Dance Parade New York, the annual celebration of dance in all its forms, hosts its interactive online dance festival on Saturday, May 22nd from 1:00 – 4:00 pm EST.
One thousand dancers from around the world connect to family-friendly fun and movement joy in DJ-lead dance rooms, free dance classes with top professionals, dance-offs between participants, and free dance classes. Winning videos from the Dare-to-Dance challenge contest will be premiered, which invited house-bound choreographers to submit new work to win cash prizes.
Register here to participate https://danceparade.org/register
Those wanting to watch can see the live stream show on danceparade.org/livestream
“The past year has been really hard on all of us, including the tens of thousands of dancers we serve,” ruminated Greg Miller, Executive Director of Dance Parade New York.
“As a service to the community, Dance Parade has put together a dynamic event and a television show with lots of content, providing something for everyone!
This year we celebrate the theme “Dance Brings Us Together” with dancers from around the world.”
Among Parade & Festival highlights:
2021 Grand Marshals: Emcee Shireen Dickson presents this year’s Grand Marshals: H.T. Chen & Dian Dong of Chen Dance Center; Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem; and Lisa Lisa, the Latina Pop Music Legend.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony: Kicking off the family-friendly event is a ceremony officiated by Emcee Shireen to pay homage to introduce dance celebrity Grand Marshals Lisa Lisa, H.T. Chen & Dian Dong, and Virginia Johnson. They will cut the ribbon, unleashing dance styles from ballet to breakdance, tango to tap, and Japanese to Scottish!
Home Stage: Latina Pop Music Legend Lisa Lisa will open the Home Stage with a live appearance and medley of her life-long work. DJ Ali Coleman invites all to bring your best moves to the participatory stage! Our scouts go through 1,000 cameras and spotlight those with great energy, costumes, and artistry. Join a dance battle or vote for your favorite as contestants from around the world compete for cash prizes. See the winners of the Dare to Dance Video contest that challenged choreographers to connect to their dancers remotely during this period of isolation and social distancing.
Dare To Dance Challenge: See the winner of the video challenge to house-bound choreographers to create a new work during this period of isolation and social distancing. Thanks to Nancy Steele of STEELE DANCE, three winners will receive cash prizes and will have their one-minute videos premiered at the festival.
Grandstand Performance Stage: Included are performances from artists who have bucked the pandemic to create riveting work in the past year, with interviews that give an inside glimpse behind dozens of movement cultures…Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Chinese, African, Bolivian, Mexican, and more.
Dance Film: This year Dance Parade will present portions of its one-hour TV special, The Resilience of Dance Through the Pandemic, due out in June on NYC Life which includes interviews and performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Heidi Latsky Dance, Alison Cook Beatty Dance, National Dance Institute, DrumatiX, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Dance Rising and more.
Teaching Stages: Take a free dance lesson from Dance Parade’s best teachers. Learn Body/Mind Exercise Dance, Salsa, Break Dance, African, Hip-Hop, Indonesian, Lit Fit, Latin Boogaloo, Bhangra, and others! Ask our teaching artists whatever question you like either live on camera or in the chat
Suggested donations to participate: $20 or free for artists and low-income guests. There’s something for everyone!
Register to participate on Zoom and check out the complete lineup at danceparade.org/register
Or watch all four stages on danceparade.org/livestream
Register to participate on Zoom and check out the complete lineup at danceparade.org/register
Or watch all four stages on danceparade.org/livestream
Tune-up your moves by taking free dance lessons prior to the event in Japanese, Mexican, Moving For Life Dance Exercise, Ballroom, Salsa, and African at danceparade.org/virtual
BACKGROUND:
Dance Parade New York is the world’s only street parade to exclusively celebrate and showcase the diversity of dance. This annual celebration of eclectic dance styles from around the world features over ten thousand dancers and presents more than 80 unique styles of dance.
Launched in 2006, Dance Parade is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate diversity by presenting as many forms of dance and culture as possible. The organization offers free dance programs to schools and community centers throughout New York City. In 2020 the pandemic caused the parade to go online and it now reaches dozens of countries around the world.
The 15th Annual Dance Parade and Festival is made possible in part with private support as well as public funds from The National Endowment for the Arts and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For our Media Kit, including high-resolution photos, full bios of our Grand Marshals, information about Dance Parade and our education programs please visit: