Do You Wanna Dance?

 Tyler Roberts - 2012 Shoreline's Top Talent Dance Scholarship Winner

 

Launched in 2010 by So You Think You CanDance co-creator and Dizzy Feet Foundation co-president Nigel Lythgoe, National Dance Day (NDD) is an annual celebration that takes place on the last Saturday in July.  This grassroots campaign encourages Americans to embrace dance as a fun and positive way to maintain good health and combat obesity.  National Dance Day achieved national recognition when Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a long-time proponent of healthy lifestyles, announce at a press conference on July 31, 2010 in Washington, DC that she was introducing a congressional resolution declaring the last Saturday in July to be the country's official National Dance Day.  National Dance Day 2013 is this Saturday, July 27.

Each year Dizzy Feet Foundation creates instructional dance videos for people to learn, perform and share with others as part of NDD.  Created by some of your favorite So You Think You Can Dance choreographers and featuring some of your favorite dancers from the show, the videos aim to cater to a range of dance abilities so that anyone can take part.  This year, DFF co-presidents Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman choreographed an Everybody Dance routine - for people of all levels of ability - to the song Treasure by Bruno Mars. And choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo of So You Think You Can Dance have created a Hip-Hop Master Class routine for those who want to challenge themselves. This routine features the song Live It Up by Jennifer Lopez.  Both routines are available on the Dizzy Feet Foundation web site.

So this Saturday join the dance craze!  Whether it's ballet or ballroom, clogging or jazz, dance is great for helping people of all ages and physical abilities get and stay in shape. You can even try chair dancing if you have some physical limitations.  But whatever your style crank up the volume and shake a leg.  Once you start dancing you might not want to stop!

Dizzy Feet Foundtaion was established in 2009 by Nigel Lythgoe, Adam Shankman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Katie Holmes, among others, to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States.  Guided by a board representing all aspects of the American dance community, the foundation's mission is threefold: To sponsor, fund and/or support dance education programs which expose children in underserved areas to the lifelong benefits of dance education through and with local community organizations; to provide scholarships to talented students studying at accredited or nationally regarded dance schools, studios or institutions; and in conjunction with recognized credentialing organizations, to support and increase the quality of all styles of dance education in the United States.