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“I just felt like as a woman of color in these tap shoes, that it was my responsibility to bring them with me so that as folks get to learn about me, they also inevitably learn about them,” [said Ayodele Casel].

“El tap dance no es solo entretenimiento…es parte de mi legado ancestral. Siempre ha sido mi objetivo transformar la forma en que el público ve el tap, mostrar que no es solo una forma de entretenimiento, sino un lenguaje de resistencia, cultura e identidad”, agregó [Ayodele] Casel.

“I have charged my life and career with speaking and uplifting the names of the Black women tap dancers that were very prominent in the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s, whose names you do not know,” Casel says.

“I see a lot of myself in Ayo, and so it’s really inspiring to see her tell her story so bravely and openly and honestly,” [performer Afra] Hines said. “It’s also been really interesting and exciting to learn about these women and dig into who they were, and I feel inspired by them as well.”

“I always say everyone who sees me is going to know who [these dancers] are,” Casel said. “I’m going to bring them into every space that I occupy.”And by chronicling her own life alongside theirs in Diary of a Tap Dancer, Casel secures her legacy as a tap legend in her own right.

Though relatively unknown today, during the Harlem renaissance and into the 1930s and ’40s, many Black women singers and dancers were known to be “showstoppers.” Cora LaRedd, who performed for a white-only audience at the Cotton Club in Harlem, was one.

[Performer Annaliese] Wilbur said the play, created by Casel and her longtime collaborator Torya Beard, pays homage and gives credit to the “incredible pioneers” who paved the way for Casel and others to pursue their craft despite obstacles.

Johnson said, “I hope that [audiences] are more inquisitive and curious about the tap dancers that are being named, about the tap—specifically the female tap—dancers that have been erased, and get curious about who they are.”

“There’s a driving force now with the show about the relevancy of female empowerment, feminism, sexism, racial injustice, things that are so deeply rooted within generations,” says [Ki’Leigh] Williams.

Hamill says workshops for the epic never fail to draw parallels to contemporary conflicts—as long as there is violence in the world, the Odyssey will be relevant… “There’s lots of swearing in this play, there’s sex in this play, there’s certainly violence in this play, because I want it to feel real to people who are in combat,” Hamill said.