As a choreographer, I make a conscious choice to create my work with musicians. I create the space in which we all can play together and advance together. I place my work in as many kinds of locations as possible, such as public libraries, gardens and museums, on commercial corridors, street corners, and in jazz venues, where audiences can experience tap dance as another instrument in the band. My presence at jazz venues is often an education for not just the audience but the musicians as well. Women jazz artists still operate and try to make space in a patriarchal industry. Dedication and devotion is just the beginning. It also takes stamina, consistency, and unshakeable vision. In fact, plenty of women in jazz came before me and blazed trails. I describe what I do as a daily devotional practice of clearing paths--paths that were started and tended for quite some time, but then became covered over and lost to history. After years of exploration in jazz, in the last two years, I discovered that telling 'jazz stories' about those trailblazers --women who are specifically described in history as "under-rated" or "unappreciated"--is where my voice rings truest and where I can bring together my creative streams of dance, music, writing and American history.