Tapestry, Penn State's student tap dancing company, is putting on a new show called Tearin' Up the Floor. Students can expect them to do just that.

Students will experience a huge variety of music at the show. Tearin' Up the Floor includes everything from popular hip-hop to pieces from the Broadway show Chicago.

"It's a mixture of a lot of different dances, a wide variety of talent, it ranges from Broadway, tech numbers, Chicago, modern day hip-hop to Daniel Bedingfield," Tapestry vice president Megan Green (junior-political science) said. The show also includes an a cappella number, in which the dancers simply go off their own rhythms rather than to music. Students can also expect some improvisational tapping.

While the members of Tapestry enjoy performing for others, they truly do it for themselves.

"I enjoy it personally because it's really interesting, you're constantly thinking, not just about what your body is doing, it's almost mathematical how all the sounds fit together. It's great making a lot of noise," Tapestry's advertising chair, Lauren Carnali (senior-English) said.

Other members see tap dancing as a form of unwinding.

"For me, it's more of a relief, all the stress from doing work and all that stuff, it builds up, but when I dance it all gets pushed aside," Green said.

Tapestry feels it is important for students to experience new art forms, especially tap.

"Its such a different experience than what you'd think of for dance. A lot of people don't know what to expect. It's really intense. It's entertaining to see how the sounds that we're making coincide with the music," Carnali said.

Tapestry promises that students will experience something completely new at the show.

"I think that students have been exposed to a lot of different types of dance, but not as many have been exposed to tap. It's a really unique experience," Green said.

Many students have yet to hear of Tapestry. It became an official student organization in spring 2001. Tapestry started with "a handful of girls involved in other dance organizations who missed tap dancing," Green said.

Over the past year, Tapestry has generated a lot of interest, with more than 50 students showing up for auditions.

Tapestry has a wide variety of dancers with many different styles.

"You're going to see performers that are very talented. Several have worked with famous tap performers from Pennsylvania, [Washington] D.C., New York City and Chicago," Tapestry treasurer Courtney Silvestri (junior-accounting) said.

Tapestry emphasizes their fast paced, unique style of dance.

"I love it because it's extremely challenging. It's very fast paced. Its not boring to perform," Silvestri said.

Instead of being held on campus, Tearin' Up The Floor will be held at State College Area High School.

"There's not enough dance space or performance space on campus, period," Silvestri said.

The company normally practices on the squash courts of the White Building, but it was unable to have a show in that room.

Tearin' Up the Floor will be held at 5 p.m. on Sunday at State College Area High School in the South Auditorium, 653 Westerly Parkway. Admission is $3 for students and children, $5 for adults. Tickets will be available at the door.