Parris D. Mann is an internationally acclaimed tap artist, choreographer, educator, and faith leader whose work bridges the worlds of performing arts, higher education, and prophetic ministry. With a career spanning Broadway, international touring, academic instruction, and pastoral leadership, Mann’s life and vocation are marked by a commitment to excellence, cultural memory, justice, and spiritual formation.

As a principal dancer, Mann has toured the United States, Canada, and Europe in landmark productions including BLACK & BLUE, WILD WOMAN BLUES, RIVERDANCE / The Show, and JUST ’n TIME. His Broadway credits include RIVERDANCE at the Gershwin Theatre and THE JOINT IS JUMPIN’ at the Supper Club. He has performed with jazz legends such as Lionel Hampton, Linda Hopkins, Mercedes Ellington, and Freda Payne, and has appeared in major festivals and productions including Tap City, the LA Tap Festival, The Stardust Road Concert (a tribute to Hoagy Carmichael), and a film production based on the life and music of Billie Holiday.

Deeply rooted in the tap lineage, Mann has been mentored by and worked alongside some of the most influential figures in the art form, including Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde, The Rhythm Queens, Lady Dianne Walker, Heather Cornell, and others. He is a charter member of the New Jersey Tap Ensemble, Manhattan Tap Ensemble, and Jazz Tap Ensemble—institutions foundational to the preservation and advancement of American tap dance.

As a producer, choreographer, and director, Mann has created and led internationally touring works such as JUST ’n TIME, THINGS AIN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE, and Here’s II Lyfe!, produced in collaboration with his wife and creative partner, Rashida Khan-Mann. JUST ’n TIME made history as the first African American tap production presented at the Kremlin Theatre during its Russian tour—an artistic milestone underscoring Mann’s commitment to global cultural exchange and Black artistic legacy.

An accomplished educator, Mann has taught and served as an adjunct professor and advisor at numerous institutions, including Norfolk State University, Louisiana State University, and leading arts schools across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University, where he teaches music theory for dancers, equipping students with a deep rhythmic, historical, and embodied understanding of movement as musical language. His pedagogical approach integrates technique, theory, lineage, and lived experience, preparing artists to think critically and create responsibly.

Beyond the stage and classroom, Mann is also the Senior Pastor of The Ascension Liberty Ministries, a Southern California–based ministry committed to spiritually grounded, justice-centered, and culturally honest Christianity. His pastoral leadership is marked by prophetic preaching, theological depth, and a commitment to reclaiming faith from distortion, commodification, and exclusion. Drawing from scripture, history, and lived experience, his ministry speaks especially to those navigating faith amid systems of inequity, cultural trauma, and spiritual disillusionment.

Mann is the Co-Founder of KhanMann Productions LLC, a creative company dedicated to developing artists and realizing visionary, socially resonant arts productions. Across every sphere, artistic, academic, and ecclesial, Parris D. Mann’s work stands at the intersection of rhythm and theology, tradition and innovation, excellence and liberation.