Spotlight on Diary of a Tap Dancer

Joy, Magic, and Liberation

Trailblazing tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel (Chasing Magic, Funny Girl, Max Roach 100) returns to the A.R.T. in a new production that interweaves dance, narrative, and song to share the story of her own life and honor the histories and legacies of the extraordinary women tap dancers who came before her. Experience the joy, magic, and liberatory power of tap dance in this world-premiere production commissioned by the A.R.T. and directed by Torya Beard (Chasing Magic, Funny Girl, Waitress).

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See The Whole Season

Tap Storyteller Lets Her Feet Do the Talking

Get to Know Ayodele Casel
The New York Times

“I really, really, really want people to hear and experience tap dancing in a different way,” Ayodele Casel told The New York Times in 2017. “I want my audiences to know that this incredibly entertaining, exciting, and virtuoso thing they see on stage is really a deeply personal and profound message.”

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Read The Interview

Chase the Magic Again

Watch the Trailer

Ayodele Casel made her debut at the A.R.T. in 2021 with Chasing Magic, a joyous production that celebrated gratitude, friendship, trust, legacy, culture, ancestors, and collaboration. Watch the trailer to relive the magic of this production.

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Fostering the Next Generation

An Interview with Collaborators

Casel builds community wherever she goes... [and] works to—in her own words—“decentralize and expand creative opportunities and broaden the way audiences interact with tap dance.” Read on Playbill

What a Sound It Makes

The Power of Tap

Ayodele Casel’s work encourages us to engage with the history of tap and with the ways in which the art form has always communicated resistance to oppression. Read the Article