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Washington DC: National Dance Day - FREE PERFORMANCES!

Washington DC: National Dance Day - FREE PERFORMANCES!

Company:

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Dizzy Feet Foundation

Location:

The Kennedy Center
Washington, DC

Dates:

Saturday, July 28, 2018 - 2:00pm

Tickets:

http://www.kennedy-center.org

Company:
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Dizzy Feet Foundation

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
and
The Dizzy Feet Foundation
in conjunction with 
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton
present 

National Dance Day

Saturday, July 28, 2018, 2:00–10:30 p.m.

 

Additional FREE Participatory Classes from 10:15 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Free, Day-Long Celebration features Interactive Dance, Lessons, Indoor & Outdoor Performances, and More, Including the Return of Dancing Under the Stars
Emceed by New York City Ballet’s Ashley Bouder 
Dancing with the Stars’s Hayley Erbert
to Lead Patrons in Dance Routines and Demonstrations

 

(WASHINGTON)—The Kennedy Center, in partnership with the Dizzy Feet Foundation and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), invites everyone to celebrate the art of dance and joy of movement as the Center hosts the East Coast’s chapter of the annual National Dance Day on Saturday, July 28, 2018, from 2:00 to 10:30 p.m.

This free, day-long celebration encouraging Americans to embrace dance as a fun and positive way to maintain good health takes place outside on the Kennedy Center’s North Plaza and includes a 6:00 p.m. Millennium Stage performance in the Grand Foyer, which will be streamed live on the Kennedy Center website. Two additional free participatory classes are scheduled in the morning at 10:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

The day also features interactive dance lessons, indoor and outdoor performances, and more, culminating with the summer night social Dancing Under the Stars with Afro-Colombian beats and beginner-level Soukous and Champeta dance lessons, followed by two hours of dancing with the Soukous & Bazurto All Stars on tour from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Columbia, respectively. Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) troupe member and So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Season 10 top six finalist Hayley Erbert will lead patrons in the National Dance Day routine.Food and drinks will be available for purchase on site.

 

2018 National Dance Day Routine

Choreographed by Emmy Award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore, the 2018 National Dance Day routine is available now on Dizzy Feet Foundation’s YouTube channel and is set to Kylie Minogue’s newest single “Dancing.” The public is also encouraged to submit videos of themselves performing this year’s routine and participate in the dance challenge, #DanceMadeMeDoIt. Encouraging all to celebrate dance in one’s own way, this year’s challenge is to create your own version of the National Dance Day Routine. 
 

Featured Artists

Emceed at the Kennedy Center by New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Ashley Bouder, National Dance Day features performances and instruction in a wide variety of dance styles by artists including:

  • Michael Mindlin, Dance Supervisor from the national tour of Hamilton
  • Dance fitness warm-up with Kazaxe
  • Traditional Chinese dancers from Xuejuan Dance Ensemble
  • Choreographer and Hip Hop dancer Teren Dickson
  • A fusion of Middle Eastern, modern, and traditional folkloric dance styles from Sultanas Troupe
  • Hip Hop from Velocity Dance
  • Tap dancer and choreographer Cartier Williams
  • Modern dance in the style and tradition of Isadora Duncan from Word Dance Theater
  • Contemporary and Hip Hop with students from CityDance DREAM & CityDance Conservatory 
  • Salsa with Instructor Gina Safadi from Salsa with Silvia Dance Studio
  • Beginner-level Soukous and Champeta dance lessons with the Soukous All Stars and the Bazurto All Stars 
  • D.C.-area studio Dance Institute of Washington, part of the Dizzy Feet Community Partner Program 
  • Local students of the DEA Youth Dance Program, part of the Dizzy Feet Community Partner Program of the DEA Educational Foundation 
  • A free master class tailored for person’s with Parkinson’s Disease and their care-partners led by Lucy Bowen McCauley
  • Free Yoga class in the Grand Foyer, as part of the Kennedy Center’s Sound Health program, led by Lakshmi Kanter

 

National Dance Day at the Kennedy Center Schedule

  • 10:15–11:15 a.m.: FREE Yoga class in the Grand Foyer as part of Sound Health 12:30–1:30 p.m.: Dance for Parkinson’s Disease FREE masterclass led by Lucy Bowen McCauley (meet in the Hall of States)
  • 2:00–5:30 p.m.: Dance performances and activities on the North Plaza including Hayley Erbert and the official National Dance Day routine 
  • 6:00–7:00 p.m.: Millennium Stage event in the Grand Foyer featuring the DEA Youth Dance Program, the Dance Institute of Washington, CityDance, and a reprise of the official National Dance Day Routine led by Hayley Erbert 
  • 7:30–10:30 p.m.: Dancing Under the Stars with Afro-Colombian beats and beginner-level Soukous and Champeta dance lessons with the Soukous All Stars and Bazurto All Stars, followed by dancing and live music on the North Plaza
     

In addition to the Kennedy Center, The Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, California, joins for the first time as an official 2018 host venue for July 28. For more information about National Dance Day, please visit the Dizzy Feet Foundation website.  

Launched in 2010 by So You Think You Can Dance co-creator and Dizzy Feet Foundation co-president Nigel Lythgoe, National Dance Day is an annual celebration that takes place on the last Saturday in July.  National Dance Day achieved national recognition in July 2010, when Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a longtime proponent of healthy lifestyles, announced that she was introducing a congressional resolution declaring the last Saturday in July to be the country’s official National Dance Day. 

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