Northwest Tap Connection performs their final set. (Photo: Susan Fried)
Arts & Culture

Rainier Beach Celebrates National Tap Dance Day With Jazz and Northwest Tap Connection

Susan Fried

On Sunday, May 25, the Rainier Beach community celebrated National Tap Dance Day in style with a special appearance by Northwest Tap Connection (NWTC) at the Rainier Beach Jazz Jam. The jazz jam usually takes place on the third Sunday of the month at the Rainier Beach Community Club, featuring a house band and guest musicians.

At this special "Jazz Meets Tap" performance, NWTC founder and Executive Director Melba Ayco — Ms. Melba, as she is affectionately known — gave a brief history of tap dance before some of her talented students performed with the Jazz Jam band. The day also just happened to be the birthday of Bill Robinson, a legendary tap dancer.

National Tap Dance Day means "everything to me," said Shaina Proctor, artistic director of NWTC. "Tap has been one of my true loves, and to have it honored on a national and international level shows how it is appreciated around the world. And for it to fall on Bill Robinson's birthday, shows the significance he had on the art form."

Proctor and students, including three of her own children, performed to a full house, demonstrating how tap dance and jazz have similar characteristics. Both art forms involve syncopated rhythm and lots of improvisation.

If you missed "Jazz Meets Tap," don't worry. Northwest Tap Connection is having an event on June 21 at Lindbergh High School in Renton called "One Nation Under a Groove," a tribute to funk music. And, of course, you can enjoy free jazz performances every third Sunday of the month at the Rainier Community Club. The next Jazz Jam is scheduled for June 15.

Northwest Tap Connection celebrated National Tap Dance Day with a special performance during the Rainier Beach Jazz Jam on May 25, 2025, at the Rainier Beach Community Club.
Northwest Tap Connection instructor and dancer Rachel McKinney dances on National Tap Dance Day during the Rainier Beach Jazz Jam on May 25, 2025.
Rachel McKinney talks about her life as a tap dancer.
Drummer Joe Rogel "trades fours" with the dancers from Northwest Tap Connection. Trading fours is when two or more musicians take turns playing four bars or solos.
Sirena Proctor (center), 4, daughter of Northwest Tap Connection artistic director Shaina Proctor dances along with the music during "Jazz Meets Tap," the Rainier Beach Jazz Jam's celebration of National Tap Dance Day.
Tap dancer Jocelyn McMillion.
Sirena Proctor shows off some of her tap dancing moves.
Terrence Proctor, senior pastor of the Church By the Side Road and grandfather to three Northwest Tap Connection students, sits in with the Rainier Beach Jazz Jam Band.
Terrence Proctor with his three grandchildren — from left, Sirena Proctor, 4, TJ Proctor, 6, and Sade Proctor, 9 — before the start of "Jazz Meets Tap" at the Rainier Beach Community Club on May 25, 2025.
Northwest Tap founder and Executive Director Melba Ayco talks a little about the history of tap dance before a special performance by some of her students in honor of National Tap Dance Day on May 25, 2025, at the Rainier Beach Community Club.
Northwest Tap dancers putting on their shoes.

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