much variety it has, how many different styles, how many different personalities, how many different ways there are to tap dance. That surprises them.”Grang said tap has a lot of energy.”The whole idea of sharing a part of yourself with the audience, the audience responding, giving you feedback, you taking that energy and taking it up a notch and giving it back, back and forth,” Grang said. “The adrenaline that you get from your relationship with the audience is addictive and thrilling as a performer.”Lynn Schwab, another performer, said her love of dance comes from the ability to give.”For us, we try to give to each other on stage, be part of the music and really give that to the audience too. That’s the best part, when you feel like you’ve shared,” Schwab said.Greg Williams, Independence Park Theater’s manager, said he brought “Tap City” to Baton Rouge because he wants to bring different forms of entertainment to Louisiana, and tap dancing is a rare experience for people down here.”It has the best tap dancers in the nation. It has Broadway quality, and it’s a different cultural phenomenon to experience. There aren’t any hardcore tap dancing performances around here, ” Williams said.- – – -Contact Cathryn Core at [email protected]