Soles of Steel is the teen tap performance company of Joy of Motion Dance Center. Led by director and faculty member Vikki Weinberger, 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. Auditions for Soles of Steel (Grades 6-12) will take place Friday, May 31, 2013, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. at JOMDC Friendship Heights, 5207 Wisconsin Avenue NW. Please visit the Soles of Steel page to register your child for auditions. Why should you audition? Read the following testimonials from company members Meg DiRuggiero and Caroline Jarcho:
Amazing Friends, Great Director and Incredible Opportunities: Meg DiRuggiero
Being in Soles of Steel has been one of the best experiences of my life. The mixture of amazing friends, a great director and all of the incredible opportunities we have had combine perfectly. Tap is an interesting style because it combines many other styles to create something that always makes the audience want to see more. Even those who do not tap are drawn to the style because of its energy and sounds. Soles is great because we always bring so much energy to each performance, so much that it can fill any room! Vikki Weinberger constantly pushes us to be better and she is the reason we are where we are today. She always has new ideas and venues for us to perform in which expand our horizons enormously. We have performed on FOX 5 news, in Disney World, at the Cherry Blossom Festival and at the NBC 4 Health and Fitness Expo to name a few. Every time we perform somewhere new, we are met with new challenges that make us better each time.
This year has been especially fun because we joined JOMDC’s youth hip hop company Groove Elements in a 25-minute long medley that we performed in Disney World and then again at our company showcase. Their company has just as much, if not more energy than Soles does, so that medley was a blast to dance in. I loved every single one of their pieces as well as ours, and I definitely did not want that medley to ever end. The showcase was bittersweet because it was the last time we danced all together with the two seniors as well as with Groove in that specific medley, so we gave it our all and made it a very special performance.
I will never forget these girls for as long as I live. They are all like my sisters and I do not think I could ever live without them. We have all been through so much together and I think that makes us bonded forever.
From the Library of Congress to the White House Lawn: Caroline Jarcho
Over my six years as a company member and captain of Soles of Steel, I have had some of the most amazing performance opportunities from community outreach to shows at the Library of Congress and the White House lawn. I have had invaluable experiences sharing my passion for dance and its culture with many audiences. Of all the concerts in which I have performed, the Soles of Steel Spring Showcase has continuously been the most stressful, inspiring and exciting performance of the year.
I love the youth company showcase because it is the culmination of everything the company has worked so hard on all year long. While preparation and extra rehearsals leading up to the big day may take a lot of time, sweat and energy, the end result is always a beautiful montage of the year’s products.
This year, Soles turned out many more finished pieces than in previous years. At times, the amount of choreography we had to review and the number of quick costume changes we had to memorize in order for the show to run seamlessly and smoothly each night seemed overwhelming. But looking back at the entire weekend, I could not have asked for a better culmination to my career as a member of such a talented and zealous company.
