Biographies
Jill Fitzgerald, Amy Smith, Melody Kline, Crystal Bartolacci
Your Tie to the Tap Dance Community!
Phone: 610-217-5112 Email: tapties@gmail.com
Company
Tap Ties Company members are professional dance teachers, studio owners, & performers who have traveled the country sharing their knowledge & love of tap dancing. They have studied with a great variety of tap masters including LaVaughn Robinson, Buster Brown, Paul Draper, Brenda Bufalino, Dianne Walker, Shelley Oliver, Nicole Hockenberry, & many others.
Tap Ties has been invited to teach & perform throughout PA & NJ as well as in Austin & San Antonio, Texas. They continue to bring their joy & enthusiasm for tap dancing into the Lehigh Valley community. Please join them in the celebration of this true American art form by participating in classes & workshops throughout the year & support them by attending performances throughout the Lehigh Valley.
Jill Fitzgerald earned her BA in Dance from DeSales University with an emphasis on Dance Management, & then furthered her training by studying with a variety of tap masters including Buster Brown & LaVaughn Robinson. Jill spent 8 years in Richmond, VA where she was an adjunct faculty member for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Dance Department, Business Manager & faculty member at Richmond Dance Center, & choreographer/dance instructor for the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community. Additionally, Jill served as Assistant Entertainment Manager for Busch Entertainment Corp, at Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA where she developed the entertainment program there, & in Osaka, Japan. Jill is currently a tap dance instructor at Nardi Dance Studios in Easton, was a performing member of T.A.P. Company for 5 years & is proud to be a founding member of TapTies.
Melody Kline is a graduate of the High School of the Performing Arts in NYC & has studied with many dance mastersincluding Paul Draper, Bob Audy, Charles Kelly & Germaine Salsberg. She is the Owner/Director of Melody’s Dance Studio in Brodheadsville, PA and has received an award for her contributions to dance from the Monroe County Arts Council. Melody was a performing member of T.A.P. Company under the direction of Nicole Hockenberry from 1997-2005 and is a founding member of Tap Ties.
Amy Smith received her BFA in dance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Amy has taught & performed throughout the Tri-State area independently & as part of the Young Audiences program while working with Tap Team Two & Co., Inc. She has performed in many venues including a feature performance for the New York Foundation of the Arts at Town Hall in NYC. Amy has studied extensively with many tap masters & has shared the stage with tap legends LaVaughn Robinson, Germaine Ingram, Shelley Oliver, Jason Samuels, Brenda Bufalino, & Buster Brown. She is the former Program Director of the Lehigh Valley Dance Forum, former Assistant Artistic Director of T.A.P. Company where she was also an educator, choreographer, performer, & soloist. Amy enjoys sharing her love of tap dance through her work as a founding member of Tap Ties & is currently on staff at Pennsylvania Youth Theatre & Art of Dance studios in the Lehigh Valley.
Crystal Bartolacci is the owner/director of Crystal’s School Of Dance in Orwigsburg, Pa for the past 19 years. Crystal attended the PA Governor’s School for the Arts in Jazz Dance on a full scholarship, is a summa cum laude graduatefrom Rutgers University, a certified teacher through Albright College & a certified dance instructor through Dance Educators of America. Crystal was an adjunct professor at Penn State University where she taught jazz dance & choreographed for the theatre department. Crystal has studied & continues to study with a great variety of master teachers. She was a member of Nicole Hockenberry’s T.A.P. Company from 2004-2006 & is now thrilled to be a founding member of Tap Ties.
