Dance Scholarship at Tap Fever Studios ⋆ Community Outreach Programs

Both of Tap Fever’s dance scholarships are supported by the financial generosity of people like you! If you would like to help keep these programs going, please DONATE HERE to our scholarship fund. Scholarships will be awarded to one dancer each January, May, and September. Recipients will receive a 55-minute weekly group lesson, OR a ½-hour bi-weekly private lesson for 16-weeks.

Perfectly Abled Scholarship

The Perfectly Abled scholarship is in memory of a Tap Fever dancer named Jennifer Tuccillo (8/28/1967-9/2/2017) who joined us to tap with all the love in her heart for 5½ years. This special scholarship is offered to dancers with disabilities who wish to share their stories, with the goal of inspiring other to take a chance on dance. To apply, send a short video essay of your story to: dance@tapfever.com.

Jennifer's Story

❤ 8/28/1967 – 9/2/2017 ❤
Jennifer was always a performer at heart and studied musical theater throughout high school and college. In 2002, she developed a condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy- a nerve disorder that causes limited mobility, severe constant pain, and increased skin sensitivity in the arms, hands, legs, and feet. She also had chronic back and hip pain, and thought she’d never dance again.On January 2012, the 10-year anniversary of Jennifer’s injury that caused her RSD, she decided that RSD wasn’t going to stop her from living a happy and fulfilled life. She made a “bucket list”, one of the first actions she took was to call Larisa Hall at Tap Fever Studios, hoping to work with Larisa to regain her tap skills. Jennifer always said that she would be in pain whether she danced or not, so she might as well dance- at least that gave her joy and made her feel amazing on the inside! From then on, Jennifer danced with Larisa every week for 5½ years, and they created 16 dances together! Though Jennifer danced with her crutches, they never slowed her down. Her talent was evident, but it was Jennifer’s determination and joy she shared that made her such an inspiration to us all.
The Perfectly Abled Scholarship was created in her memory. Our hope is to find other dancers that can share their stories, and inspire others, as Jennifer always aimed to do.

Community Outreach Scholarship

The goal of the Community Outreach scholarship is to encourage dancers to share the art of dance with the community through a special project of their own creation. Examples include: teaching dance at a senior home, producing an assembly at your school, partnering with another local non-profit (such as YMCA) for a fun/educational dance event, or working with someone with a disability to teach them a dance routine. The sky’s the limit; be creative! We are looking for projects that impact our community and gets our neighbors excited about dance! To apply, send a written proposal to: dance@tapfever.com.

Here is one of Tap Fever’s first community outreach programs with California Children’s Services: