Eighteenth birthday gift idea

Seven, even eight, days a week are no longer enough to celebrate National Dance Week. So the Coalition for National Dance Week, which sets the official dates, has designated ten days this year in which to celebrate and propagate the idea and embodiment of dance. Traditionally, the week includes the April 29 birthday anniversary of eighteenth-century ballet master and dance theorist Jean-Georges Noverre. On these pages are some examples of events that are planned for NDW 2003 in various parts of the U.S. But, what, you may be thinking, can you do this year? Here are some suggestions.

Buy a ticket. Buy two and take a friend, a student, a stranger. Support other members of the dance community and recharge your own batteries by seeing someone else's dancing. National Dance Week is a grassroots movement that is meant to show dance and its possibilities to those who don't already know. Its mission is "to heighten the awareness of dance and its contributions to our culture. Dance is good for the mind, body, and spirit." So show someone.

If you have a performance, provide flyers from neighboring companies. What's good for one company's dance is good for all dance. The more people know or see, the more they understand, like it, and participate.

Involve the greater dance community, such as dance-medicine specialists or bodywork practitioners, production technicians and designers, publicity and promotion planners, and administrators. Arrange an open workshop so the public will know about the symbiotic relationship between performance and its support system.

Take a risk. Put your shoes on--or take them off--and try a different form or style yourself. Dance-a-thons often attract new or sometime dancers back into the fun since they can join in anytime and not be judged on their performance.

Write a letter to your parents, a soldier, editor of a newsletter you read, your alumni association, the free weekly paper, your favorite radio or television station's assignment editor--or your governor. Announce National Dance Week 2003 to them, explain what it's about and invite them to help you get the word out (and maybe include news of your planned events).

Contact your school or public library. Libraries are under siege right now with federal, state, and municipal budget cuts that mean no new acquisitions. Make them a gift of dance magazines, books, of videos. Volunteer to help them set up a display about dance or to read or demonstrate during story time for little readers during this week.

Follow Kim Shipp's lead. She invites audiences to see the rehearsals and processes for her next work, which is to premiere at the Retail Dance Festival. A retail dance is one in which choreography, improvisation, of audience activities take place in a shop setting, such as store windows and showrooms (see "Twenty-Five to Watch," DANCE MAGAZINE, January 2001, page 54).

Don't just reach out, reach in. Demonstrate your own dance heritage. Every dancer has a family tree that is rooted on every teacher and tradition he of she learns. Make that really clear this week. Who were your teachers, and who and where did they learn from? Bournonville, Cecchetti, Vaganova? Clogging, hoofing, or zapateado? Giordano of Luigi? Could you be an Ailey dancer without knowing about Katherine Dunham and Lester Horton? Fayard Nicholas of the famed Nicholas Brothers tap duo is the 2003 national celebrity spokesperson; Jo Rowan, head of Oklahoma City University's dance department, is national education spokesperson. Past spokespersons have included Gregory Hines, Chita Rivera, Paula Abdul, Gus Giordano, Ann Reinking, Joe Tremaine, Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Allen, Sandy Duncan, Luigi, and Ben Vereen. Where do they fit on your family tree? Maybe you could have them tell their heritage.

Prepare entries for next year's poster contest (see below) and display them so they are ready for the January 5, 2004, deadline.

More information on National Dance Week is available at www.nationaldanceweek.org. NDW is co-sponsored by United Dance Merchants of America and UNITY, an association of dance teaching organizations. Patricia A. Goulding is executive director. Special thanks to her for helping to assemble our sampling of NDW events.

APRIL 25-MAY 4

APRIL 26 AND 27

HARRISBURG, PA

Regional Director Janice Brougher, in conjunction with the Greater Harrisburg Arts Council, will produce the fifth annual kickline on the steps of the state capitol on Sunday, April 27, at noon. Holly Evans, a Harrisburg native and present member of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, will instruct a kickline that follows the event, held at Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. Scheduled workshops will offer classes for beginning through advanced levels in ballet, tap, jazz, and hip-hop. For information and registration, contact Janice Brougher at 717/691-5567 or janice@studio91.com.

