Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Shields.
Hi Matthew , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started the way so many dancers do, as a kid in a local dance studio. Looking back, it’s interesting because the environment where I first discovered dance was very similar to the kind of studio I help operate today. It was a place where young dancers could train, grow up, find mentors and discover what they were capable of. At the time, of course, I had no idea that dance would eventually take me around the world or that I would one day be helping create those same kinds of opportunities for another generation.
Tap dance became the art form that really captured me. I was drawn not only to the movement, but to the music and expression of it. A tap dancer is both a dancer and a musician, and that relationship between rhythm, movement and live performance has shaped virtually every part of my career.
One of the most formative chapters of my professional life was my decade with Tapestry Dance Company in Austin under the guidance and direction of Acia Grey . I joined the company in 2004 as a principal dancer and had the opportunity to perform in numerous productions, including The Souls of Our Feet: A Celebration of American Tap Dance, April Fools, Of Mice & Music, Safe and Sound?, Voices of Rhythm and Ears Wide Open. Eventually, my role expanded beyond performing as I was given the opportunity to create a concert series called Tapestry on the Fringe, which brought together various artists of multiple genres into a shared creative space. In 2011, I was named dance captain for Tapestry’s international tour of China and from 2012–2014, I served as Interim Artistic Director of the company. Those expanded roles gave me the opportunity to direct and choreograph a full-length concert production called XXV: Anticipation of Next, all of which helped shape the artistic leadership work I do today.
After Tapestry, I created Hyperfeet Productions in Austin, where I served as Artistic Director from 2014–2020. That period allowed me to continue developing my own voice as a choreographer and director while also investing heavily in young dancers. We created original productions, children’s programming and mentorship opportunities, and performed throughout the Austin community. It reinforced something that has remained central to my career: I don’t just want to perform tap dance, I want to create places for it to live, grow and be passed on.
At the same time, my career as a performer and educator continued to take me across the United States and internationally. I have been fortunate to perform, teach and choreograph throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe and to work alongside some of the most respected artists in the tap community, including artists such as Acia Gray, Heather Cornell, Dianne Walker, Arthur Duncan and Derick Grant.
Another major chapter of my career began when I joined Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox as a featured tap dancer, percussionist and soloist. From 2016–2022, I toured with PMJ and had the opportunity to bring tap dance to audiences who might not ordinarily attend a tap dance concert. I loved being able to function as both a dancer and a musician within a live band. Those performances took me to major stages and audiences around the world, and becoming a fan favorite on those tours was incredibly rewarding.
My professional credits over the years have also given me the opportunity to work in many different corners of the entertainment and dance industries. I have performed in theatrical productions including Sophisticated Ladies and Singin’ in the Rain at ZACH Theatre, both choreographed by Dominique Kelley, I appeared at Austin City Limits music festival with Tim Kubart, performed in What Is This Thing Called LOVE a production produced by Sarah Reich’s Tap Music Project and NUVO Dance Convention, and worked with NC State University’s Panoramic Dance Project. I also directed the now touring production, In Conversation starring Danny Nielsen and Kristian Alexanderov. Each experience has contributed something different to the artist and educator I am today.
Teaching has always existed alongside performing in my career. Some of the things I am most proud of aren’t necessarily performances with my own name on the program, but seeing dancers I have trained go on to build careers of their own. I now have former students pursuing professional careers and performing and touring throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. There is something incredibly meaningful about realizing that your influence as an artist can extend far beyond your own time onstage.
In 2019, I began my current role as Company and Artistic Director at Leap Dance Center in Katy. At Leap, I direct and choreograph the Leap Tap Ensemble and competitive teams, teach recreational and pre-professional tap dancers, develop programming and help mentor students who want to pursue dance at a higher level. It has allowed me to bring decades of professional experience back into the studio environment where my own story originally began.
Over the last several years, that work has grown into something much larger.
