Mitchelle “Arijahknow Live Wires” Trott thought he had hit the jackpot with Dale Butler’s offer: free tap classes with a master teacher in Cuba.

As great as that experience in 2012 was, it seems the real gift is that it lives on.

Havana Tap, the film Mr Butler created to document the time he and Mr Trott spent in the capital of the largest country in the Caribbean, will screen on Saturday as part of The Heartbeat Film Festival.

It is a second chance to watch the film. Havana Tap had its premiere as a fundraiser ahead of a planned 2013 tour through Havana by Bermuda’s Giant Steps Band.

“Mr Butler asked me if I would be involved in the showing – it only has 40 seats for this event – and I told him, ‘Sure. Anything that's going to promote the arts, that can heighten people's awareness of what can take place,’” Mr Trott said.

He became interested in dance when he was about 14, pulled in by the movie Tap, where Gregory Hines, one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time, showed what was possible.

“I came out of that movie running up the walls, trying to make noise with my feet. I was struck with the fever,” Trott said.

He bought some shoes and Teletone taps to put on them from Jackson’s School of Performing Arts accessory store.

“And then I decided to try and practise,” Trott said.

At the time, he was a student at Devonshire Academy and his performing arts teacher, Gloria McCauley, from Detroit, was Stevie Wonder’s mother-in-law.

The retired opera singer introduced him to Suzette Harvey, a teacher she had only recently hired who went on to found a school of her own, United Dance Productions.

“I met Ms Harvey when I was 15 turning 16,” Mr Trott said. “Mrs McCauley had hired Suzette Harvey straight out of university, from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and she introduced her, the new dance teacher.”

His immediate question was: do you teach tap?

“My first ever tap gig was in 1990 with Ms Harvey at the Sonesta Beach Hotel. [Sir] John Swan was putting together a fundraiser and the tickets were $125 at the time,” Mr Trott said.

“I learnt tap for free. Ms Harvey never charged me a dime. Not ever. She bought my shoes, probably three times.”

Dance, he discovered, helped him express feelings when spoken language failed.

“As a young person there were a lot of things that I saw happening in Bermuda that I didn't like,” he said. “I decided that I wouldn't sing about it, because I saw what happened to Bob Marley, so I said instead of that, I would interpret it through tap. However other people felt, that was OK because they wouldn't know what I was really saying. And that's the reason why I continue to do it.”

At this point, Mr Butler approached him about lessons in Cuba.

A fundraiser and a grant from the Bermuda Arts Council helped pay for the trip.

“It was a wonderful time. It was a nice place. All of the bad things that people said [about Cuba] to me, I never experienced anything bad. The people there are loving, they reminded me of Bermudians.”

An unexpected bonus was meeting Sissy Bascome, sister of Nelson Bascome, a health minister under the Progressive Labour Party, who died suddenly in 2009.

“She just enhanced my whole stay,” said Mr Trott, who stayed with Ms Bascome and her husband after the Airbnb he rented did not work out.

“That was a wonderful time. I actually took saxophone lessons as well and to see the skill level of the young musicians there …. they've been involved in music at a tender age and they've been drilled and trained up with different skill sets so that they can actually earn a living.”

Tap, however, was the reason he made the long journey to Cuba. He travelled from Bermuda through Jamaica and Panama to get there.

Trott remembers the 84-year-old who taught him only by his stage name, Pepito Tap.

“He was very fit. I was amazed at this man's skill. My respect for him was very high. I took two lessons and I took my lessons in his living room. It was a great experience. I would encourage anyone that wants to see what I encountered to come and check the film at Mr Butler’s residence, Rosalie Gardens, this Saturday,” he said.

“Mr Butler captured me taking my tap lessons and my saxophone lessons. He also captured me interacting with the local people in Havana, Cuba. It was pretty awesome. So many things that he captured, I didn't know he captured. So I was pleased with that because it’s always nice to see something that’s been done without rehearsing. It wasn’t staged or anything.”

Back in Bermuda his lessons have stopped. However, Mr Trott invested in two pairs of build-up triple-sole tap shoes that he still uses.

“I did that because I needed to invest in myself and so sometimes when I perform, I surprise people with a little tap.”

• Havana tap will screen Saturday at 8pm as part of a fundraiser for the charity Overcoming Obstacles. Tickets, $10, are available from Dale Butler: daledbutler@gmail.com; 595-9841. Mitchelle “Arijahknow Live Wires” Trott will also perform on Saturday with The Kings Band as part of Made in Bermuda Nights. Doors open at 7.30pm at Pier 6. Tickets are available at www.gpass.bm