Grier Cooper

photo by weidong yang

Now that my ballet career is behind me I find I want to dance without shoes, without direction and sometimes even without walls. I like the feel of a smooth wood floor under my bare feet, dancing to music that elicits a response… music that demands you get up off your butt and move. More importantly, I prefer to dance the way that I want to dance, when I want to dance and where I want to dance, to move purely for the joy of moving.

This coming Friday, March 22^nd offers a really cool opportunity to do just that: dance anywhere®, a public celebration of dance… everywhere, around the world… simultaneously. Artist Beth Fein first created dance anywhere® in 2005, and for the past 9 years, people across the globe have made dances in parks, museums, street corners, schools, work places, community centers, offices, and just about anywhere you can imagine. Anyone can participate. Anywhere.

The idea is to not only blur the line between art practice and art, but to dissolve the line that often separates art and dance from our daily lives.

Over the years, the gallery of images from past events has grown. Should you feel inspired you can add your own. You can also click on the map to find events in your area.

The details:

Friday, March 22^nd, 2013

noon SF, 3pm NYC, 8pm Rome

danceanywhere®  spans 6 continents,

45 countries,

more than 316 cities

See you out there! Click here to participate on Friday, March 22, 2013 : (click here for your time).

The words “dance activism” have been rolling around in my brain a lot lately and I’m toying with ways to take it out in the world to help promote dance as an integral part of our culture. Dance is a tool of expression, celebration and connection in so many other countries… why not ours? With obesity levels in the United States reaching an all-time high, it’s certainly clear that people need to move more often, in general.

Question:Which sounds more fun: an hour of salsa dancing or an hour on the treadmill?

No contest, right? But dance needs to be more accessible in order to reach more people. Take it out of the studio and off the stage… bring it to the streets….

like in Paris:

It’s already starting to happen with events like Beth Fein’s dance anywhere® , Bay Area National Dance Week and let’s not forget flash mob dancing.

In fact, dance anywhere®, the global dance party, is coming up on March 30^thnoon Pacific Time, 3pm NYC, 9pm Europe. Visit the website for more information or to register your own event. Beth Fein created the event in 2005, after asking the question:

What if there was a public celebration of dance everywhere, around the world, simultaneously?

What if, in one moment, the whole world started dancing?

Plenty of people want to find out the answer… I happen to be one of them.

The 14^th Annual Bay Area National Dance Week, the most extensive and best-attended dance festival in the nation, follows a few weeks later, beginning on April 20^th with One Dance, a different take on flash mob dancing (learn the choreography here). Joyce Theater is also producing Le Grand Continental by Montréal-based choreographer Sylvain Émard at the South Street Seaport this summer in New York.

What would the world look like if more people were dancing? Let’s find out.

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Grier Cooper

the writer in a dancer's body

Tag Archives: dance anywhere

Dance Set Free Across the Globe with dance anywhere®

Dance Set Free From the Stage and the Studio