“Probably the most inventive tapper in the business.”
Variety
Alfred Desio was co-founder of Los Angeles Choreographers and Dancers and director of Zapped Taps™/Alfred Desio until his death in 2007. He was a choreographer, composer and the inventor of electronic tap through his Tap-Tronics™. A veteran of the original Broadway productions of West Side Story, Man of La Mancha, Zorba, Kean, She Loves Me, and Donny Brook, he had the distinction of being Katharine Hepburn’s personal photographer for Life Magazine while a member of the cast of Coco. He met his long time wife and artistic collaborator Louse Reichlin when they were both in the first national company of Fiddler On the Roof, leading to their memorable wedding ceremony on stage between shows with whole cast and musicians participating. Even when three years old, he studied tap with Herbie Harper, the undercredited African American who was responsible for much of the choreography for Balanchine’s Broadway “Slaughter on 5th Avenue”. Broadway performance was with Jerome Robbins, Jack Cole, Peter Gunnar, Donald McKayle, and Michael Bennett. He also was assistant to Joseph Pilates, inventor of the Pilates Technique.
Tap-Tronics™
Debuting in 1982, Tap-Tronics™ is Desio’s innovative system by which tap dancers can play electronic instruments using the sound of the taps as a source, creating musical compositions every time they dance a step. After receiving a choreography fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts in 1986 Desio had his east coast debut of Zapped Taps™/Alfred Desio at Dance Theater Workshop (New York) to critical acclaim. The next year, he returned to perform at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. In 2001 Desio was invited by the Smithsonian Institute to perform his Zapped Taps™ at the opening of their new Experimental Gallery. As a member of the WESTAF touring roster, his performances included many western states. Selected for the International Programming Network, Desio also performed in Barcelona at the international festival Dies de Dansa.
Desio’s innovative use of tap and electronics was featured in the Tri-Star film Tap starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. and he was featured in Tappin,’ a documentary about the making of the Tap. He performed in and was featured in a film produced by Rusty Frank and Arthur Dong about the history and future of tap. Desio worked as a teacher/choreographer with Korean media star So Rhee Oak and was featured in a documentary on American tap for the Korean Broadcasting System. He also created one of the title roles in the German award winning art film Zwei im Frack (Two In Tails). The award-winning short was seen in numerous film festivals all over the world. In addition, Desio and Tap-Tronics™ were the subject of major television and radio programs including The Today Show, 2 On the Town, NBC News/National, Morning Edition/ and Performance Today/NPR, and Canada’s High Tech Culture.
Reviewed in Variety as, “probably the most inventive tapper in the business,” Desio also used traditional jazz and acapella selections to create a program that had the Los Angeles Times writing, “jazzy, complex unaccompanied routine that defined tap musicality…brilliant…absolutely dazzling.” The New York Times added, “The delighted fascination that seems to drive the Los Angeles-based Mr. Desio to explore these high-tech extensions of traditional tap also informs his…dancing. His intricate, deft footwork and his ease are compelling. But in the end it is the cagey exuberance of this leprechaun tapster that makes the work so enjoyable.”
Performances and Choreography
Alfred Desio worked often with jazz bands and symphony orchestras. In 2000 he premiered a trio tap version to Morton Gould’s Tap Dance Concerto with the San Diego Symphony at Copley Hall, receiving a standing ovation. In 2003 he performed a new jazz arrangement to Bach with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra at Descanso Gardens for their program Kick Up Your Heels. Several years earlier he co-choreographed with Louise Reichlin and performed a Gershwin Suite with the same orchestra. In 2004 he performed with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra at the Anson Ford Amphitheatre, as well as directing Colburn Kids Tap/L.A. & Friends for the finale of the production, receiving another standing ovation.
Desio’s unusual commissions include collaboration with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in 1990 to premier Variations for Zapped Taps™ and Orchestra, which he performed with the orchestra at the Orange County Performing Arts Center on two occasions, the first time with the orchestra lead by composer Lucas Richman. Selected works include Audio Imp (’98) for the Jazz Dance World Congress, A Suite of Tap Dances (’96) at Dance Kaleidoscope, Brandenburg Boogie (’94) which premiered with LA C&D at Bovard Auditorium, Birthday Dance (’92), a Tap-Tronic duet for himself and Sam Weber, premiering at the LA County Museum with LA C&D, and Zapped Taps Suite (’91) at the Bing Theater at USC with LA C&D. In 1999 he directed and choreographed the original show Caution: Men At Work TAP for Theatrical Arts International with Louise Reichlin as co-choreographer, which toured nationally in 2000. Desio also taught and performed for the St. Louis Tap Festival that year. Additional choreography with Reichlin includes industrials and corporate events for Schick Wilkinson, Alliance Funding, and Ford Motors for the Taiwan Taipei International Motor Show.
Desio was awarded a commendation from the Los Angeles City Council in 1998. Councilman Ridley-Thomas opened the ceremony at City Hall with, “this is a resolution adopted today to commend Alfred Desio on an outstanding career as a dancer, a director, a choreographer, and a composer.”
Teaching
Desio was faculty member for thirty years at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. He was also on the faculty of other schools, including the University of Southern California, and was a Choreographer in Residence at Loyola Marymount University. He was the recipient of a Faculty Research and Innovation Fund (FRIF) grant for a collaborative project with Reichlin and the two collaborated on three concert works. Alfred introduced his Tap-Tronics as an enrichment lecturer on the Royal Viking Sea cruise ship on a Hawaiian cruise.
Besides being an accomplished teacher, Alfred created and directed a special performance project called Kids Tap/L.A. Under the LA C&D umbrella he received a Brody Arts Award from the CA Community Foundation to have tap legend Fayard Nicholas, of the Nicholas Brothers, coach the young dancers. The young troupe drew much recognition, and after a performance at the LA Children’s Museum, the Colburn School of Performing Arts proposed to Desio and Reichlin that the group be renamed Colburn Kids Tap/L.A. and the two non-profits organization share the company. Performances included Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Dance Kaleidoscope at the Ford, the Los Angeles Children’s Museum, Dance Roots at LA Theatre Center, the Greek Theatre and their home theatre Zipper Hall.
Passing
Since his passing in 2007 at the age of 74, Desio continues to be honored and his innovations and accomplishments recognized. Some of Desio’s tributes include the Lester Horton special award for Excellence in Teaching, the Kennedy Advocate of the Art of Tap Dance Award at the 5th Annual 2007 Los Angeles Tap Festival for his contribution of Teaching, Performing, and Innovations in Technology, a SoundDance Award from Rosie Radiator, a plaque for this teaching at the Colburn School, and a tribute in his honor at “Honoring the Tap Masters” at El Camino College. The Los Angeles Times published an appreciation of Desio stating, “He ranks among the most technically precise and dexterously advanced tappers I’ve ever seen.” Today Desio’s own students continue on as teachers and performers in their own right.
Read Alfred Desio’s LA Times obituary and a letter from Christian Mueller-Stahl, director of Zwei im Frack (Two In Tails).
Explore the Alfred Desio Tap Dance Project.