Are you a tap dancer? Do you enjoy watching tap dancing in stage shows or movies? Do you just want to do the right thing, and help a worthwhile organization?
Please read the letter below, from the Board of Directors of Tappers with Attitude/Knock on Wood Tap Studio. Then, please consider making a donation. If you have connections or pull with any organizations that might be able to help, please send that information to the Board of Directors.
Thank you for your help!
Debbie Grossman
Tap Fan and mom to a fabulous young tapper
A Letter from the Board of Directors of Tappers With Attitude, Inc. to the Friends of Knock On Wood Tap Studio and Tappers With Attitude, Inc.
Website: http://www.tapperswithattitude.org/
January 2011
The members of the Board of Directors of TWA, Inc. wish all of our friends a happy and healthy new year. As you know, 2010 was a challenging one for TWA, Inc. As 2011 begins, it is with heavy hearts that we provide this update on the organization’s status.
Last summer, we launched a campaign to “Save our Studio” and you, the friends of KOW and TWA, came through big-time. We raised enough money to pay the rent that was past due and to continue to operate the Studio. Under Studio Manager Courtenay Swinton’s leadership, our Fall Session included 20 classes for tap dancers of all ages and skill levels, and our Winter Session with a similar number of classes is just beginning. Enrollment in classes has been solid if not spectacular. Courtenay has also held several additional events at the Studio, such as parties and tap-jams, to have fun and raise much-needed funds. Courtenay has also effectively identified individuals and organizations, including a new tap group named Capital Tap under the direction of Lisa Swenton-Eppard and Baakari Wilder, to rent the Studio when classes are not being held.
Unfortunately, despite these successes and promising developments, the current financial state of the Studio is not good. Other sources of funds critical to continuing to operate the Studio have not been forthcoming.
The Board developed what we thought was an excellent proposal to obtain additional funding from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC), an organization that has provided steady and significant financial support to TWA, Inc. over the years. To our dismay, we learned in late December that this funding was not granted. This outcome also puts in jeopardy other foundation funding explicitly contingent on obtaining the grant from AHCMC.
The Board was counting on the funds from AHCMC and other funders to kick-start our operations in 2011. Without these funds, we find ourselves once again in a crisis situation. We are actively talking to potential funders to see if we can find a way out of this crisis, but to be frank we are not optimistic that sufficient funding will be provided soon enough to keep the Studio open.
We are all heart-broken at this news and at its potential implications. We know that all of us hope we can find a way to keep Knock On Wood Tap Studio open for business and, more importantly, open to continue to create the magic that happens at KOW.
We invite all of you to contact one of us if you have any questions.
And, if you have ideas for possible funding sources that can help keep the Studio open, now is the time to bring them to the Board’s attention.
A million thanks to you all for your support of KOW and TWA over the years. Please understand how grateful the Board is for your support of the uniquely American art form of rhythm tap. No matter what happens over the next few months, it is important that we all keep dancing and that we all continue to have a song in our hearts.
With great fondness for you all,
The Board of Directors of Tappers With Attitude, Inc.
Tim Daniel, President (tpdaniel1955@gmail.com)
Ruth Silverstein, Vice-President
Penny Passikoff, Secretary
Dana Bynum, Co-Treasurer
Dr. Kindra Ingram, Co-Treasurer
Kisha Logan
Yvonne Edwards [Co-founder of Tappers With Attitude Youth Ensemble and Knock On Wood Tap Studio]
Website : http://www.tapperswithattitude.org/
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