Austin was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and will be a senior at East Chapel Hill High School in the fall. As a kid he grew up watching Arthur Duncan on The Lawrence Welk Show and fell in love with tap dancing after watching the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble perform. Since that time, Austin has been tapping for many years under Gene Medler and is a proud member of NCYTE. This year he auditioned and was selected for Next Step, a program during the Chicago Human Rhythm Project for standout dancers. He has been all over North Carolina in his brief tap career and has also traveled New York and Chicago for tap many times. He feels that he can express his true thoughts and happiness through tap and hopes to share those positive feelings with all other dancers.