Connecticut Dance Alliance to host state’s first National Dance Day on Saturday, September 19
New performers and workshop facilitators announced
for the free outdoor event celebrating dance
HARTFORD, CT – September 3, 2020 – Connecticut Dance Alliance (CDA) will host
the state’s first National Dance Day on Saturday, September 19, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. at Webster Walk at Blue Back Square in West Hartford. The free outdoor event
celebrates the joy of dance and showcases the diversity of dance in Connecticut while
also encouraging fun and healthy body movement and creative expression. The rain date
for the event is Sunday, September 20.
National Dance Day will feature live performances and workshops from Connecticut
dance studios, companies, and independent performing artists; dance literature book
presentations by Connecticut authors; a Dance-Me-a-Story demonstration for young
children; and a gently-used/new dancewear fundraiser. Connecticut Dances – A Visual
History , a touring exhibition jointly presented by CDA and the Connecticut Historical
Society, will also be on display.
"The Connecticut dance scene has been continuously growing due to the hard work of
many devoted artists. It is so important to keep that momentum going, especially in
light of current events,” said Katie Bittner, resident artist with the Hartford Dance
Collective - one of the many local dance organizations participating in National Dance
Day.
The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. with Read & Reverence, a socially distanced reading
demonstration for children ages 3 to 7 presented by students from the Hartt School at
the University of Hartford. The program includes a reading of New York City Ballet’s
The Sleeping Beauty picture book, a brief movement session, and concludes with a
photo session for each child with the program leaders to remember the special day.
Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet, Graceful Planet Studio of Dance, Studio8Sixty, ATTAK
Dance Company, and Immix Dance Project have also been added to the robust roster of
diverse dance organizations and performers participating in the event. They join
previously announced performers and workshop facilitators, including: Karrington
Trice, Fred Astaire Dance Studio West Hartford; Dimensional Dance; The END
Ensemble; New England Ballet Theatre; Baila Con Gusto CT; Evjen Academy of
Performing Arts; GUSTO Dance; The Hartford Dance Collective; CREC Greater
Hartford Academy of the Arts; CT Tap Collaborative; Leslie Frye Maietta; Arthur
Murray Glastonbury; and Ballet Hartford performing with its new Pre-Professional
Division.
National Dance Day will follow all current Connecticut COVID-19 mandates for outdoor
public events. Members of Dimensional Dance will demonstrate their unique and
beautiful way to comply with regulations to guests. The Connecticut Dance Alliance is
asking all participants and attendees to wear protective face coverings to ensure
everyone’s safety. For more information on National Dance Day, visit
https://www.ctdanceall.org/ .
About the Participating Artists:
Read & Reverence - Presented by students from the Hartt School at the
University of Hartford
What began as a midterm project for Sydney Hitchell, a Raising Senior at the Hartt
School at the University of Hartford receiving her BFA in Dance Performance and minor
in Performing Arts Management, Read & Reverence was brought to life specifically for
CDA’s National Dance Day. Along with Hartt School at the University of Hartford
Raising Seniors Felicia Isotti, Meredith Bolton and Kyleigh Olivier - who are all
receiving BFAs in Ballet Pedagogy - Read & Reverence was developed for children ages 3 to 7 and focuses on integrating the power of the written word with dance.
Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet
Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet is a professional dance company comprised of
artist-theologians whose goal is to create spaces where art and faith can flourish.
Ekklesia’s diverse repertory utilizes a full spectrum of emotional and physical
vocabulary while addressing issues such as poverty, inequality, and human
suffering.
The Graceful Planet Studio of Dance
The Graceful Planet Studio of Dance is committed to providing the Sandy Hook and
Newtown community with high-quality dance classes to enhance overall child
development. The studio provides a safe, child-centered environment to encourage
students to explore dance with qualified, nurturing teachers. Graceful Planet believes
that dance training encourages young people to develop a positive self-image as they
increase awareness of their physical being. Along with improving coordination skills and
developing muscular awareness, dance classes give children the freedom to express
themselves through movement.
Studio8Sixty
860 MVMNT, based in Hartford, is an all-styles street dance collective
implementing original street dance in collaboration with contemporary styles of hip
hop. 860 MVMNT combines dancers of all hip-hop genres, and they train weekly at
Studio 860. Studio 860, under the direction of Jolet Creary, is a dance center dedicated
to educating through hip-hop dance, music, and culture. The mission of 860 is to
enlighten and educate adolescents and adults through urban art forms, outreach, and
performances, giving them a creative and positive outlet while building community
relationships.
ATTAK Dance Company, established in 2013, is a contemporary modern dance
company. The company was founded by the late Elena Rusnak, the former director of
the Naugatuck Valley Community College dance program. ATTAK hopes audiences
can feel the dancers’ emotion as they tell their stories through dance and connect each
piece to their own personal lives. Elena’s daughter, Cate Rusnak-Craig, has been
ATTAK’s Artistic Director since her passing in 2014.
Immix Dance Project
Immix Dance Project was born out of a desire to collaborate with local artists in an
effort to grow both individually and together. Focusing on building community and
connections, the group seeks to support dancers, choreographers and companies, and to
help each other grow. The four core collaborators have been dancing together since 2013
and have a strong connection both in the studio and out. Their friendship and genuine
admiration of each other makes them stronger dancers and choreographers. They
created Immix Dance Project as an outlet to generate ideas, push each other creatively
and spend time together doing what they love.
Additional performers and workshop facilitators include Arthur Murray Dance Studio of
Glastonbury, Karrington Trice, Point to Perfection Dance Studio, Ekklesia
Contemporary Ballet, Toriography Dance Company, and ATTAK Dance Company.
The event will also highlight CDA’s collaboration with Para Dance by Fred Astaire Dance
Studios in West Hartford.
About Connecticut Dance Alliance (CDA)
Connecticut Dance Alliance, Inc. (CDA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of dance in all its forms and serving the needs of the statewide dance community. Since 1999, CDA has created and presented numerous events such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Dance – a day celebrating African-American dance traditions, CDA Distinguished Achievement in Dance Awards, Healthy Dancer Seminars and workshops on Planning a College Career in dance. In 2011, CDA founded and developed a successful summer scholarship annual competition, the Connecticut Classic , a competition for pre-professional classical ballet students. CDA also administers the Elena Delvecchio Rusnak Dance Education Scholarship. CDA’s current project, The
Dance History Project. Through grassroots networking, the project endeavors to
capture and share, through the art of photography and scholarly writing, a cultural and
historical documentation of the rich and vibrant dance heritage in Connecticut. Using
the 2,000 images submitted by the dance community, the curated Connecticut Dance
exhibition has toured the state since 2017. In addition to the Dance History Project ,
other CDA initiatives include the further development of regional network consortiums
to increase communication, partnerships, and opportunities for Connecticut’s dance
community; dance education programs; and the new statewide dance resource database.
