Julia Boynton - An Interview with Beantown Tapfest's Founder

All week long, tap dancers from all over the globe have come to Boston to hold workshops, classes, and open jams for Beantown Tapfest! The faculty showcase, ON TAP, is tonight at 8pm at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown- be sure to check it out! I talked to Julia Boynton, the festival's founder, about running the festival, her favorite ice cream, and how she started dancing.






Aisha Cruse: How long have you been dancing? Have you always done tap?


Julia Boynton: Growing up in the golden age of television, I fell in love with the dance I saw on variety shows and in the old movie musicals, so my mom took me to the local dancing school—Miss Mackie’s School of Dance in Framingham—and though I wanted to take ballet, I was placed in the tap class. That didn’t last long as I preferred climbing trees and balancing on fences. However the attraction to dance remained and I started taking classes in my early twenties at the Joy of Movement Center.






AC: Many dancers feel drawn to a particular form; did you feel a connection to tap?


JB: I tried a couple of ballet, modern and jazz classes and realized I needed a more relaxed style of movement. Although flamenco didn’t fit that description, I loved the element of making sound in tap and flamenco and started studying both forms, in private and group lessons. Ultimately I chose tap. At that time I struggled with depression and felt tap allowed me a lightness of being and expression that I needed to cultivate.






AC: Why did you start Tapfest?


JB: In my mid-thirties I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, now known as Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease, which meant I had to deal with severe limits to my energy. Performing, traveling abroad to teach, and teaching full time were manageable only with a great deal of planning and effort. I started producing regular tap jams and master classes as a means to augment a reduced teaching load and also to remain involved in tap dance without taxing my energy. I enjoyed being part of the larger community those tap events attracted (outside of my own student population), and producing the tap festival was a natural progression.






AC: What was your biggest hurdle starting the festival?


JB: The biggest hurdle to starting the festival was finding an affordable and suitable venue for the classes. The first two years the festival was at Springstep in Medford, a gorgeous space but located too far from the city. The next two years we were at Green Street Studios, a great location with affordable studios but lacking space for students and faculty to relax and mingle outside of class. Last year Deborah Mason opened her new space in Somerville and Beantown Tapfest found its ideal and permanent home.






AC: The festival is in its 9th year (congrats!); have the challenges of running a festival changed with each year?


JB: The first Beantown Tapfest was in 2007. Since then, promotion has become easier and less costly. I’ve come to rely less on postcards, posters, and postal mailings to get the word out, and more on email, online listings and Facebook.






AC: What has been the most rewarding part of producing the festival?


JB: For me, being in the midst of a multi-generational community of fellow tap devotees from near and far, reuniting, taking classes, jamming, discussing, rehearsing, performing and hanging out, is a gratifying way to spend a week. There are moments when I get a sense of tap’s past, present and future all at once.






AC: Has teaching impacted your dancing or your work with the festival?


JB: In Boston there’s a substantial contingent of advanced over-40 tap students, myself included, who’ve tapped professionally or taken tap as a hobby for decades. We’re advanced in terms of vocabulary and skill, but don’t have the memory or energy we did in our twenties. Advanced teens and young adults with sharper memory and boundless energy can process more material and handle more rigorous movement. In past festivals advanced adult students were often left in the dust. Because the majority of my own students are adults, I understand the frustration of mixed classes. This year the festival is offering classes geared to both populations: advanced adults and advanced teens & young adults.






AC: Favorite ice-cream flavor?

JB: Coconut milk ice-cream






AC: If you could take class or have lunch with any dancer, living or dead, who would it be?


JB: I’d like to have a martini with Sammy Davis Jr.






AC: Any advice for our movers and shakers out there?


JB: I’ll share this Teddy Roosevelt quote: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Featured Events

You may have noticed that we've changed things up with the Monkeyhouse newsletter, which we're now putting out quarterly rather than monthly. This means I'm also looking at events three months ahead of time, picking what I think will be the best of the best. I'll still do a monthly event post, with shows that don't get announced until closer to the performance date, but I thought the advance-planners among us might appreciate a spotlight post of the next 3 months. Here are my picks!

