Danny Nielsen
TAP
Danny Nielsen is one of Canada’s most sought out professionals. Originally from Calgary, AB, he began his rhythm tap career as a founding member of MADD Rhythms Canada under the direction of Lisa La Touche. He has also performed with reputable companies such as Heather Cornell’s CanTap, Lisa La Touche’s Tap Phonics and Acia Gray’s Tapestry Dance Company. In his hometown, Danny was hired as the company tap trainer for the highly-regarded Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. The opportunity led to having short choreographies featured in their productions of Tinge and Tone and 25.
For the past 3 years, Danny has been touring with Vancouver based dance company Radical System Art (Shay Kuebler). The show entitled Telemetry features Nielsen in a role created exclusively for him. The show has enthralled audiences across the globe having performed in prestigious venues such as the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Place Des Arts in Montreal, the White Bird Dance Series in Portland, the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, and the Schritmacher Festival in Germany to name a few.
From 2010-2016, Danny lived in Vancouver, BC. He spent 2 years as the ‘Artist in Residence’ with the Vancouver Tap Dance Society. In 2012, Danny was the recipient of the Santa Aloi Award from the Scotiabank Dance Centre. He used the grant to create and direct his first full length production Love.Be.Best.Free, which toured BC for a month in February of 2017. He also co created Night Cap with longtime friend Joel Hanna which featured American tap icons Martin ‘Tre’ Dumas III and Jason Samuels Smith.
Danny has taught and performed at many national and international tap festivals across the globe including Zurich Tap Fest, Tap Ahead in Germany, North Carolina Rhythm Tap Festival, CHRP’s Rhythm World, Taptastic Festival in Germany, and Portland Tap Fest to name a few. Television credits include the worldwide broadcast of the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies and the opening number for the 2008 Jerry Lewis Telethon choreographed by Chloe Arnold in Las Vegas, NV.
Danny recently just created his second full length production entitled ‘On Foot’ with the support for the Canada Council for the Arts. It premiered in both Vancouver and Calgary in the fall of 2019.
