Your Dancer Has the Talent. This Is the Summer They Start Believing It.
A 3-day tap dance intensive where serious young dancers stop playing small and start owning the room.
YOU'VE WATCHED IT HAPPEN...
Your tap dancer is incredible at home. In the kitchen, in the car, running through their routine at 10pm. The timing, the sound, the personality. It's all there.
Then the music starts at a competition and something shifts. They shrink. The joy disappears. You can see them thinking instead of dancing.
You've tried encouraging them. Their teacher has too. But the doubt just stays.
After 40 years on stage and at the judging table at competitions across Canada, here's what I know: that gap between what a dancer can do and what they let themselves do isn't a technique problem. It's a belief problem.
And almost no summer program touches it.
This one does. That's the whole point.
But don't take my word for it. Here's what dancers had to say:
Real words from real dancers. Unscripted.
"One of the biggest lessons was how much your mindset affects things"
"I made so many new friends, learned so many new things, and tapped lots!"
"After the camp I felt more confident and that I kept up"
Hi, I'm Shawn Byfield!
⭐️ Award-winning choreographer. Expert adjudicator. Book author. Certified coach. 40+ years teaching tap.
I've been performing and choreographing professionally for 40 years. I'm a certified coach through Maxwell Leadership. And I sit at the judging table at dance competitions across Canada.
I've watched thousands of talented dancers compete. I know what separates the ones who win from the ones who should've.
It's almost never technique.
It's the dancer who walks on stage and makes you feel like they belong there. Like they came to do something, not just survive it. That quality is teachable. These three days are built around teaching it.
As a seasoned tap dance teacher, pro adjudicator, and certified leadership coach, I'm passionate about helping competitive dancers improve their technique AND more importantly, their confidence.
My approach combines technical precision with creative expression to help your dancer stand out in competitions, and boost their esteem on and off the stage.
This isn't a "tap camp." It's a reset.
In three days together, your dancer will:
✅ Build stronger tap technique. We review and sharpen what they already know so they can execute combinations with more precision, speed, and confidence. Those skills they've been grinding all year? We nail them.
✅ Learn real mindset tools. Not pep talks. Not "believe in yourself" posters. The same mental performance tools Olympic athletes use under pressure. Your dancer will know how to use them backstage, when it counts most.
✅ Connect to tap history. When dancers understand they're part of something that goes back generations, they stand taller. That's not a nice extra, it's part of learning to perform with authority.
✅ Break the comparison habit. Instagram highlight reels are doing real damage to how young dancers see themselves. We address this directly, practically, and without shame.
✅ Develop real musicality. Counting beats is one thing. Actually hearing and interpreting music is what separates dancers who execute from dancers who perform.
✅ Build stage stamina. Energy and presence don't just happen. They're trained. Your dancer will learn how to sustain both through an entire routine, including the last 30 seconds when judges are making their final call.
✅ Find their own confidence. Not the borrowed kind that disappears when someone else dances better. The kind that comes from knowing who you are and choosing to show up anyway.
This is a small group, capped at 20 dancers.
No drama. No tearing each other down. I don't allow it and I won't tolerate it. Your dancer spends three days in a room where it's safe to try, safe to fail, and safe to grow. That kind of environment is rare. It matters more than most parents realise until they see what it does for their kid.
This summer I'm bringing the intensive to two cities again!
This is my second consecutive year at Elements Dance Co. in Airdrie. Stephanie and her team create exactly the kind of space this intensive needs. If you're in Alberta, this is your room.
This is also my second consecutive year at Rhythm Dance Center in Kingston. They know how to host serious dancers and it shows. If you're in Ontario, this is your room.
This intensive is right for your dancer if:
✅ They're between 11 and 19 with at least 3 years of tap dance experience
✅ They love tap but compete or perform smaller than their ability
✅ They get in their head before a performance and you're not sure how to help
✅ You want them to leave this summer with something that actually lasts
Real words from past students. Unscripted.
"After a few days, I've learned how to trust myself"
"I learned many strategies to help me keep growing"
"Before I felt nervous, now I feel proud and strong"
"I learned how to be a more confident version of myself"
Make this the summer to remember!
where the tap intensive happens
KINGSTON, ONTARIO
KINGSTON, ONTARIO
KINGSTON, ONTARIO
📍 Rhythm Dance Center
107 William Henderson Dr, Kingston, ON K0H 1G0
📅 July 31–August 2, 2026
⏰ 9:30am to 4:30pm each day
🥗 30-minute lunch break. Bring a lunch and healthy snacks.
AIRDRIE, ALBERTA
KINGSTON, ONTARIO
KINGSTON, ONTARIO
📍 Elements Dance Co.
521 Gateway Rd NE #1021, Airdrie, AB T4B 0J6
📅 August 7–9, 2026
⏰ 9:30am to 4:30pm each day
🥗 30-minute lunch break. Bring a lunch and healthy snacks.
Investment: $599 per dancer + tax
Here's some context for that number.
A single session with a certified performance coach runs $150 to $200 an hour. Three full days with me, covering technique, mindset coaching, tap history, musicality, and performance stamina, works out to well under that rate per hour of real coaching.
Most families spend more than $599 on costumes for a single competition season. This is the summer you invest in what's happening inside the costume.
Payment plans are available. Sending 4 or more dancers from your studio? Email me about the group rate.
And there's more: After the intensive ends, I'm not gone.
For two full months following the event, your dancer has direct access to me for support. Questions about technique, mindset, competitions, next steps, career planning, I'll help with all of it. No charge. No pitch.
Coaches charge $150 or more per session for this kind of access. It's included with registration.
Two cities. One summer. Both filling up.
Airdrie, AB. August 7–9, 2026
5 spots remaining. This one is nearly full. If your dancer is in Alberta, don't sit on this.
Kingston, ON. July 31–August 2, 2026
10 spots remaining. Spots tend to fill in the final weeks. If you're in Ontario, now is the right time.
Both locations: $599 + tax per dancer.
Payment plans are available. Sending 4 or more dancers from your studio? Email me about the group rate.
✅ Register for KINGSTON → Tap Here
✅ Register for AIRDRIE → Press Here
Questions? Email shawn@shawnbyfield.com or DM on Instagram @ShawnByfield
"Shawn is an amazing instructor, choreographer, and visionary. He pours his heart and soul into every facet of his work and it shows. My son has studied tap and hip hop with him for several years. I've taken classes with Shawn as well and find him highly motivating, knowledgable and goal oriented.”
- Sephera, mom
Copyright © 2026 Shuffle with Shawn - All Rights Reserved.
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