On The Record: Twenty-First Century Tap
Choreographer Mark Yonally Adds New Dimensions to an Historic Art Form
Mark Yonally admits that, as a young dancer growing up in Kansas City, he was “something of a snob” about his dancing. “As a pure rhythm tapper, my focus was on my sound, not on my presentation,” he says. However, when he became artistic director and principal choreographer of Chicago Tap Theatre, his views and his approach to tap changed radically.
The Journey to Innovation
Yonally began his professional career at the age of eight, when he performed 1930s and 1940s-era song and dance numbers with three other children as part of an act known as “The Gangbusters.” He gained additional exposure to classic tap in his twenties when he partnered with Broadway star Skip Randall in the Bill Evans Dance Company. Steeped in the steps and styles of tap’s golden age, Yonally gained a deep appreciation for the past masters and their contribution to the art form. So strong is his commitment to tap history that he includes the work of tap legends Buster Brown and Honi Coles in the repertoire of his company so as to preserve the great routines of the past.
Despite his reverence for tap tradition, Yonally’s own choreography is deeply rooted in contemporary music and influences as well as in his skill as an improvisational dancer. As a teenager in high school he began haunting the jazz clubs of Kansas City, sharing the stage with some of the best musicians of the day. Some were shocked to have a tap dancer sitting in on their sessions, but others were aware of the historically close connection between tap and jazz and welcomed Yonally into the fold.
Mark Yonally, Artistic Director and principal choreographer of Chicago Tap Theatre. Photo by Josh Hawkins
College found him branching out even further. “When I was an undergraduate some friends and I formed what was perhaps the worst band in the world, with my tapping acting as part of the percussion section,” he says, laughing. Although that band has long since folded, the love of improvisation has stayed with him. To this day, Yonally continues to perform as a percussionist, both in his own jazz band, The Rhythm Four, and as a guest instrumentalist with other bands including indie rockers the Polyphonic Spree. Not only did Yonally’s taps appear on the recording of “Mental Cabaret,” but he was asked – with his entire company – to perform the song with the Spree live at Lollapalooza 2007. “Dancing in front of 30,000 screaming fans was absolutely surreal,” he says. “It’s not something you ever expect as a tapper.”
After graduating with a degree in dance from the University of New Mexico and teaching at Oklahoma City University, Yonally moved to Chicago to dance with ETC (Especially Tap Chicago), the oldest tap ensemble in the city. He also began teaching at area studios, including the Giordano Dance Studio. There he ran across several of his former Oklahoma City University students and other talented tappers who would become the founding members of Chicago Tap Theatre.
Finding a Unique Voice
During his early career, Yonally had the opportunity to work with several outstanding tap choreographers. “Bill Evans was a master of choreography” says Yonally, “and gave me the opportunity to co-choreograph with him.” Julie Cartier of ETC was also a strong influence, particularly with respect to staging. As a matter of technique, Yonally is indebted to Sam Weber, whose loose-ankle style informs Yonally’s dancing and choreography both. However, Yonally credits the great Dianne Walker with helping him find his creative voice. “Dianne always encouraged me to think about what my own unique contribution to tap was going to be,” he says. “It took a while, but eventually I realized that people love being told a story, and tap dance had not at that point, really explored its full narrative and emotional potential.”
That realization led Yonally to form Chicago Tap Theatre. “I wanted to find a way to tell interesting stories that capture the full range of human emotions,” he says. “Tap traditionally is seen as kind of emotionally monochromatic, but I thought that it had the ability to show what a character is thinking and feeling, through both visual and auditory elements.”
Yonally’s unique approach to tap choreography works on two levels. First, he borrows formats from other dance disciplines to expand tap’s conceptual and narrative possibilities. Like contemporary or modern dance, he creates single pieces that explore a single emotion, or develops suites that tell a story in miniature, such as the tale of two lovers from different political camps overcoming their differences.
