What Is National Dance Day?

Every year, the third Saturday in September rolls around and I miss it *facepalm* I have literally forgotten about National Dance Day for the past five years! I don't feel bad about it, though. Judging by the Sunday National Dance Day posts on Instagram, I'm not the only one.

So what is National Dance Day?

National Dance Day was established by American Dance Movement co-founder, Nigel Lythgoe, (also co-creator of So You Think You Can Dance) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton in 2010. The idea was to encourage Americans of all ages - including adults - to incorporate dance into their lives and to show support for dance as a valuable form of exercise and of artistic expression.

There are a number of events, activities, and social media initiatives that happen on National Dance Day. You can see them all here, but a big part of National Dance Day is the annual routine.

Every year, there is a new National Dance Day combo tutorial, available online, that dancers and non-dancers can check out, learn, and share. The 2019 National Dance Day routine was choreographed by Matt Steffanina to Dua Lipa’s song, Electricity. The tutorial video features dancers Chelsie Hill, Jashaun Gamble, Tatiana McQuay, Matt Steffanina, Criscilla Anderson, Will Simmons, and Hannahlei Cabanilla. How awesome it is that they include a modified version?! Dance is for EVERYONE!

There are other dance days and weeks, too, which I also forget about every year LOL:

International Dance Day – April 29
National Dance Week – last week of April
National Tap Dance Day – May 25 (my favorite, obviously)

Did you learn the 2019 National Dance Day routine? I'm putting it on my Google Calendar right now for next year so I actually remember!

Want to learn to tap dance? Tap instructor Christa Terry teaches kid, teen, and adult tap classes at Dance Enthusiasm in Salem, MA! Whether you've never put on a pair of tap shoes or you want to get back into tap dancing, whether you're 8 or 80, Christa knows you can do it!

And guess what? Christa is now teaching jazz classes for kids and jazz classes for teens at Dance Enthusiasm! Call (978) 741-1900 for info or use the link to register!

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Christa Terry has been dancing since age six, and while she has danced in studio and on stage in ballet and en pointe, jazz, and just about every other form of dance you can think of, tap has always been her passion. That passion grew into a love of musical theater, and she has been blessed to dance in productions of shows from Anything Goes to Sweet Charity. She got her first taste of teaching at the Levittown Public Schools Dance and Gymnastics program. A multi-year alumnus of Dance Olympus in NY, Beantown Tapfest in Boston, and many other conventions, Christa Terry studied extensively under Julia Boynton and took classes with Michelle Dorrance (founder and artistic director of Dorrance Dance) and Josh Hilberman before moving to the North Shore and jumping back into teaching tap classes. As the lead tap teacher at RDX in Beverly, MA, she taught beginner, advanced beginner tap, and fast intermediate tap dance classes to kids, teens, and grownups, and perfor...

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