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 companies LA Ironworks, under the direction of Steve Zee; Chloe Arnold’s New York-based company, Apartment 33; Here’s 2 Lyfe directed by Parris Mann and Rashida Khan, and Christopher Anthony Scott’s The Nitty Grittys.

As a soloist, Dante has performed with big bands at numerous clubs, casinos and hotels with the Amanda Castro Band and the UK’s Alex Mendham Orchestra, to name a few, and has been featured alongside recording artists such as Dionne Warwick. Dante began his collaborations with live musicians during his years as a successful and well-known street performer in New York City, where he honed his craft collaborating with local jazz musicians.

He considers his tap teaching style everything from taking students through sweat-breaking advanced rhythmic choreo-
graphy, to enthusiastically coaching adults and children 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, at 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/ Residency Choreographer/ Performer
Hollywood Tap Fest
DC Tap Fest
Shantalliv Tap Festival (Ireland)
Tap Studio Master (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Utah Tap Fest
Tap Dance Festival UK (Manchester, England)
Tap Workshop (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Tap Fest Cali
Wing It Tap Intensives (Cleveland, Orlando, Phoenix,
Pittsburgh, more)
Rhapsody in Taps National Tap Dance Day
RIFF Dallas
LA Tap Fest
…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
…and more

Performances
A Very Jazzy Nutcracker (Guest Artist), Utah
The Cicada Club
Dolby Theatre
Grand American Hotel (Utah)
Big Apple Tap Fest
“W” Hotel, Los Angeles
Casa Romantica Cultural Center
Los Angeles Pan African Festival
Boulevard 3, Hollywood
L.A. Follies
L.A. Film Festival
…and more

Academic Residencies
Colorado Mesa University
Chapman University
California Dance and Movement

Film
Spirited (2022)
Television
Dance Revolution (CBS)
The Talk (CBS)
World of Dance (NBC)
Holy Moley (ABC)
…and more

Dante is teaching weekly classes at Center Stage Dance Academy, Momentum Dance & Performing Arts Center, and The Den. Find more details here.

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. He is available for master
classes, choreography clean-up, and of course
choreography for competitions or concerts. Email
dantedahoofer@yahoo.com, or DM on Facebook or
Instagram.

 

@omarafloors
#omarafloorsartist #omarasprungfloors