The theme of this year’s Dancing Classrooms Mad Hot Ball is #SteppingIntoTheFuture—an initiative to ensure that young people across the NYC region continue to experience joy, connection and the social-emotional benefits of social dance in this period of COVID-19 isolation. The annual gala, the most important of Dancing Classrooms fundraising events, live-streams on Wednesday, September 23 at 7 PM ET, hosted by Emmy and Tony Award-winning dancer/singer/actor Bebe Neuwirth.
The 2020 Mad Hot Ball will honor Zikomo Barr (Coordinator for Leadership Initiatives, Pace University) with an Alumni Award, Jill Sternheimer (former Director of Public Programs, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts) as Champion for Social Dance, and the New York Junior League as Social and Emotional Learning Champion. Dayna Cassidy, president, will accept on behalf of the organization.
The event is free; guests can enjoy the music stylings of Paul Errico, while dancing from home during the Living Room Dance Party, led by Dancing Classrooms’ Teaching Artists and students. However, levels of giving ensure special perks. A donation of at least $500 includes an exclusive invitation to join the VIP Cocktails at 6:30 PM, with Bebe Neuwirth, which will feature mixologist A-K Hada and an exclusive dance performance by Ballroom Dance champions Michael Choi and Vanda Polakava, choreographed by Edward Simon. A donation of any size, however, supports Dancing Classrooms and its commitment to respond nimbly to the changing context and environment of arts education, both in the COVID-19 moment and beyond.
The Dancing Classrooms Stepping into the Future Campaign is an initiative caused by the current coronavirus pandemic. School closures caused by COVID-19 forced an abrupt change to Dancing Classrooms’ award-winning in-school residencies. As a result, the Homeroom Edition was launched—a flexible online-only residency program adapted to accommodate remote learning. The Dancing Classrooms Weekend Academy and Youth Dance Company also transitioned to Zoom for 12 weekends of advanced instruction and online “Summer Intensives†kept the social dancers on their toes in July.
To date, approximately 1,000 young people have received Dancing Classroom’s world-renowned teaching from the safety of their own homes, in addition to the more than 12,000 students served this fall and winter.
Dancing Classrooms’ mission is to cultivate essential life skills in children through the joyful art and practice of social dance. The organization’s vision is schools and communities where every child is connected, respected and given an environment in which to thrive. The program develops the best of what academics call Social Emotional Learning or SEL—life skills like motivation, grit, connection and listening—that help individuals relate, interact and advance as respectful, empathetic human beings. Dancing Classrooms New York City (DCNYC) serves hundreds of public school classrooms a year with  program made up of both the core in-school residency program and the Colors of the Rainbow Team Match.
To RSVP or donate, please click here.
For more information about donating or Dancing Classrooms, please visit https://dancingclassrooms.org
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