Even more ambitiously, he has made the “story show” or “tap opera” Chicago Tap Theatre’s signature format. One of the company’s three annual productions is reserved for a story show, which follows a single set of characters through an entire evening. The concept is similar in ways to that of a fairytale ballet. However, Yonally pairs modern music (including trip hop and electronica) with contemporary themes, often adding pop references to attract audience members who wouldn’t normally come out for a dance concert. One year he presented “The Tell-Tale Tap,” which told several Edgar Allen Poe stories, set to music ranging from Nine Inch Nails to Leonard Cohen. The next year saw “Changes,” a science fiction saga set entirely to the music of David Bowie and following the adventures of Major Tom (as in Bowie’s “Ground Control to Major Tom”) after he crash lands on an alien planet. Last year, Yonally presented “The Hourglass in the Stop-Time Chronicles,” teaming with comic book artist Andrew Pepoy to create the first tap-dancing super heroine. Yonally has also choreographed a biography of troubled jazz musician Chet Baker.
However, Yonally’s innovations reach beyond staging, format and concept. He believes that different sounds reflect different aspects of a character’s emotional makeup and give rise to different emotions in the audience. Similarly, different postures and attitudes convey different psychological states to viewers. Thus, his choreography reflects all the fiendish complexity of his rhythm tapping days but incorporates something that he didn’t do when he was younger. Nowadays, he uses the upper body to a much greater extent, incorporating movements and poses that are more reminiscent of other forms of dance, including jazz, contemporary and ballet, than of tap.
Using the upper body is something that show tappers have done for decades, but Yonally’s approach is different. “Incorporating full body movement is something that has to happen organically,” he says. “It’s tough watching tap when arm movements are added on for any reason other than enhancing what you’re trying to say.” Though Yonally studied modern and contemporary dance in college, he works closely with his company members – all of whom are cross-trained in a variety of dance styles – to identify body movements that make sense in the context of the piece. “It’s a constant struggle to balance individual expression against uniformity,” he says. “While I want each dancer to retain their unique approach, you need some consistency to keep the piece from looking sloppy. I’m always working on finding that happy medium.”
Training the Next Generation of Dancers and Choreographers
Though Yonally is dedicated to preserving tap’s history, he has an equally strong commitment to helping develop tap’s future. Earlier this year, Chicago Tap Theatre sponsored the nationwide Innovation in Tap Choreography Competition, which gave a young choreographer the opportunity to set a piece on the company’s eleven professional dancers.
Yonally also affects future generations of dancers through his teaching efforts. Not only is he on staff at several Chicago area studios, he is also a master teacher who travels the world giving workshops and classes for both children and adults. His humorous and high energy approach to teaching often earns him many return invitations, since his style is just as popular with those who aspire to a career in tap as it is with those who dance simply for recreation.
He’s a firm believer that dancing should be fun, which keeps students coming back week after week. As he says, “one of the most important things do to as a teacher is to let students laugh at themselves, and even encourage them to do so. It allows them to make mistakes without being too hard on themselves.”
He also aims to keep everyone moving the entire hour with the entire class working simultaneously on routines or technique rather than doing individual across-the-floor moves, which can be intimidating for some students. “If I have everyone working at the same time, I can go around and speak to each person individually, usually giving both a compliment and a piece of advice,” he says. “It’s important that everyone gets my undivided attention at least once each class.” He also has a rule that if he has to give the same advice three times, he’ll stop the class and pass on the tip to everyone.
Another unique element of his teaching is “story time,” which is a five-minute segment at the end of every hour when he discusses tap history, jazz history or music theory. By leaving the historical aspects of class until the end, he furthers his goal of keeping the class moving and also ensures that he presents his material in an organized manner. Typically he proceeds chronologically with his history lessons, but he also picks up on current events in the tap world so that students know that there is life beyond the studio walls.
Whether it’s in his teaching or in his choreography, Mark Yonally puts his own unique stamp on his work. Tap is something that he cares about deeply, and that passion comes through whether he’s improvising to a jazz standard, choreographing to the latest indie rock anthem or telling a six year-old why Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was important. “Tap is relevant to the world today,” he says. “It moves people like no other dance form.” When in the hands – or feet – of Mark Yonally, nothing could be truer.
Stacie Strong is a tap dancer and writer living in Columbia, Missouri and Chicago. She edited the book Top Tap Tips, which combines photographs of tap dancers in rehearsal and performance with inspiring quotes from the masters of tap dance, past and present.