Tappyness is a multidisciplinary happening where dance meets theatre. Choreographed by Matt Greenberg, and performed as a solo by Erin Parsons, Tappyness tells the story of one woman's mental health journey as she struggles to "stay in time."
Tap is a uniquely American form of dance where we have borrowed/stolen African rhythms and shuffling emulsified with the Irish Jig. The Irish jig was adapted as a way for people to express themselves below the doorway, so that passerby soldiers would not be able to see their inner feelings of movement and joy. The same analogy could be applied to mental health, and the way we put on a brave face as to not stigmatize one’s true feelings hidden below the surface. This happening will also transpose what we normally associate tap dance feet into tap with pill bottles and other parts of the body. This project hopes to answer the question: "How can we hold each other up?" Now, more than ever, we must de-stigmatize the notion of seeking help and take care of ourselves as the world continues to change and turn rapidly.
Matt Greenberg and Erin Parsons are currently graduate students in the Department of Theatre.
Hybrid Arts Lab is a multi-venue teaching lab that experiments with how art is imagined, made, viewed and understood within physical and digital spaces. Venues include Hopkins Hall Gallery, Stillman Hall Tent, and online @ UAS from Home.
