By Kaitlyn McMorran, Artistic Director of Rocky Mountain Rhythm

Rocky Mountain Rhythm performs at the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema Premiere, September 2026

Rocky Mountain Rhythm was honored to be invited to perform at the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema Season Premiere this past weekend. We showcased four pieces: two historical and two original works in different areas of the Museum of Boulder. We love these types of performances: getting to be up close and personal with the audience, hauling our 2x4’ wood boards through crowds, and interacting with patrons more than we would in a dark theater. There’s something so special about being more intimate with an audience - no “bells and whistles” of a theater, just us and our boards.

It honors the roots of how RMR started 11 years ago. Our first gigs were in coffee shops, busking on the street, and tapping to holiday music at the Denver Christkindlmarket. It wasn’t until 2021 that we had our first self-produced performance in a theater. It also honors the history of tap dance being used to communicate, celebrate, and connect; not just about being impressive but about cultivating community.

We got many chances to connect with audience members throughout the weekend of the SSF premiere. We connected over rhythm patterns between sets, shared about the donation-based community classes that we hold at satellite locations around the Denver metro area, and dove into the joy of tap dance with many “I used to tap and want to get back into it” tappers.

But one statement kept coming up over and over again throughout our conversations with the festival-goers: “It doesn’t seem like there’s much tap dance in Colorado!”

This isn’t new, and my first instinct is always to defend tap dance by listing all the ways we try to make it visible. “We run classes! We host master teachers! We perform 12 times a year! We just collaborated with other tap dance organizations in May to produce a sold-out, free event on National Tap Dance Day! There is an entire Facebook community group dedicated to Colorado tap dance!” Because I try to fully immerse myself in the tap scene here, it’s easy for me to be offended when people say that there isn’t a lot of tap dance in Colorado.

But to be honest, they’re right. Compared to other styles of dance in the professional Colorado dance scene, tap is pretty low on the list. And in Boulder, where a lot of these patrons frequent, it’s not absent, but rare.

That’s why Rocky Mountain Rhythm was created. In 2015, Claire Sheek recognized a need for tap dance in our state and founded the professional company. RMR has gone through many changes in 11 years, including leadership changes, location changes, and a restructuring into a nonprofit organization. But one thing hasn’t changed: our commitment to tap.

We believe that we are on the brink of a tap resurgence in Colorado, where tap can get back to being “a big deal” like it was during the time of the Colorado Dance Festival in the late 80’s. We have big dreams to put Colorado back on the “tap map”. Tap deserves to be celebrated and enjoyed as much as any other performative art form.

That’s why we do what we do. It’s never been about the biggest gigs, the brightest lights, or the largest paychecks. We dance because we love it and we want to inspire others to pick up a pair of tap shoes and try it out for themselves. We love tap so much that sometimes we forget how invisible it can be outside of our little community. This weekend reminded us why RMR was started in the first place, and why we believe that there’s an opportunity to make tap dance an even bigger part of Colorado’s dance scene.

Tap Dance Is Here. Now Let’s Make It Impossible to Miss.

Why tap dance is good for you and where to take classes this fall