Tristan Bruns – Artistic Director
Tristan Bruns is a tap dancer and choreographer from Chicago, IL who began training with Donna Johnson and has continued his training with Ted Louis Levy, Lane Alexander, Martin ‘Tre’ Dumas III, Bril Barrett and Sam Weber. Tristan has been a member of Jimmy Payne Jr.’s Perfect Timing and Julie Cartier’s Cartier Collective and is a founding member of BAM!, the performance ensemble of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project under the direction of Lane Alexander. Tristan currently dances with M.A.D.D. Rhythms under the direction of Bril Barrett and is the Director of The Tapmen Dance Company, which uses a combination tap/modern hybrid style of choreography and often collaborates with his partner, Kate O’Hanlon.
Tristan is the Artistic Director of Tapman Productions, LLC, a dance production company, which began in 2012 with a mission to produce new works with a focus on tap dance. Besides producing over 50 performances across the United States, Tapman Productions recently finished their first season at Chicago’s Athenaeum Theatre including the well-received The Adventures of Tapman, choreographed, written and original music compositions by Bruns; the experimental La Raison d’Etre, choreographed by Bruns and Kate O’Hanlon; and Supreme Love, choreographed by Jumaane Taylor.
Tristan has been among a hand full of dancers to be awarded the Audible Odyssey grant for new works in 2012 and 2013 as well as an Individual Artist Grant for New Works in 2013 and 2016 by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Outstanding Choreography Award at the Dance Chicago Festival in 2014. Tristan has a B.A. in Music from Columbia College Chicago.
Kate O’Hanlon – Operations Manager
Kate O’Hanlon is a modern dancer and choreographer from Cleveland, Ohio. She began her early training with Michelle Petruzzi Gacom of the former Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Poppy Dinse, Gregory Daniels, and Sara Whale, and continued as a trainee with Inlet Dance Theatre (Cleveland, OH). Kate’s work has been presented at numerous festivals in Chicago and across the country, including Dance Chicago, Kaleidoscope Dance Festival, and Fringe Festivals in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. She currently performs with Ardent Dance Company, Matter Dance Company, and Untitled Project.
Kate is the Operations Manager of Tapman Productions, a dance production company founded in 2012 with a mission to produce new works with a focus on tap dance. She also serves as Director of the Modern Marvels Dance Company, a newly-formed modern dance ensemble presenting their first full-length performance October 13-14, 2016 at Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theatre. Kate often collaborates with her partner, The Tapmen Dance Company Director Tristan Bruns, utilizing a hybrid tap/modern approach to choreography. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and Minor in Dance from Baldwin-Wallace College.