Philadelphia Youth Tap is a sliding-scale tap education program that preserves and sustains the legacy of tap dance in Philadelphia. Ambitious youths train in tap technique, music theory, and improvisation, while also working towards performance opportunities around the city. PHYT Dancers have appeared at Olney Youth Arts Festival, Smith Playground’s Kidchella, Temple University, City Hall Courtyard, Cherry Street Pier, Brewerytown Day, the Mann, Fairmount Arts Crawl, and at the Girard Avenue Street Festival. The program is permanently housed at the Athletic Recreation Center in North Philadelphia and is directed by Pamela Hetherington and assisted by Tamica Boyce. Every year, PHYT hosts a Youth Tap Summit, which is an educational and performance evening for all interested youths in the tri-state area. The 2025 Summit will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at Athletic Recreation Center.

All children enrolled in the program are required to attend weekly rehearsal hours to meet their agreement. Acceptance into the program represents a subsidized tuition award of up to 36 weeks of instruction. Dancers will be learning about tap dance history, and in particular, Philadelphia tap dance history. Respect for this information is of the utmost and every dancer in the program must take the opportunity seriously. Dancers will be learning at mixed levels. Tap dance has always been taught in community and part of the training is we lift each other up, so that all can learn. Dancers will be asked to appreciate everyone’s different strengths. No one knows everything, but together we know a lot. Performances will be a part of the training. Participation in performances is contingent upon preparation for class, determination, hard work, focus and enthusiasm. Our 2024-2025 dance year runs from September 5, 2024 - June 12, 2025. There are yearly participation dues that include all fees relating to weekly rehearsals, performance fees and the annual Youth Tap Summit. No child is turned away for lack of funds. City and state grants and fundraisers throughout the year help us keep costs as low as possible.