National Dance Day gets Iowa City moving
There's something enchanting about watching a dance. The way each performer moves with a swift yet graceful sense of deliberateness, dance has become one of the most well-known and universal forms of expression. Whether one does it professionally or simply out of pure enjoyment, it remains a powerful medium for communication.
National Dance Day, the first event of its kind, uses the power of dance to connect people from around the country and encourage them to get up and move.
"You don't have to be a dancer," said Nora Garda, Iowa City's director of National Dance Day. "The idea for this day is to just do it. Just get out."
More than 25 dancers have been learning the moves to the same choreography that has been taught around the nation. On Saturday, dancers from places as far as Hawaii and Georgia will showcase their hip-hop talents with the Iowa City dancers in one nationwide performance.
The event will take place this Saturday at various locations throughout Iowa City and Coralville. The first dance will begin at the Iowa City Farmers' Market (Chauncey Swan parking ramp) at 10 a.m., and at 11 a.m., the group will move to the Pedestrian Mall near the Iowa City Public Library.
At noon, the dancers will return to the parking ramp for Rummage in the Ramp, and they will wind up at the Iowa Children's Museum in the Coral Ridge Mall at 1 p.m.
Garda first heard of the event through a Facebook posting by the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a national group that helps underprivileged children reach their dreams of becoming dancers. The group also strives to educate people around the country about dance.
Some of the organization's most famous founders include "Dancing with the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba and actress Katie Holmes.
The Dizzy Feet Foundation was a natural fit for Garda, whose own Iowa City organization, InterDance, has worked to bring dance to more people in the area by creating community-wide events for people of all ages and backgrounds.
"We're trying to encourage groups in the community to get out, get friends, go downtown, and just go and dance and move," Garda said. "And it also just creates awareness for dance and its power."
For the past month, she, along with several other instructors, has been teaching the choreography created by Dizzy Feet. Every Wednesday night, the group has met at City Ballet of Iowa to learn the steps.
The moves are also available on YouTube, so those who can't make it to practices can still join in on the event. Because of this, Garda says, it's almost impossible to guess how many people will participate in the local National Dance Day.
One of the main goals of the event is to encourage people to be more active in their daily lives. Those involved in National Dance Day feel this is the perfect opportunity to show that dance can be a fun workout for anyone, not just professional dancers.
In the past, people have used dance as a way of interacting with those around them. Barn dances and other events were common, almost weekly occurrences, in which people came together for the pure pleasure that comes with dancing and moving with one another.
"All those things we kind of lost, and by losing that social interaction, we've really become too sedentary," said Lorelei Falsetti, a dance instructor for the event. "Nowadays, to go out to celebrate something, people go out to dinner. We've forgotten the joy of movement."
National Dance Day plans to recreate those long-lost activities for everyone in the community by holding the events at places where people tend to naturally congregate. Garda and the others involved said they hope that even people who haven't practiced for the dance will decide it's too much fun to pass up and simply join along.
One of the biggest joys that the organizers of the event get is the satisfaction of seeing people of all ages and dancing backgrounds participate. Many of those taking part have no experience with dance, and even the instructors come from all sorts of different dance backgrounds.
"I love to see people from different ages," said Edith Barragán, a dance teacher for the event. "Some are 6 years old, and others are 50 or 60 years old."
Though this is the event's first year, Garda hopes it continues in the future and becomes even bigger. There is a sense of unity in dance, she said, especially in an event that is so far-reaching as National Dance Day.
Falsetti agreed. Dance has the power to connect people and inspire them to move and be a part of something bigger, whether it's done professionally or simply for enjoyment.
"Hopefully, National Dance Day will get some people to notice and say, 'Oh look, that person is trying to do that dance,' " she said. " 'They look so silly, but they're having fun. Maybe I could do that.' "
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