Join Alexis Robbins, Kelly Kaleta, Wolfpit Elementary School, and more on the Norwalk Town Green to celebrate National Tap Dance Day, aka Bill “Bojangles” Robinson’s birthday for the 3rd year in a row!
Schedule of Events:
CLASS (all levels welcome) - 12:30-1:30
JAM (all levels welcome, including musicians!) - 1:45-2:45
SHOW (professional and student performances) - 3-4
ALL events have LIVE MUSIC from our fabulous rhythm section including Jen Allen, Clifford Schloss, and Avery Collins!

Norwalk National Tap Dance Day is a public and FREE event for ALL! Bring your whole family and some picnic chairs and snacks to the Norwalk Town Green! Thanks to our funders at Kids for Kids, as well as individual donors.

Alexis Robbins is the featured tap dance soloist alongside the incomparable Green Street Trio led by Paul Arslanian on Tuesday, June 2nd at City Sports Grille (Spare Time Northampton Bowling Alley) in Northampton, MA. No cover, but you should certainly get some dinner and drinks! One hour set followed by an open jam session! Tap dancers: bring your shoes!

WORLD PREMIERE OF THE MERCY VELVET PROJECT
TICKETS ON SALE VIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS: The Mercy Velvet Project | International Festival of Arts and Ideas

The 1999 album, Live in Vain by Mercy Velvet, exists on zero streaming platforms, and few people have heard it…until now. The Mercy Velvet Project (premiere June 2026) is an embodied re-creation of the album. The work explores what makes us human, our collective need for community to survive—with musicians and dancers moving as one. Through nine songs in their original order, a queer and femme cast explore different barriers to experiencing love. Learning that by giving and receiving the gift of mercy, we are able to find the bridge to survival, wholeness, and hope. Over twenty-five years after the albums’ release, kamrDANCE and their collaborators expand upon its legacy through their personal identities and today’s political realities. The show tells the story of the album through tap dance as percussion, contemporary dance, original text, and instrumentation via bass, guitar, vocals, and electronics—highlighting our vulnerabilities, learning together how to find the antidote that is mercy, and in turn lead meaningful lives.

Live in Vain by Mercy Velvet is the music that Choreographer Alexis Robbins grew up with, the percussive rhythms and lyrics that inspired living room dances. Her father, Mark Robbins, was the drummer and co-composer for Mercy Velvet, alongside lyricist and vocalist Deb Lili, and guitarist Lou Lili. Her fathers’ love and direction deeply influenced the music Alexis listens to and the music she creates as a tap dancer. Now, Alexis, Musical Director Christie Echols, and their collaborators bring Live in Vain to audiences for the first time.

The Mercy Velvet Project is an hour and 20 minutes with no intermission. This is a family friendly show; all ages are welcome. There will be LOUD and raucous rock n’ roll music. Yale TDPS Blackbox is ADA accessible.

WORLD PREMIERE OF THE MERCY VELVET PROJECT
TICKETS ON SALE VIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS: The Mercy Velvet Project | International Festival of Arts and Ideas

The 1999 album, Live in Vain by Mercy Velvet, exists on zero streaming platforms, and few people have heard it…until now. The Mercy Velvet Project (premiere June 2026) is an embodied re-creation of the album. The work explores what makes us human, our collective need for community to survive—with musicians and dancers moving as one. Through nine songs in their original order, a queer and femme cast explore different barriers to experiencing love. Learning that by giving and receiving the gift of mercy, we are able to find the bridge to survival, wholeness, and hope. Over twenty-five years after the albums’ release, kamrDANCE and their collaborators expand upon its legacy through their personal identities and today’s political realities. The show tells the story of the album through tap dance as percussion, contemporary dance, original text, and instrumentation via bass, guitar, vocals, and electronics—highlighting our vulnerabilities, learning together how to find the antidote that is mercy, and in turn lead meaningful lives.

Live in Vain by Mercy Velvet is the music that Choreographer Alexis Robbins grew up with, the percussive rhythms and lyrics that inspired living room dances. Her father, Mark Robbins, was the drummer and co-composer for Mercy Velvet, alongside lyricist and vocalist Deb Lili, and guitarist Lou Lili. Her fathers’ love and direction deeply influenced the music Alexis listens to and the music she creates as a tap dancer. Now, Alexis, Musical Director Christie Echols, and their collaborators bring Live in Vain to audiences for the first time.

The Mercy Velvet Project is an hour and 20 minutes with no intermission. This is a family friendly show; all ages are welcome. There will be LOUD and raucous rock n’ roll music. Yale TDPS Blackbox is ADA accessible.