Faculty

Allison Toffan

Tap

Allison Toffan is a Toronto based tap dancer, choreographer, and musician. A graduate of the Music Theatre - Performance program at Sheridan College, she also has an extensive background in theatre.

Selected credits include Listen Beyond Your Ears (Festival Danse Encore/Tri Tone Productions) choreography/performance for Good Place For a Factory!, (2009 Toronto Fringe Festival) direction/choreography for What a Swell Party This Is, (Sunshine & Company) Toe Jamm, (2006 Edmonton Fringe Festival) choreography/performance for The Who's Tommy, In Concert, (Platinum Theatre Co.) and from 2002-2009 Allison was a principle dancer with Turn on The Tap, a collective of dancers and musicians under the direction of Paula Skimin. In 2009, she received a grant to dance professionals from the Canada Council For The Arts as an emerging artist. This provided her with the opportunity to live in New York, develop her voice within the international tap community, and study privately with Brenda Bufalino, Heather Cornell, tap dancer/body percussionist Max Pollak, and drummer Dan Weiss. Stepping onto the world stage, Allison had the incredible opportunity to perform as a principle tap dancer in the 2010 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

As a tap dancer/percussionist, Allison is a band member of The Toffan-Hiltz Collective, The Samba Punk Soundsystem, and The Woodchoppers Association. She recently received a recording grant from FACTOR in the demo program for further development of The Toffan-Hiltz Collective. She has been a guest artist with the Grifflth-Hiltz Trio, The Roaring Girl Cabaret, The Sly Juhas Quintet, GNO at the Art of Jazz Festival 2009, Le Collective, and Trevor Campbell's Pub Session series. Allison has been a guest choreographer and teacher for dance schools in Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver, and is currently on the dance faculty at Sheridan College.

Allison feels fortunate and proud to be a presence within Toronto's jazz community, continues to collaborate with tap dancers across Canada and the United States, and is actively progressing her mission to bridge together the gap between tap dance and jazz music.