APRIL 25-MAY 3

PHOENIX, AZ

Arizona's weeklong festivities end with its fourth annual "Celebration of Dance" May 3 at the Herberger Theater in Phoenix, at 7:30 P.M. Dee Dee Wood (an Emmy Award-winning director and choreographer) will be a special guest at the event co-hosted by performance artist, dancer, and actress Gina Tleel and celebrity spokesperson Stacy Van Dyke (daughter of Dick Van Dyke). Former NDW Spokesperson Joe Tremaine will be a guest speaker. Festivities include tap workshops and a performance, classes, seminars, and a dance-video-viewing party. Local dance performers include Ballet Arizona, Scorpius Dance Theatre, and regional college and university troupes. Contact Helena Saraydarian: 623.465.2720 or helenasaraydarian@yahoo.com.

APRIL 27

CANOGA PARK, CA

For the sixth year, Sandy Friedman, state director in southern California, sponsors a NDW kickoff event in Canoga Park at the area's Capezio Dance Shop. Sixteen local dance studios perform at the all-day, outdoor event with Joe Giamalva of JAG Company Productions acting as emcee. Free treats for the performers and popcorn for all. Contact Sandy Friedman: 818.348.4488; teddybear10@earthlink.net.

1 Shipp Dance Theatre at 2001 Retail Dance Festival, San Francisco, CA

2 Capitol kickline, Harrisburg, PA

3 NDW in Dearborn, MI

4 Cheryl Workman teaching at Anna's Expressions of Dance, Wheeling, WV

APRIL 25-MAY 4

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

SF Bay Area festivities kick off on Friday, April 25, at the Metronome Ballroom in San Francisco with food, drink, and dancing for the dance community, plus a brief awards ceremony. On Monday, April 28, the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards recognize regional excellence in dance. The awards, free and open to the public, are at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Closing the week on Sunday, May 4, is the Anna Halprin-led Planetary Dance, an all-day ritual of words, music, and prayers, followed by the Earth Run, a dance of prayer for those in need and for our distressed planet. Black or white clothing is recommended. Bay Area events are listed at www.voiceofdance.com; SF NDW hotline is 415.561.1433.

APRIL 25-MAY 4

YORK, PA

Area studios hold open houses and master classes throughout the city of York. For additional information contact Lori Pergament at gycde@aol.com, Melinda Fritz at 717.755.6683 or gycdefritz@aol.com.

APRIL 27, 28, AND 30

WHEELING, WV CLARKSBURG, WV

West Virginia's Anna Pishner and Cheryl Workman kick off Wheeling's celebration with classes and presentations on April 27 at the Oglebay Institute. On April 28 a proclamation will be presented by the city council and Clarksburg Mayor Terry Greaver at the Downtown Plaza. Open house will be held at Anna's Expressions in Clarksburg, and the Allegro Dance Company will perform at the Harrison County Courthouse Plaza. Master classes begin April 30 with Geoff Steel teaching ballroom and clogging; Cheryl Workman, ballet and tap; Dee Demby, African/modern; and Mindi Bower, pointe and partnering. Contact Anna Pishner: 304.624.5765 or expressions01@aol.com.

APRIL 26

DEARBORN, MI

The fourth annual Dearborn Dance Festival will be held on Saturday, April 26, at Edsel Ford High School. The festival includes a dance workshop with professional choreographers and instructors and a performance. Observers may attend the professional classes and performance free. Workshop charges range from $25 (beginning) to $40 (intermediate and advanced). Michael Hicks and James Frederick instruct. The festival is sponsored by Sickle's Dance Company, a nonprofit youth performing group and a member of the City of Detroit Cultural Affairs Department, the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, and Lynch's Dancewear, Inc. Contact Michigan Director Christine Sickle at 313.278.1035 or christinesickle@aol.com.

MAY 3

KANSAS CITY, KS