Biography
Steve Zee is a globe-trotting master tap dancer, teacher, musician and entertainer who has trained and performed with the Nicholas Brothers, Gregory Hines and countless other tap notables. He has performed and taught across the United States, Europe, Brazil and China and has been a member of the Jazz Tap Ensemble and Rhapsody In Taps. His tap mentor was Stan Kahn.
Steve was recently an artist in residence at the Maison de Beaumont in the south of France in addition to receiving funding to do tap dance history research in the dance archive of the Centre national de la danse in Paris.
As a historian, Steve created and taught a tap dance history course in the Dance Department at California State University, Long Beach. He has published five oral histories of significant tap dancers (Stan Kahn, Bob Scheerer, Fred Strickler, Sarah Petronio, Linda Sohl-Ellison) that are housed at prestigious scholarly institutions, including the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Check out his Ted Talk "Tap Dancing Is The Story Of America" and the history talk "What a Frog Can Teach Us About Tap Dancing" that he gave at the Phoenix Tap Festival. Check out also his article published by Dance Magazine.
In his subscription-based, online tap training program, Tap Academy Online, Steve currently teaches lessons in two languages to subscribers in dozens of countries on six continents. For more on Tap Academy Online and to enjoy a few free video lessons, please visit www.tapacademyonline.com
Steve has taught and performed at countless tap festivals both international and domestic such as the Phoenix Tap Festival, LA Tapfest, Big Apple Tap Festival, OC Tap Festival, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Joinville Festival de Dança, Limoges Festival de Claquettes, China International Tap Dance Festival and many, many more. For almost 20 years, he was the lead tap teacher at EverybodydanceLA (previously The Gabriella Foundation) that gives extremely low-cost dance lessons to under-served youth in Los Angeles. Steve recently retired from the Dance Department at California State University, Long Beach after 26 years.
Coming to Southern California? Drop in for a class with Steve at Kick It Up Dance Studio in Long Beach or contact Steve to find out about group classes, privates and upcoming performances.
Learn to tap dance online with Tap Academy Online! Click on the button and check out the site!
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