The Organization
Established in 2014, Operation: Tap is an online forum and educational resource for dancers, artists, students, teachers, choreographers and tap dance enthusiasts. Lead by tap dancers and choreographers Anthony Morigerato, Ayodele Casel, and Mike Minery, OPTAP has become the leading online tap training resource. Our social media forums are a place to discuss and put into action ideas for immersing the art form into the public’s consciousness, maintaining and educating the public about tap’s history and roots while pushing and forging the art form forward within the context of the 21st century.
The Founders
Anthony Morigerato is the Executive Producer of AM Dance Productions which has produced live theatrical performances and film in NYC since 2006. As a performer Anthony was a soloist and member of Michael Minery’s Tapaholics (2002-2012), the lead tap dancer and choreographer for the musical group Matt and Anthony (2009-2012), and a soloist and associate choreographer for Stacey Tookey’s Still Motion (2012-Present). Anthony has appeared as a choreographer and or a performer on several television shows including America’s Got Talent, The Arsenio Hall Show, So You Think You Can Dance, and the Tony Danza Show. Anthony holds the world record for “most tap sounds in one minute” having made 1,163 sounds.
One of The New York Times' "Biggest Breakout Stars of 2019", Ayodele Casel, “a tap dancer of fine-grained musicianship” (The New Yorker), is a 2019-2020 fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Born in The Bronx and raised in Puerto Rico, Ayodele began her professional training at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her origins in theater and love for storytelling and tap dance have significantly contributed to the narrative nature in her work, which is rooted in the expression of identity, culture, language, and communication.
Mike Minery, a New Jersey native, has established himself as one of the finest tap dancers and choreographers working today. Mike has been named the 1997 World Tap Champion and was a recipient of a Princess Grace Dance Fellowship Award. He toured the world as a soloist with the internationally acclaimed Manhattan Tap company, and has been featured at The Supper Club on Broadway, in the '40s revue This Joint is Jumping. He has created his own tap company, "Tapaholics", which debuted at the famed Duke Theatre in New York City and has performed in countless theatres and on television as a feature guest on The Tony Danza Show.