Kelsey McCowan

Jazz & Tap Teacher

     Kelsey took her first tap class at the age of three and immediately fell in love creating music with her feet. She grew up studying ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop at the Peninsula School of Performing Arts in Palos Verdes, Ca. When Kelsey was just 15, she started dancing professionally for the Hot Cotton Candies, under the direction of Dyan Lopez and Tita Boulger. Later that year, she was accepted into the prestigious Jazz/Tap Ensemble-The Caravan Project. The Caravan Project is a tap group for gifted teens that celebrates two of the greatest American traditions, jazz music and tap dancing. Some of her favorite past performances with JTE include the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, The Christmas Spectacular at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion, and A Night with the Jazz/Tap Ensemble at the Ford Theatre. After joining the Caravan Project, Kelsey continued to receive her training from Becky Bloom, Josette Wiggan, and Channing Cook-Holmes. She has had the honor of sharing the stage with Christopher Scott, Jason Samuels Smith, Chloe Arnold, Jared Grimes, and Chester Whitmore, just to name a few.

Kelsey has been teaching dance in the South Bay for the past 5 years within the Palos Verdes and Torrance school districts, and at various dance studios and now teaches at The Edge Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, Ca. She has also choreographed musicals such as Disney’s Camp Rock, Anything Goes, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella.

Just last year, Kelsey had the honor of performing at the Duke Ellington Theatre in Washington D.C. for the D.C. Tap Festival, directed by Chloe and Maud Arnold. Through her past 10 year involvement with the LA Tap Festival, held at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Kelsey now works under the direction of Jason Samuels-Smith and Chloe Arnold. As an avid participant of “The Floor”, a monthly dance event held at the King King in Hollywood, Kelsey was recently hand-picked by "So You Think You Can Dance" choreographer Christopher Scott to star in his rendition of “Defying Gravity.” Combining her knowledge of both “Broadway” style and “hard-hitting, rhythmical hoofing”, Kelsey is truly a one-of-a-kind performer, teacher, and choreographer.

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