Dorrance Dance | ETM: Double Down

“A fresh and innovative show. . . . When ETM: Double Down is rocking, Dorrance Dance is one big band.”—New York Times

A collaboration between “one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today,” (New Yorker) Michelle Dorrance and company member Nicholas Van Young, ETM: Double Down celebrates the origins of tap dance, in a contemporary context, by using electronic trigger boards. Turning the entire stage into an instrument, the score is not just danced to but danced by the company. ETM, which stands for electronic tap music, features eight dancers and six musicians exploring acoustic and digitally produced sounds.

Founded in 2011 by artistic director and 2015 MacArthur Fellow Michelle Dorrance, Dorrance Dance is an award-winning tap dance company based out of New York City. The company’s work aims to honor tap dance’s uniquely beautiful history in a new, dynamic, and compelling context; not by stripping the form of its tradition, but by pushing it—rhythmically, technically, and conceptually. The company’s inaugural performance garnered a Bessie Award for “blasting open our notions of tap,” and the company continues its passionate commitment to expanding the audience of tap dance.