Melissa Almaguer

Born in Mexico, Melissa is a New York City based tap dancer, performer, educator, producer and overall creator. She started studying tap dance at an early age in Mexico with Jessica Flores and Marcela Treviño. Later, she furthered it by spending time in New York City where she began studying with her mentor Derick K Grant. Melissa is also an alumna of The School At Jacobs Pillow.

Being her country’s leading tap dancer Melissa has performed as a soloist all around Mexico in festivals and venues like Festival Internacional Santa Lucia, Guadalajara Tap Festival, Monterrey’s Tap Live Concert, Día De La Mujer San Pedro GG, TEDx Talks, Jazzatlán Capital, to name a few.

As an educator, she has taught workshops in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Bogota, Guadalajara, Cancun and Mexico City. She is also the producer of Oye Como Va and My Favorite Things, two of the first tap shows in Latin America featuring the best tap artists in Mexico as well as international dancers.

Melissa recently moved to New York City to evolve her career as an artist. This has allowed her to be in works by some of today’s greats: Dormeshia's Tap Collective (The Joyce Theater), Love Movement with Michela Marino Lerman (The Joyce Theater and National Sawdust), Tap Family Reunion with Derick Grant, Dormeshia and Jason Samuel Smith and The Solidarity Series with Christina Carminucci. She also recently made her debut at the renowned The Jazz Gallery with her free world music band: Praesens.

“Tap dance has introduced me to amazing music, improvisation, cultures and people that have inspired me to see and live life in a beautiful way. Through improvisation I’ve been able to dive deep into myself to search for what I have to say as an artist and human being. It has made me want to always keep learning, evolving and creating”.