Fallin' into the Groove Faculty
Ricci Milan
Ricci Milan attended Larkin Dance Studio here in the Twin Cities for 12 years. He then did the “New York Thing” for a year. In that time he performed tap and hip-hop dance for the NBA, PBS, Compaq Computers, choreographer showcases, botmisfas, the NCAA final four, on subway platforms, and he worked with award winning recording artist “Mya”. Ricci also taught competion kids in New Jersey and joined up with some guys to create the original cast of “Break the Floor”.
He than did the “L.A. Thing” for 9 months where he street performed with “10 foot 5” to pay the bills while he was coming up short at 100’s of industry auditions. Ricci fell out of love with LA. so he drove to South Carolina. After a year at a family theater in Myrtle Beach (Gaylord Productions) and a year in Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea) he moved home to Minneapolis. He rejoined with “10 foot 5” and they recharged and rebranded with the 2004 debut of the internationally acclaimed “Buckets and Tap Shoes”.
In 2008 he turned his focus to the creation of a passion project that he named, Rhythmic Circus. The company’s show was called “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now!” In that same year he started a career as a dance competition choreographer, and began hosting events for Hall of Fame Dance Challenge.
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In his tenure with Rhythmic Circus, “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” he completed 8 national tours, 4 international tours and performed a successful broadway run at the New Victory theater in time square. Ricci also broke ground on a new company named “Rhythm Street Movement”. The company has produced promotional content for TORO Corporation, and in December of 2018 a new holiday show entitled “Who Brought the Humbug?”.
Hilary Palmer
Hilary Palmer is a tap dancer and choreographer based in the Twin Cities. She currently runs the tap program at The Dance Complex MN and teaches/choreographs for various studios across the state.
Hilary is a member of Rhythm Street Movement, a local performance group that uniquely combines tap dancing and live music. Over the past few years, she has appeared in RSM’s “Waking Up” and “Who Brought the Humbug,” as well as in the 2020 “Driveway Tour,” performing all across the state in driveways and parking lots while the theaters were closed. Most recently, she helped create a show in just one week for RSM’s “Storyboard Experience.”
Whether it be through teaching or performing, Hilary absolutely loves sharing and spreading her passion for tap throughout the Twin Cities and is so excited to be a part of “Fallin’ into the Groove” this October!
Bruce DeMorrow
Bruce DeMorrow trained and was a competition dancer for many years at Woodbury Dance Center in Woodbury, MN. He has tap danced with many local companies including Rhythmic Circus Production and Kaleena Miller Dance and is an experienced performer & choreographer. His energetic approach to tap classes along with his new, cutting-edge choreography at a fast and upbeat pace leaves his students feeling full of life. He is currently on staff at the St. Paul Conservatory Performing Arts High School.
Ashley Gonzalez
Ashley began her training under the direction of Chloe Arnold, Ricci Milan, Sarah Reich and Aaron Williams growing and exploring in the art form.
Ashley sings in addition to tap dancing, teaching, and choreographing. She was a member of Chloe and Maud Arnold’s No Filter Sole Talk youth tap company, American Tap Company, and the Minnesota Dance Ensemble.
Ashley performs with Rhythm Street Movement in Waking Up, Humbug, and various driveway tours. She has performed at the 2018 Governors Ball Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, the 2018 MLBA All Star Pre Party Concert in Washington DC. Ashley performed at the Voices of the People Welcome Celebration for the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. She performed in the Disney Newsies Broadway Musical at the University of Northwestern. In addition to this, Ashley has performed and competed internationally, receiving a bronze medal for her tap solo at the IDO World Performing Arts Cup in Seoul, South Korea. She also received a bronze medal at Dance World Cup Championships in Offenburg, Germany for a tap duet.
Along with her tap education, training, and performing, Ashley was chosen to represent the state of Minnesota as a tap dancer in the book Dance Across the USA by Jonathon Givens. Another honor she has been given was when she was chosen with a select few to sing with the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in 2018 in New York City. Some additional performances consist of Rejuv Medical Summit, Angel Foundation Charity event and National Tap Dance Day to name a few.
Tré Dumas
Tré is a tap dancer and choreographer from Chicago, IL. He received most of his early dance training and his first teaching experience at Tommy Sutton's Mayfair Academy of Fine Arts on Chicago's south side. He’s a Graduate of Clark Atlanta University with a B.A. in Mass Media Arts with a concentration in Speech and Theatre Arts.
From 1998-2000, Tré was featured in the North American and European tours of "Riverdance." In 2001 Mr. Dumas partnered with Bril Barrett to create M.A.D.D. Rhythms, and the M.A.D.D. Rhythms Tap Academy. From September 2001-February 2002, Tré lived in Stuttgart, Germany, creating an all ages/all levels tap program at the New York City Dance School, and performing at jazz and R&B clubs by night. In 2004 he performed Duke Ellington's classic, "David Danced Before the Lord" with Bill Russo, Orbert Davis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. In 2011, Mr. Dumas proudly debuted his first full production featuring Jus'LisTeN entitled, "Tap Like Water" as part of the annual Dance Chicago festival's feature performance series. Tré has taught and performed extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and Germany as well as other parts of Europe, Asia and South America.
Noah Coon
Noah graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts with a BFA in musical theater and an emphasis in dance. He has studied dance under the mentorship of Jane Lanier, Jumanne Taylor, Sarah Reich, Tammy Mader, Cathy Wind, and Ellen Keane and is currently teaching dance and choreographing across the greater twin cities area.
Noah has been a company member in Stone Soup Rhythms at the American Rhythm Center, the Ballet Arts Youth Ensemble, Keane Sense of Rhythm’s Youth Tap Ensemble, and Elite Tap Feet. Noah was recently seen in the Twin Cities dancing in Michael Heitzman and Jared Grimes’ production of 42nd Street at the Ordway.
When not dancing Noah can be found singing, acting, working on film projects, and playing yo-yo. He has performed with the Guthrie Theater, Park Square Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Old Log Theater, History Theater, Porchlight Music Theatre, the Chicago Fringe Opera, and toured nationally with Troupe America.
Nico Rubio
Chicago Native, Nico Rubio, is one of the leading Tap Dancers of his generation. The founder and director of Shuffle Liiife Productions and Tap company 333 (Three Thirty Three). In 2018, Nico received the Chicago Dancemakers Forum’s Lab Artist Award. In 2019, he choreographed and produced By Way Of Taps: A J Dilla Tribute, which was performed at Columbia’s Dance Center, in Long Beach California, and premiered in full at Thalia Hall in Pilsen, IL.
Nico has traveled the world, teaching, performing and choreographing everywhere from Europe to Asia, Central America to South America. Appearing locally on Windy City Live and halftime for the Chicago Bulls, as well as abroad from UCLA’s Jazz Reggae Fest to the Beijing Contemporary Dance Festival. With everything he does, Nico’s mission is not just to expose the majesty and humanity of Tap Dancing and other art forms, but to highlight everyone’s infinite individual incandescence (light), via Shuffle Liiife.