Fri, July 31 @ 8 pm
Sat, August 1 @ 8 pm
Bittersweet 

with Carey McKinley, dance theatre and Carolyn Lewenberg, sculptor
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, Back Bay

$15

I'm a big fan of the BCA Dance Residency program; it affords choreographers and dancers the opportunity to create stunning interdisciplinary new works. Carey McKinley has created a new work with sculptor Carolyn Lewenberg in which they will "create and ultimately destroy, an environment using bittersweet vines, bodies and moving images." I'm kind of excited by the description because even though it tells you what's going to happen I still have no idea what the piece is going to look like. Go see it if you like being surprised.

Sat, August 1 @ 8 PM
Sun, August 2 @ 2 pm
Mon & Tues, August 3 & 4 @ 7:30 pm
ECHO
B. Dunn Movement Dance & Theater Company
At the Multicultural Arts Center, Lechemere
Free!I have a lot of feelings about this show. This is an interdisciplinary dance performance exploring the effects of displacement of black bodies from the African Diaspora of the Trans Atlantic Slave trade through generations until contemporary times. It's goal is to open a dialogue about cultural knowledge and lineage. This is the kind of dance that seeks to transform the audience far beyond the span of its time on stage. You have to reserve a seat to see the show, but it's completely free.

Fri, August 7 @ 8 pm
On Tap! Beantown Tapfest Faculty Showcase

Presented by Beantown Tapfest

at the Arsenal Center For The Arts, Watertown

$36

Started 6 years ago by Julia Boynton, Beantown Tapfest is a week-long festival of workshops, classes, and events, including talks and student showcases, all at the Deborah Mason School of Dance in Somerville. The faculty show, featuring all the instructors from the festival, is a who's who list of amazing of tap dancers: Michelle Dorrance (NY), Josh Hilberman (Belgium), Sarah Reich (LA), Barbara Duffy (NY), Sean Fielder (Boston), Khalid Hill (NY), Ian Berg (Chicago), Rocky Mendes (Boston), Aaron Tolson (NY), Ryan P. Casey (Boston), Demi Remick (NY), companies Speaking in Taps and Boston Tap Company, and the tap-savvy jazz trio of Paul Arslanian-p, John Lockwood-b and Ron Savage-d.  

Wed - Sat, August 19-22 @ 8:15 pm
Sat & Sun, August 22 & 23 @ 2:15 pm 

Liz Gerring Dance Company
At the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow
$35, $25 ($19 if it's Friday and you're under 35)

Liz Gerring Dance Company performs Glacier, their evening length performance that has received glowing praise from The New York Times and the dance world at large. Winner of the 2015 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, choreographer Liz Gerring creates beautiful, captivating work, and I expect this show to be nothing less. And a friendly reminder that Jacob's Pillow  festival ends in August, and I strongly encourage you to check out the full list of performances and the schedule of Inside/Out events, which are always free.

Fri & Sat, September 18 & 19 @ 6 pm
2015 US Championship and Provincetown Dance Trophy

Presented by Kalin Mitov
At Provincetown Town Hall, Provincetown MA

$25-$35

Thinking about an end-of-summer escape to Ptown? Check out these two same-sex partner Ballroom Dance Tournaments. The goal of these tournaments is inclusiveness, along with all the flashy costumes, thrilling footwork and incredible grace of ballroom dance. And what with the Supreme Court decision, audience and competitors alike have a little extra reason to cheer this year.

Fri & Sat, October 16 & 17 @ 8 pm 

Doug Varone and Dancers
Presented by World Music/CRASHArts

Institute for Contemporary Art Boston, Boston Waterfront

$48

Doug Varone and Dancers present, among other works, the Boston premiere of ReComposed, inspired by the pastel drawings of Joan Mitchell and set to Max Richter's newly constructed version of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Check out the pre-performance talks with BDA Executive Director Debra Cash, and stick around for the post-show discussion with the company on the 16th.

Tues, October 27 @ 8 pm

Thurs - Sat, October 29-31 @ 8 pm

SPEKTRƎL

Presented by Luminarium Dance

At Multicultural Arts Council, Lechemere

Monkeyhouse loves Luminarium! We got a sneak peak at their upcoming evening length work during their 5th anniversary gala, and it was as eerie and ethereal as the title implies. Don't miss it!

October 22 - November 1st

Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler, a ballet by John Neumeier 

Presented by Boston Ballet

At the Boston Opera House, Downtown Crossing

The Boston Ballet will be the first North American company to perform John Neumeier's contemporary ballet. Set to the entirety of Mahler's Third Symphony, the dance is meant to capture the intensity of the music, while using it to explore life, death, grief, beauty and love. 

