Karen Callaway Williams
artist
View Bio Maurice Chestnut
artist
View Bio Karen Callaway Williams is known for being both the first African American female tap dancer and dance captain in RIVERDANCE – THE SHOW and the only African American female tap dancer and dance captain in RIVERDANCE – ON BROADWAY. Other Broadway credits include the Tony Award nominated Duke Ellington musical PLAY ON. She is currently featured on the cover of Flow Magazine and in the wonderful current documentary BEEN RICH ALL MY LIFE the story of the Silver Belle, a group of Chorus Girls from the 1930’s and 1940’s. She is currently a Second-Generation Silver Belle and the Artistic Director of this group.
Newark, New Jersey native Maurice Chestnut began dancing at the age of five, under the direction of Mr. Alfred Gallman. He became a professional dancer at the age of nine as an original member of the New Jersey Tap Ensemble under the direction of Ms. Deborah Mitchell. As one of taps’ brightest young stars, he was featured on The Sally Jesse Raphael Show in the “My Kid’s A Star” segment, where he proudly proclaimed that he loved to dance and would keep doing it “until I die”. He was a gold medalist in the NAACP Act-So competition and was crowned “Top Dog Performer” at The Apollo Theater. At the age of fourteen, the Newark Star-Ledger’s arts reviewers named Maurice, “one of the twenty New Jersey faces to watch for in the new millennium.”