Co-Directors:
Jill Fitzgerald earned her BA in Dance from DeSales University with an emphasis on Dance Management, and then furthered her training by studying with a variety of tap masters including Buster Brown and 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 and faculty member at the Richmond Dance Center, and 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, and in Osaka, Japan. Jill is currently a tap dance instructor at Nardi Dance Studios in Easton, Expression of Dance in Nazareth, and Patricia Bostick Dance Center in Allentown. She was a performing member of the T.A.P. Company for 5 years and is proud to be a founding member of Tap Ties.
Amy Smith received her BFA in dance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Amy has taught and performed throughout the Tri-State area independently and 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 and has shared the stage with tap legends LaVaughn Robinson, Germaine Ingram, Shelley Oliver, Jason Samuels, Brenda Bufalino, and 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, and soloist. Amy is currently serving as Director of Dance for Pennsylvania Youth Theatre where she is also an instructor. She teaches a variety classes throughout the Lehigh Valley including the Bethlehem YMCA and Art of Dance studio. Amy enjoys sharing her love of tap dance through her work as a founding member of Tap Ties.
Company Members:
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 graduate from Rutgers University, a certified teacher through Albright College and a certified dance instructor through Dance Educators of America. Crystal was an adjunct professor at Penn State University where she taught jazz dance and choreographed for the theatre department. Crystal has studied and 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 and is now thrilled to be a founding member of Tap Ties.
Grace Conti studied ballet from age 3 through high school. She was a founding member of the Bethlehem Ballet Co. (now the LV Ballet Guild) in 1958. After graduating from Syracuse University she received her MSW from the University of Michigan, married and raised 5 children. As an adult she studied ballet and jazz with Carol Welton Kelly and Laura Hausmann. In 1997 she pursued her interest in tap , studying with Shelley Oliver and Nicole Hockenberry. While attending many tap festivals throughout the country she had the opportunity of studying with many of the tap masters. Recently she has been certified as a Zumba and Zumba Gold instructor. She continues her study of tap with Shelley Oliver and Rochelle Haynes and enjoys dancing with Tap Ties.
Jerri Brown graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Business. She was a member of the MMC Dance Company for two and 1/2 years, performing off-Broadway. While studying in the city, Jerri taught at the 92nd Street Y and The Neighborhood Playhouse. Currently, she is the Ballet Mistress at Star Maker School of Performing Arts in New Jersey where she writes, directs and choreographs original ballets as well as lyrical, tap and jazz routines for The Entertainers Dance Company. Jerri also instructs at Nardi Dance Studios and Little Star Studio in Easton, is resident choreographer for the Freedom High School Theatre Company in Bethlehem and the Dance Educator for Easton State Theatre’s Annual Acting Camp. Many of her students have gone on to do professional work such as world touring companies, Cirque du Soleil, Broadway, film and television. She has taught master classes for Hunterdon County Teen Arts, Acrodanse Theatre's Junior Dance Company and choreographed for the Amwell Community Children's Theatre and Flemington Raritan Community Theatre. Jerri has judged and choreographed for dance competitions and worked with models for A Wish Come True, a costume catalog company that services dance studios across the country. Jerri is also certified as a group fitness instructor through the American Council of Exercise, the National-Dance-Exercise Instructor's Training Association, and MMC as well as a Pilates instructor through the Pilates Institute of America.
Carol Hebert
Company Bio
Tap Ties Company members are professional dance teachers, studio owners, and performers who have traveled the country sharing their knowledge and love of tap dancing. They have studied with a great variety of tap masters including LaVaughn Robinson, Buster Brown, Brenda Bufalino, Dianne Walker, Jay Fagan, Shelley Oliver, Nicole Hockenberry, and many others.
Tap Ties has been invited to teach and perform throughout PA, NJ, and NYC as well as in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. They continue to bring their joy and 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 and workshops throughout the year and support them by attending performances throughout the Lehigh Valley.