August Events!

Fri, July 31 @ 8 pm
Sat, August 1 @ 8 pm
Bittersweet 

with Carey McKinley, dance theatre and Carolyn Lewenberg, sculptor
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, Back Bay

$15

I'm a big fan of the BCA Dance Residency program; it affords choreographers and dancers the opportunity to create stunning interdisciplinary new works. Carey McKinley has created a new work with sculptor Carolyn Lewenberg in which they will "create and ultimately destroy, an environment using bittersweet vines, bodies and moving images." I'm kind of excited by the description because even though it tells you what's going to happen I still have no idea what the piece is going to look like. Go see it if you like being surprised.

Sat, August 01 @ 6:30 pm

It's...A Summer Cosplay Celebration!
Presented by Penumbra:Exchange
At Arts at the Armory
$15 adult /$10 child
For anyone out there that has a costume of their favorite character, come do something awesomely nerdy with your Saturday night. This anime and video game themed costume party includes performances from several local dance companies, including Calamity Co Dance, Concept Artists, Intimations Dance, Move And Inspire, and Paradise Lost. I can't speak for everyone, but I know Paradise Lost has an amazing piece inspired by a popular video game; I also happen to be performing in it!  Anyone in costume is automatically entered in a raffle to win prizes from local video game developers Demiurge Studios, as well as prizes from other local businesses. See you there!

Sat, August 1 @ 8 PM
Sun, August 2 @ 2 pm
Mon & Tues, August 3 & 4 @ 7:30 pm
ECHO
B. Dunn Movement Dance & Theater Company
At the Multicultural Arts Center, Lechemere
Free!
I have a lot of feelings about this show. This is an interdisciplinary dance performance exploring the effects of displacement of black bodies from the African Diaspora of the Trans Atlantic Slave trade through generations until contemporary times. It's goal is to open a dialogue about cultural knowledge and lineage. This is the kind of dance that seeks to transform the audience far beyond the span of its time on stage. You have to reserve a seat to see the show, but it's completely free.

Fri, August 7 @ 8 pm
On Tap! Beantown Tapfest Faculty Showcase

Presented by Beantown Tapfest

at the Arsenal Center For The Arts, Watertown

$36

Started 6 years ago by Julia Boynton, Beantown Tapfest is a week-long festival of workshops, classes, and events, including talks and student showcases, all at the Deborah Mason School of Dance in Somerville. The faculty show, featuring all the instructors from the festival, is a who's who list of amazing of tap dancers: Michelle Dorrance (NY), Josh Hilberman (Belgium), Sarah Reich (LA), Barbara Duffy (NY), Sean Fielder (Boston), Khalid Hill (NY), Ian Berg (Chicago), Rocky Mendes (Boston), Aaron Tolson (NY), Ryan P. Casey (Boston), Demi Remick (NY), companies Speaking in Taps and Boston Tap Company, and the tap-savvy jazz trio of Paul Arslanian-p, John Lockwood-b and Ron Savage-d.  

Friendly reminder that Jacob's Pillow  festival ends August 31, so if you've been meaning to go, now is the time! Check out the full list of performances and the schedule of Inside/Out events, which are always free.

Wed - Sat, August 19-22 @ 8:15 pm
Sat & Sun, August 22 & 23 @ 2:15 pm 

Liz Gerring Dance Company
At the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow
$35, $25 ($19 if it's Friday and you're under 35)

Liz Gerring Dance Company performs Glacier, their evening length performance that has received glowing praise from The New York Times and the dance world at large. Winner of the 2015 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, choreographer Liz Gerring creates beautiful, captivating work, and I expect this show to be nothing less. 

Wed - Sat, August 26-29 @ 8 pm

Thurs, Sat, & Sun, August 27, 29 & 30 @ 2pm
Martha Graham Dance Company

90TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

At the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow
$75, $65, $45 ($19 if it's Friday and you're under 35)

There is a part of me that gets so excited at the prospect of seeing Martha Graham's company that I found myself smiling involuntarily at the Jacob's Pillow event page: "This spectacular program includes Martha Graham's dramatic classic work Embattled Garden, Echo by Greek choreographer Andonis Foniadakis, Depak Ine by Nacho Duato, and the momentous world premiere of AXE, by the eminent choreographer Mats Ek." At least click the link to look at the photographs, which are stunning.