The founder of Tap Mode
MITCH HICKS.
A LIFE IN TAP.
From the stage to the studio floor, Mitch has spent his career finding ways to make tap feel alive. Tap Mode is where that experience becomes something teachers can share with the next generation.
Read his story ↓
01 / The performer
THE STAGE WAS THE START.
Mitch's professional debut in The Boy From Oz began a career that took him through musical theatre and tap performance, including Tap Dogs, Hot Shoe Shuffle and Disney's Aladdin.
Those experiences showed him how many voices tap can have: the precision of its foundations, the drive of a live rhythm and the freedom to move between styles. He wanted students in ordinary studios to feel some of that same possibility.
02 / The question
HOW DO WE KEEP TAP MOVING?
After years on stage and in studios, Mitch saw a familiar challenge: tap classes needed teachers, fresh energy and a pathway that students could follow for years.
The answer was to bring tradition and today's classroom together. Tap Mode keeps technique at the centre, while original music, purposeful exercises and routines give students something they can connect with. It gives teachers material they can prepare and make their own, rather than asking them to build every class from scratch.
03 / Built for studios
CREATED TO WORK IN A REAL CLASS.
Mitch developed the teaching content with co-founder Matt Jenson shaping its progression, so the foundations arrive before the steps that depend on them. Soundmoda created and adapted music around the exercises, giving each part of the syllabus its own rhythm and purpose.
The result is an eleven-level pathway from Pre 1 to Level 10, supported by demonstration and explanation videos, class and examination music, and routines from Level 1 onward. Pre 1 itself grew from studio feedback about the step between preschool tap and Level 1. That willingness to listen remains part of how Tap Mode grows.
Explore the syllabus →
Where it leads
PASS THE LOVE OF TAP FORWARD.
For Mitch, the purpose is simple: help more studios teach tap with confidence and give more students a reason to stay with it. The syllabus, teacher training and optional examinations all serve that same goal.
Bring Tap Mode to your studio →