Soles of Steel (Grades 6-12)
Video
Katie Padgett, Director
solesofsteel@joyofmotion.org
Soles of Steel is the teen tap performance company of Joy of Motion Dance Center. Led by director and faculty member Katie Padgett, Soles of Steel pushes the limits of tap! This explosive company continues to build upon tap skills in a range of styles and techniques by infusing traditional tap with contemporary choreography. Soles of Steel will perform throughout the region in venues such as the Atlas Performing Arts Center, the Greenberg Theater, the Jack Guidone Theater and the DC Convention Center.
Rehearsal Schedule: Thursday 5:30 PM–7:30 PM at JOMDC Friendship Heights
Company Requirements:
1. Members must be in Grade 6 –12 at the start of the season.
2. Members must pay a $2150 tuition fee (includes rehearsals, company tee shirt, and costume fee).
3. Members must attend all rehearsals and JOMDC performances (Fall and Spring Concerts).
4. In addition to attending rehearsals, members dancers in grades 6 – 8 must take 1 additional technique class per week and dancers in grades 9 and above, must take 2 additional technique classes per week for the duration of the season.
About Company Director Katie Padgett
A native of Lexington, KY, Katie Padgett spent her early days training at Diana Evans School of Dance. She has performed in local and national dance festivals, concerts, and competitions. Ms. Padgett has taught at dance studios in Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and North Carolina and prides herself on bringing a rhythm tap education to her students.
In 2005, Ms. Padgett was invited to perform in the annual Kennedy Center Gala performance hosted by Julie Andrews and featuring the NSO Pops, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. She was invited back to the Gala in 2006, this time hosted by Angela Lansbury, where she performed with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. In 2008, she performed at Lincoln Center in New York City with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, again conducted by Marvin Hamlisch, in Broadway’s Greatest Showstoppers.
Most recently, Ms. Padgett, her students, and her choreography have been seen at the Ellington Theater as part of the annual DC Tap Festival, Chicago’s Contemporary Art Museum as part of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and the Ernst Cultural Center. Her students have gone on to dance with M.A.D.D. Rhythms (Chicago), The Julliard School, The Mark Morris Dance Group, Houston Ballet 2, The Richmond Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, The Boston Ballet, numerous Broadways shows, regional theatre productions, and in numerous college dance programs across the United States. Ms. Padgett is a proud honors graduate of Elon University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music.
