Philadelphia Youth Tap (PhYT)

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Creating a tuition-free, accessible community tap dance program for youth has been central to our mission since 2013. Philadelphia Youth Tap trains ambitious youths in tap technique, jazz dance and music theory, and improvisation, while also offering performance opportunities around the city. PhYT is founded on the idea that to learn tap dance is to learn the racial history of America and how this dance form also largely intersects with jazz music. The program fully integrates jazz music education into youth tap education.  PHYT also importantly preserves and sustains the legacy of the vast yet largely unwritten cultural history of tap dance in Philadelphia. The program is directed by Pamela Hetherington with the help of exceptional tap dance guest artists and is permanently housed at the Athletic Recreation Center in North Philadelphia.