DANTÉ LARA is a California and New York based tap dancer, teacher and choreographer who continues to explode onto the new tap dancing scene. A graduate of Chapman University with a BA in Theatre Arts, Danté earned his SAG card at age seven, and has been acting professionally ever since.

But his passion for tap dancing has kept him on the wood ever since he began studying the dance seriously at L.A.’s Colburn School with the late Alfred Desio (inventor of Taptronics). He then began classes at Debbie Allen Dance Academy with Jason Samuels Smith and Chloe Arnold, and soon joined professional tap company, LA Ironworks, under the direction of Steve Zee; Chloe Arnold’s New York based company, Apartment 33, “Heres 2 Lyfe” directed by Parris Mann and Rashida Khan, and Christo-pher Anthony Scott’s The Nitty Grittys.

As a soloist, Dante has performed at numerous clubs and hotels, and was a successful and well-known street performer in New York City, where he honed his craft collaborating with jazz musi-cians.

He considers his tap teaching style everything from taking students through sweat-breaking advanced rhythmic choreo-graphy, to enthusiastically coaching adults who have never picked up a pair of tap shoes.

Dante’s popular videos can be viewed on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, as well as on his website,
www.dantelara.net/videos

His goal as a performer and teacher is to spread the love and joy of this musical art form to everyone, and to give students technique and tap vocabulary that they can take and share in their own improvisations and choreography.

Festival Teacher and Performer
DC Tap Fest
LA Tap Fest
RIFF Dallas
Tap Dance Festival UK
Wing It Tap Intensives (Cleveland, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, more)
Utah Tap Fest
RIT Nat’l Tap Dance Day
Tap Fest Cali

…and more

Guest Instructor/Intensives
Sao Paulo, Brazil
IALS Rome, Italy
Danceology, San Diego
Chloe and Maud’s Pop-Up Studios, Los Angeles
Artistry Performing Arts Center, San Jose
Anaheim Ballet
Focus Dance Center
Momentum Performing Arts
…and more

Television
Dance Revolution (CBS)
The Talk (CBS)
World of Dance (NBC)
Holy Moley (ABC)
…and more

Performances
Big Apple Tap Fest
“W” Hotel, Los Angeles
Casa Romantica Cultural Center
Los Angeles Pan African Festival
Boulevard 3, Hollywood
L.A. Follies
…and more

Film
Spirited (2022)

Performances
Big Apple Tap Fest
“W” Hotel, Los Angeles
Casa Romantica Cultural Center
Los Angeles Pan African Festival
Boulevard 3, Hollywood
L.A. Follies
…and more

Residencies
Colorado Mesa University
Tap Dance Festival UK
Chapman University
California Dance and Movement

Dante is currently teaching weekly classes and private lessons at Momentum Dance and Performing Arts, Focus Center for the Performing Arts and Broadway Arts Center, all in Southern California.

Dante is a proud O’Mara Sprung Floors Dance Artist.
@omarafloors #OMaraFloorsArtist

Dante looks forward to teaching and performing at YOUR next festival, workshop or class. dantedahoofer@yahoo.com or dantelaraentertainer@yahoo.com or PM on Facebook or Instagram.

Dante is available for master classes, weekly advanced or intermediate classes, choreography clean-up, and of course, choreography for concert or competition in California and New York.  Contact Dante here! 

 

@omarafloors
#omarafloorsartist #omarasprungfloors