RPM Tap Ensemble

KEATON DEAR

Assistant Rehearsal Director

Keaton is a multi-disciplined dancer and performer with an extensive background in ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, and rhythm tap. Keaton began dancing at the age of three, but most notably are her several years of tutelage under the direction of Barbara Phillips. Through dancing with RPM Youth Tap Ensemble since 2007, Keaton has studied with inspirational professionals including Dianne Walker, Sam Weber, Lane Alexander, Nicole Hockenberry, Tasha Lawson, Martin “Tre” Dumas, Derick Grant, Lisa La Touche, Nicholas Young, Michelle Dorrance and many others. Recently, Keaton has come full circle with the privilege of serving as the Assistant Director of RPM Tap Ensemble. Through serving as an instructor, Keaton enjoys passing on the traditions of tap to the next generation in studios including that of Third Coast Rhythm Project and San Antonio Dance Academy since 2016. Newly, Keaton has been developing herself as a choreographer where she has had the opportunity to present award-winning works across the state of Texas.

In 2012, Keaton was selected by Michelle Dorrance as an understudy in Dorrance’s suite that was performed in JUBA! Masters of American Tap Dance presented by Chicago Human Rhythm Project at the Eisenhower Theater in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Keaton was the first recipient of the Rhythmic Souls Tap Scholarship awarded through the Dance Council of North Texas in 2012. In 2014, Keaton was also awarded the Buster Cooper Tap Scholarship through the Dance Council of North Texas. Keaton has appeared in numerous concerts and events including Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s JUBA! at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Third Coast Rhythm Project’s Jazzed on Tap, Sole to Soul’s Participant Showcase, Houston’s Space City Tap Festival’s Showcase, and as a soloist in the Dance Council of North Texas’ Before-the-Show Show.

Keaton currently attends the University of Texas at San Antonio where she will be graduating in Spring 2019 with a B.A. in Psychology. Keaton is also a 2015 Traditional Terry Scholar, recognizing her among some of the best and brightest well-rounded scholars in the state of Texas. In her future, she hopes to pursue a career in Psychology as well as continue creating and passing on the traditions and history of tap dance to the next generation.

SHELBY ATHERTON

Shelby Atherton tap dances her way through part of everyday – just for the fun of it. A native of San Antonio, her early dance education began at age three with the study of ballet, jazz, and tap. By first grade, tap became her favorite dance style though she trains in ballet as well. She is one of the founding dancers of the St. Luke’s Episcopal School dance program, under the direction of Paula Gorman. In St. Luke’s program, she performed as a soloist as well as in group tap and ballet routines. Additionally, Miss Atherton acted as an assistant tap instructor for St. Luke’s younger dancers. Beyond the dance studio, Miss Atherton is very involved with her school activities, like National Honor Society, and academic life at the International School of the Americas where she is a senior. This year, she was selected to be the Event Coordinator for Model United Nations San Antonio, the largest student-run Model UN conference in the nation with over 1,200 participants. For the past two years, Shelby has volunteered as a Teen Art Guide at the McNay Art Museum. Miss Atherton intends to study international relations when she begins college next year. This year marks Miss Atherton’s seventh of dancing with the RPM Tap Ensemble. She is very grateful for every opportunity to learn from and perform with tap masters. She appreciates and thanks Barbara Phillips and the talented group of dancers that embody RPM for all her tap dancing opportunities.

JOHN HOOFMAN

John is an 18-year-old multidisciplinary musician and dancer, focusing on tap.  In addition to studying tap through Third Coast Rhythm Project and dancing with RPM under the direction of Barbara Phillips, John currently studies tap and ballet, and previously jazz and hip-hop, at Earle Cobb Dance Studio under the direction of Dena Mabry. He is also an Instrumental Music major at the North East School of the Arts in San Antonio.

John started dancing in San Antonio at age 4 and quickly demonstrated a passion for tap.  Raised in a military family, he continued dancing and performing with each move the family made throughout the world. In Alabama, he studied dance at the Kelly School of Dance where he learned to tap “Gene Kelly style” under the direction of Kathy Burk. From 2008-2013 John won numerous awards and scholarships at regional and national dance competitions and conventions in the Southeast, including being named “Mr. Pre-Teen Solo Starmaker” in Myrtle Beach, SC, in June 2013 for his first-place performance of “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”  John has studied hip-hop with Vince Johnson in Dothan, AL, and has attended many convention classes throughout the country learning jazz, ballet, hip-hop, tap, lyrical, and contemporary styles of dance from many notable professionals in the field.

John has aused his vocal, acting and dancing talents in three productions with the Missoula Children’s Theater— “Jungle Book,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and “The Wiz of the West.” In 6th grade, John won the lead role of Mowgli in his school’s performance of “Disney Kids’ The Jungle Book.”  John has also performed as a soloist at several civic functions by request in Alabama and in Texas. In 2011, John participated in the Orange Bowl half-time show and worked with choreographer Bonnie Story to back the Goo-Goo Dolls.

John has returned to San Antonio and hopes to further develop his tap dancing skills while pursuing his talents in instrumental music. John is an all-around musician with a keen sense of rhythm who sees tap as another instrument to be used in his repertoire which includes nylon string and electric guitars, saxophone, cajon, and piano.  John is a senior Instrumental Music major at the North East School of the Arts as a classical guitarist and saxophonist and has performed at all musical concerts and musical theater productions. He works with the orchestra, using the saxophone in the place of an oboe.  He is an avid composer with works for guitar, tap and piano under his belt.

John wants to perform and create as much as he can. When not dancing or playing for NESA productions, John spends his time furthering his instrumental technique and personal artistic choices and stretching what concepts can be applied to each art form. 

ELISE HERNANDEZ

Elise Hernandez is an accomplished dancer, visual artist, musician, and programmer, who was born and raised in San Antonio. Her first style of dance was flamenco, when she was three years old. By the age of five she had switched her focus to ballet, which she would continue to pursue for eleven years. During this time, she also studied many other styles of dance; primarily tap, but also including jazz, modern, and musical theater. She attended the Ballet Austin Summer Intensive in 2006, 2007, and 2009.

Elise started playing clarinet in sixth grade, and spent all four years of high school as a member of the award-winning Ronald Reagan High School Marching and Concert Band. As a member of the marching band, she was a finalist at the the Bands of America Grand National Championships in 2012.

Her final year of high school, Elise started pursuing visual art academically for the first time. She entered two pieces in the Visual Art Scholastic Event State Competition 2013, and received a Gold Seal (highest award) for oil painting, and Division 1 ratings for both the oil painting and a chalk pastel drawing. She also participated in Southwest School of Art’s Teen Painting Intensive. She is a gifted visual artist, versed in painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and graphic design, and able to produce both representational and abstract work.

Elise graduated Cum Laude from Reagan High School in 2013, and was a National Merit Semifinalist, a National Hispanic Scholar, and an AP Scholar. She went on to study Computer Science and Studio Art at Southwestern University, where she was selected as a Mood Scholar. At SU, she served as president of the computer science club/Association for Computing Machinery, and worked as both a writer and photographer for the Megaphone, the student newspaper, and participated in several other student organizations. She is capable in several programming languages and technological spheres.

Elise now lives and works in San Antonio, and focuses her creative energy on tap dance and visual art. She began taking classes with Barbara Phillips in 2015, and participated in the Third Coast Rhythm Project festival and joined RPM in 2016.