By Karen Bliss
Before the cold weather hits, Culture Days in York Region is providing two days of free outdoor dancing right on Main Street at the Millenium Bandstand in Unionville, Sept. 24-25 from merengue to waltzing. No experience is necessary.
Markham Arts Council partnered with Dance Together Project, which is focused on making dance accessible to everybody “regardless of skill level or variations in physical ability.”
“This sit or stand class is all about getting to the music in the body and letting the body and mind dance together,” it states in the description. “Each session includes a rhythmic but gentle warm-up and stretch followed by dance elements that can all be done while standing or sitting.”
Dance Together Unionville includes four sessions. Why not participate in all of them?
On Saturday and Sunday, from 11-11:45 a.m., there’s Latin Hips 101: Jump in and follow along to the rhythms of merengue, bachata, cha-cha-cha and salsa. Then, from noon until 12:45 p.m., Partner Dance 101, a workshop for pairs. “Invite your partner or a friend to a dance date and learn some basic partner moves that you can apply to any song,” it states.
Dance Together Project is the brainchild of Katya Kuznetsova, focusing on building communities through dance. She designs and leads dance workshops and choreographies for beginners, as well as special workshops for the elderly, wheelchair movers and people with visual impairments.
Since 2019, together with several Toronto dance and visual artists, she has been co-producing the Dance Together Festival, which offers free open-air community dance workshops and events.
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/5t359M917ToVdu71A
Culture Days is a three-week celebration of free arts and culture activities, events, workshops, and more, from Sept. 23-Oct. 16.
https://culturedays.ca/en/events/ee8e8e76-c3e8-435f-8fc1-0abf48382c57
Karen Bliss is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Billboard, Rolling Stone, Pollstar and others. She has interviewed thousands of musicians, including Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, Eminem, Shania Twain, Metallica and Michael Bublé.