In 2025, we founded the L.E.A.P. Initiative, Inc., a nonprofit organization built around four principles: Legacy, Excellence, Artistry and Preservation. I serve as its Co-Founder and Artistic Director, developing programming designed to expand access to high-level dance education, performance experiences and professional development while helping preserve and advance the art of tap dance.
Through that organization, we also created HTX Tap Fest, which is particularly meaningful to me because it allows us to bring nationally and internationally recognized tap artists directly to Houston. The festival combines education and performance with opportunities for students, emerging professionals and established artists to share the same space. As Artistic Director, I help curate the faculty, develop the educational programming and performances, and determine how we can create meaningful opportunities for dancers at every stage of their development.
I also returned to the Hyperfeet name in 2025 by founding Hyperfeet Dance Company, this time as a professional tap company based in Houston. Our goal is to create paid performance opportunities for professional tap dancers while developing original concert work and giving tap dance a larger theatrical platform. In 2026, we premiered our first original production, Love & Shuffles, which I conceived, directed and choreographed alongside an outstanding cast of artsits.
When I look at the entire journey, there is a definite full-circle quality to it. I started as a kid walking into a dance studio without knowing where it could possibly lead. Dance ultimately gave me a professional career that has allowed me to perform, teach, choreograph and direct nationally and internationally. I’ve been fortunate to receive professional recognition, including B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics Table recognition, and I have maintained O-1 status as an artist of extraordinary ability for nearly two decades.
But where I am today feels less like a culmination and more like an evolution of everything that came before it. Performing is still incredibly important to me, but my focus has expanded from building my own career to building infrastructure and opportunities for other artists. Through Leap Dance Center, Hyperfeet Dance Company, HTX Tap Fest and the L.E.A.P. Initiative, I now have the opportunity to work with everyone from a child taking their first tap class to professional dancers making their living onstage.
In a lot of ways, I’m now helping create the kind of environment that started everything for me. The difference is that today I understand just how far the opportunities created inside one dance studio can ultimately take someone.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. A career in the arts comes with a lot of uncertainty…. auditions, rejection, financial challenges, constant travel and the pressure to continually evolve as an artist. There have also been times when I’ve had to create opportunities rather than wait for them to appear. But those challenges are a big part of what led me to where I am today. They pushed me beyond simply being a performer and into becoming a teacher, director and producer who can create opportunities for other artists as well.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work really lives at the intersection of performing, teaching, choreographing and creating opportunities for others. I specialize in tap dance, particularly musicality, improvisation and using tap as both a dance form and a percussive instrument. I’m probably best known for my work as a performer and educator, including touring internationally with Tapestry Dance Company and Postmodern Jukebox, as well as my work developing dancers and creating original productions.
What I’m most proud of now is building things that extend beyond my own career. Through Hyperfeet Dance Company, HTX Tap Fest, the L.E.A.P. Initiative and my work at Leap Dance Center, I’m helping create opportunities for both young dancers and professional artists. I think what sets me apart is that I’ve experienced this industry from many sides…as a touring performer, teacher, choreographer, artistic director and now producer. Knowing that I can bring all of those perspectives together as I lead is very valuable.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Absolutely. No career in the arts is built alone. I’ve been fortunate to have incredible mentors, teachers, fellow artists and collaborators throughout my career who have challenged me, believed in me and helped shape the artist I’ve become. People like Acia Gray, Heather Cornell, Danny Nielsen, Sarah Reich, Travis Knights and Derick Grant have had a tremendously important influence on my life in tap, along with the many other dancers and musicians I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside over the years.
I also have to give tremendous credit to Demi Knight, my partner in both life and much of the work I’m doing today. Her vision, business experience and support have been instrumental in building what we’re creating in Houston through Leap Dance Center, the L.E.A.P. Initiative, HTX Tap Fest and Hyperfeet Dance Company. And finally, my students deserve a lot of credit. They continually challenge and inspire me and remind me why preserving and passing on this art form matters so much.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.HTXtapfest.com
- Instagram: @hyperfeet, @HTXtapfest, @Hyperfeet.dance.company, @leapdancecenter
- Other: https://www.leapdancecenter.com
