Neo Soul Ties

A wonderfully talented and energetic team that works so well together with great musicians to present an entertaining and skilful hour of tap dancing. Well worth the visit!

You know how, when you go swimming, your body remembers the water for a long time? After I watched the tap-dance show Neo Soul Ties, my body kept thrumming with rhythmic excitement. Neo Soul Ties is exhilarating!

And, choreographed by Toronto artist Victoria Miller, it’s tapdancing like I’ve never seen it before.

Along with an excellent three-piece band (keyboards, electric bass guitar, and trumpet), four extraordinary dancers lean into tap’s jazz influence. Making space for a whole lot of improvisation, the dancing is often surprisingly lyrical for tap, incorporating sweet, sweet slides and hesitations, as well as insanely fast, sometimes sharply percussive, footwork that uses every surface on the dancers’ shoes to make noise.

The vibe is celebratory, congenially competitive. And you can’t help but get involved, whooping at astonishing feats and feet.

Forty-five minutes fly by.

Then you sink into the afterglow.

Wonderful merging of live improvisational jazz/soul and tap dancing where the interaction between musicians and dancers is a playful game of “call & answer”, as is the interaction between the four dancers themselves. The tapping is exceptional, but make no mistake, it does NOT come at the expense of the dance. A second act (because a rest WOULD be essential) in a stand alone run would be exhilarating! GO SEE! p.s. the brief, very informative backstory to the performance at the beginning was most appreciated. ❤️

Spectacular!

Amazing talent, teamwork, and joy from a fantastic group of dancers and musicians. Victoria Miller and company make everything look effortless and almost gravity defying. All of this supported by their clear love and respect for their art form.

What could be better than live music and tap? Enjoy the smiles of the dancer’s and musician’s faces as they celebrate the joy of ensemble and the creativity of the individual improvisations.