We're just a bunch of fun, friendly, talented, hilarious, slightly awkward, but really cool, TAPPY people and we want you to tap with us!!! We perform at various Northwestern and Chicagoland events. We've been chosen to perform at Looptopia and one of our pieces was featured in Dance Chicago last fall. We also put on our own shows on campus. Last year, TONIK Tap presented its audiences with a dazzling display of original choreography and side-splitting video interludes in our spring show called America’s Got Tonik. We also collaborated with X-Factors A Cappella in the fall with our show Get Lost.
Lifelong tap dancer Leo Lamontagne arrived on Northwestern University’s campus in September of 2001. After getting acclimated to the dance department and to student life, he saw a gaping hole in the landscape of Northwestern University performing arts student groups: there was no group solely dedicated to the art of tap dancing.
Determined to fix this travesty, pay tribute to his Boston-area background (apparently pop = soda = tonic in Lawrence, MA), and set up an ever-so-slightly quirky tone for the group, Leo founded TONIK Tap in October of 2001.
After performing in various small shows on campus to prove its staying power, TONIK received ASG B-Status in 2003, setting the company up for its breakthrough year—and also its founder’s last year at NU!
Leo sent TONIK off with a very successful first full-length show, “TAP THAT,” performed in the TIC Ballroom by the seven-member company.
Riding on the “founder’s vision” momentum, sophomore Jaema Berry took on the position of Artistic Director and led the company through its next three formative years. Necessity is the mother of all invention, they say, and many of the challenges the company faced in those early years have become its trademarks.
How does one make a full show of tap dancing that doesn’t get old? Storytelling choreography. How does a tiny company manage costume changes without downtime? Skits and prerecorded video clips. How does a specialized group last on an arts-infused campus? By standing for professionalism and working with as many people and organizations as possible—from partnering with Eberhard on his Halloween show, to developing an ongoing relationship with ASG student officials for the brand-new B-Status funding process, to off-campus performances for the Evanston and Chicago communities. And how does TONIK Tap keep going strong? By doing what they do best: making rhythm and having almost too much fun doing it.