Roxane Butterfly is a world-renowned tap dancer and choreographer. Hailing from Toulon (Southern France), she is the first european tap-dancer to have gained the status of permanent resident of America in the quality of Hoofer. Known for her conceptual approach of the form and her daring musical experimentations, Roxane has been a criticically acclaimed figure on the international tap scene since the early nineties.
It was her mentor, the legendary bebop tap dancer Jimmy Slyde, who nicknamed her ´Butterfly` because of her light and virtuosic dance style. Born Roxane Semadeni, it is the name Butterfly that was to accompany her career every since her encounteer with Jimmy Slyde.
Artistic achievements:
Summary
Sought after for her exceptional improvisational tap dance skills, Roxane Butterfly has led a spectacular worldwide career for the past 30 years. First european dance percussionist to have gained the status of permanent resident of America in the quality of Hoofer, she has made herself known for her conceptual approach of the tap dance form, her daring musical experimentations, and her involvement for the woman cause in the field and beyond. Her numerous and adventurous collaborations with artists from the arabic music, flamenco, jazz and world-music environments have consequently helped transformed the musical tap landscape in America and Europe.
A ground-breaking tap dance choreographer whose works have been as diverse, applauded or controversed, Roxane has revived the presence of tap on the stages of many international dance and music festivals, venues and schools such as the Nice Jazz Festival (1996), Jacobs Pillow (USA, 2001), ImpulsTanz in Vienna (Austria, 2002), DanceSalad (Houston 2002), American Dance Festival in Durham (2004), Harkness Dance Festival (New York City, 2005), GlobalFest (New York City 2006), Institut del Teatre (Barcelona 2010), Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona 2012)
She has been awarded multiple prestigious grants all throughout her career in America including the famous John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship. She was also the very first woman to win a Bessie Award in the history of tap. Her break through as a choreographer goes back to 1998, when she became known for her pioneering work with her all women ensemble: BeauteeZ´n The Beat. She later toured internationally with her company Roxane Butterfly´s Worldbeats.
Roxane Butterfly is the only woman of her generation who has led a worlwide solo-career under her own name, presenting original work in Africa, the Middle-East, Europe, South and North America, Asia and the Caribbeans. Her multiple achievements include teaching at universities, lecturing at world-dance conferences and music-ethnology events, publishing in dance and music magazines in french and english, coaching actors and dancers such as Pablo Veron (Tango Lesson 1997, by Sally Potter), appearing in films and multi-media projects (notably the world-touring video-dance-installation “Slow Dance” by David Michalek), radio, television, directing and choreographing for commercials: HSBC commercial, Istanbul 2007 etc… In 2005, she attracted to Barcelona american fundings to work on her celebrated flamenco-tap fusión project Djellaba Groove and to form her first european tap-company.
In recent years
While representing a direct link to the generation of her mentors, the Original Hoofers, Roxane is constantly pushing the art-form further and passing on the knowledge she has received from the masters teaching and performing worldwide. To honor the name of legendary bebop tap master Jimmy Slyde (who baptized her “Butterfly”`in 1991), Roxane founded the Jimmy Slyde Institute in Barcelona, a study and creative center that serves as a promotional platform for innovative european contemporary tap works. Thanks to her double-status as a european and a new yorker, she has been a driving force in the creation of many tap festivals on the old continent, especially in Spain where her teaching method is largely in use. She recently founded the Euro-Tap-Coalition and tours with a number of well established musicians such as taiko drummer Leonard Eto.
Roxane Butterfly´s music credits as a feet-percussionist
Roxane was fortunate to jam and share the bill with some of the most luminous jazz musicians in the world such as George Benson, James Carter, Stanley Jordan, Roy Haynes, Graham Haynes, Phil Woods, Benny Powell, Les Paul, Denis Charles… to name just a few of them.
She was a featured soloist with the New York Virtuosi Orchestra (Danny Kaye Playhouse, New York City/ 2000), Stamford Philharmonic, The Cab Calloway Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra among many others… and was invited to numerous international festivals like Jazz à Toulon, The Nice Jazz Festival, Festival d' Un Monde á L'Autre (Lyon, France ), Clifford Brown Jazz Festival (USA), Nuits D´Afrique at Kola Jazz (Montreal), and world-music stage : (ex) her Djellaba Groove Project opened the renowned GlobalFest at the Public Theater (New York City 2006), Summerstage (Central Park, New York City, 2006), Lincoln Center Outdoors (New York City 2007), Festival Rabat Africa (Morocco 2010), Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona 2012) etc …
Awards and marks of distinction:
- Ramon Llull Institute Travel fund 2014
- New York Foundation For The Arts Choreography Fellow 2002, 2008
- USArts International Recipient 2007 (Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation)
- Meet The Composer 2007 (Creative Connection)
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow 2006
- Fund For Creative Community recipient 2005 (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010)
- Arts International 2004 (in support of a project on excision led in West Africa)
- Manhattan Creative Arts Funds (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010)
- Harkness Dance Space Grant recipient 2006. 22222
- 25 Best to Watch, Dance Magazine 2002
- Bessie Award For Outstanding Creative Achievement (Joyce Theater, New York City 1999)
External Links:
www.RoxaneButterfly.com
