About us
Tapman Productions, LLC began in 2012 when its first production, The Adventures of Tapman, premiered at the Skokie Theatre in the 'burbs of Illinois in 2012.
Tapman Productions, LLC has gone on to produce original dance programming in venues ranging from small-town coffee shops to large theatres in Chicago. In the winter of 2013, Tap Battles previewed as part of the Dance Chicago festival and ran for two weeks at the Madison St. Theatre in Oak Park, IL . The Adventures of Tapman: Origin and La Raison d'Etre premiered at Chicago's famed Athenaeum Theatre in 2015. THRUST!, a double-billed, co-production with Ian Berg and Boston-based dance company Subject:Matter, ran at Chicago's Stage 773 in 2016.
Tapman Productions, LLC is home to two dance companies, The TMP Dance Company and The Modern Marvels Dance Company. Both companies produce new and original work, mostly by TMP founders Tristan Bruns and Kate O'Hanlon Bruns, but both offer presentation of new work opportunities to up and coming artists. At times, the two companies work together to create a tap/modern dance fusion.
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Tapman Productions, LLC has provided production support for other artists through help with administration and promotion...but mostly through the use of the TMP Portable Floor!
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The TMP Portable Floor was developed out of necessity for the company to be able to produce dance performances in any space. Generally theatre and event spaces have hard, slippery and dangerous floors for professional level dancing, so Tapman Productions, LLC founder Tristan Bruns constructed a safe, affordable, portable dance floor suitable for all styles. Now the TMP Portable floor is used by dance companies around Chicago and across the country. It is available for rental and the proceeds go towards funding our productions.
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Our Staff:
Tristan Bruns
Director
Kate O'Hanlon Bruns
Operations Manager
Tristan Bruns is a Chicago tap dancer who has received training under Donna Johnson, Ted Louis Levy, Sam Weber and Martin “Tre” Dumas III. Tristan has been on faculty at the Circle City Tap Festival (Indianapolis) and Rhythm World (Chicago) and is currently a member of M.A.D.D. Rhythms directed by Bril Barrett, and the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s resident ensemble directed by Artist In Residence Daniel Borak.
Tristan is the Director of Tapman Productions and has produced two seasons of performances in Chicago, including The Adventures of Tapman, THRUST!, and La Raison d’Etre. Tapman Productions has provided production assistance to dance artists Ian Berg (From The Top), Jumaane Taylor (Supreme Love), Kate O’Hanlon Bruns (Modern Marvels Dance Company), Kendra Jorstad (Jorstap) and the Elgin Ties Dance Festival (Elgin Taps). Tapman Productions is currently in their 3rd season in Chicago and is developing a new series, "Sketchy," which premiered in November 2018 at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre and will be continually updated throughout the performance season.
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Tristan has performed locally, nationally and internationally with notable performances at the Beijing International Dance Festival, the Reus (Spain) Tap Dance Festival, The Poznan(Poland) Jazz Festival, Rhythm World Tap Festival (Chicago), 42nd St. choreographed by Jared Grimes (Drury Lane-Oakbrook, IL), Supreme Love choreographed by Jumaane Taylor (Chicago), Celtic Fyre (Williamsburg), the Detroit Jazz Festival, The Steve Harvey Show, The Inside/Out Stage at Jacob’s Pillow and performs annually at local Chicago venues. Tristan has performed with other Chicago dance companies such as the Cartier Collective, Chicago Dance Crash and Matter Dance.
Kate O'Hanlon Bruns is a Chicago-based modern/contemporary dancer and choreographer from Cleveland, Ohio. Her training includes work with Michelle Petruzzi Gacom, Poppy Dinse, Gregory Daniels, and Sara Whale. Additionally, Kate studied & performed with Inlet Dance Theatre (Cleveland, OH) before relocating to Chicago in 2011 and continuing modern & contemporary dance studies at facilities such as Visceral Dance Studio, Lou Conte Dance Studio, Dovetail Studios, and The Rooted Space.
Kate's performance credits include work with local companies and independent choreographers, such as Core Project Chicago, Matter Dance Company, Perceptual Motion, Gloria Mwez, and Jessica Kick. Her 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. In 2021, Kate was awarded an Individual Artists Program Grant through DCASE (City of Chicago) for the presentation of her autobiographical work, BACK STORY, which chronicled her experience as a dancer with scoliosis.
Kate currently performs as a Company Member with Lucid Banter Project and serves as the Artistic Director of The Modern Marvels Dance Company.
In addition, Kate is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Dance/Movement Therapist-in-Training (R-DMT pending). She holds a M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Northeastern Illinois University—Chicago, IL) and B.S. in Psychology with a Minor in Dance (Baldwin-Wallace College—Berea, OH).
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The Modern Marvels Dance Company is a project-based modern/contemporary dance collective that elevates the creative voices of its dancers in order to develop performance art that is honest, beautiful, and accessible to all audiences.
Photo by Michael Courier