Press Release FOR RELEASE: August 19, 2019 2019 National Routine located here.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and American Dance Movement

in conjunction with

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

Present

National Dance Day

Dynamic 10th Anniversary Emceed by Three-Time Emmy Award®-Winner Debbie Allen

Free Day-Long Celebration Features Interactive Dance Routines and Lessons, Outdoor Performances, Live Music, Film Screenings, Panel Discussions, and More

New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck Joins the Day

So You Think You Can Dance All-Star Dominic “D-trix” Sandoval to teach the Official National Dance Day Routine

Part of the Kennedy Center’s REACH Opening Festival

~ more ~

Saturday, September 21, 2019, 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

(WASHINGTON)—Kick up your heels and put on your dancing shoes on September 21 for National Dance Day! Presented in partnership between the Kennedy Center, American Dance Movement (formally the Dizzy Feet Foundation), and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), this annual event invites everyone of all ages and abilities, from the littlest dancers to professionals, to participate in a free day-long celebration of the joy of dance and movement.

Celebrating 10 years, now moved for the first time from July to the third Saturday in September, the free all-day event takes place as part of opening festivities at the REACH, the Kennedy Center’s newly expanded campus. Hosted by Emmy®-winning choreographer, actress, and producer Debbie Allen, the day features interactive dance routines and lessons, outdoor performances, panel discussions, film screenings, live music, and more. Highlights include:

 Audiences can learn the official, nation-wide 2019 National Dance Day routine, created by American Dance Movement, on the REACH’s mainstage. Choreographed by hip hop choreographer, DJ, and producer Matt Steffanina, the 2019 routine is set to Dua Lipa’s “Electricity.” Leading the routine will be So You Think You Can Dance All-Star Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval  The Kennedy Center’s own “Line Dance” routine created specifically to tell the history and story of the Kennedy Center and its place in the D.C. community  Intimate panel discussion with principal dancer Tiler Peck of New York City Ballet, who joins the day’s festivities to teach a section of a contemporary work on the mainstage, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon as seen in Charlotte OC’s hit 2017 music video, “Medicine Man”  From 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., patrons can “try-on” different styles of movement in 16 different dance classes taught by local professional artists and dance organizations ranging from contemporary dance to Chinese Ribbon dance, tap, salsa, Classical Indian dance, Floor Barre, dancehall fusion, Viennese Waltz, and more as well as dance for those with Parkinson’s Disease  All-Day film screenings including the documentaries No Maps on My Taps; NY Export: Opus Jazz, the 2010 reimaging of Jerome Robbins’s ballet in sneakers with dancers from New York City Ballet; and the 2018 Hulu documentary Ballet Now, featuring Tiler Peck 2

 DC Dance Round Table Discussion hosted by Dance Metro DC along with an interactive dance and film workshop to learn techniques for capturing dance on a smart phone or tablet  Performance followed by learning movement from Jerron Herman, principal dancer and at Heidi Latsky Dance with cerebral palsy who is now choreographing his own interdisciplinary work  Fela! The Concert, a concert version of the hit Tony Award-winning Broadway show based on the music, lyrics, and life of the late Nigerian singer, composer, and activist Fela Kuti

In addition, take a journey through the history of dance in D.C. at the 6:00 p.m. Millennium Stage show (also streamed live on the Center’s website) in an interactive performance/lecture, led by writer and narrator Lisa Traiger. Local dance companies and artists will perform and demonstrate the city’s stories in a variety of styles including tap, ballet, African Dance styles and more—all leading up to local choreographer Sarah Beth Oppenheim leading patrons in the Kennedy Center’s own “line dance” routine featuring movement inspired by an oral history collected from Kennedy Center staff and volunteers. Further information about the companies and artists participating can be found here.

A living theater where diverse art forms collide to break down boundaries between audiences and art, the REACH was designed by architect Steven Holl to support the Kennedy Center’s evolving needs as the nation’s cultural center. Built for active participation and access, the REACH brings visitors directly into the creative process. It is an immersive learning center, a public incubator, and a set of dynamic, collaborative spaces where art happens so close audiences can reach out and touch it. Envisioned as a complement to, and extension of, the Kennedy Center’s mission, the REACH is an open stage for differing ideas and divergent cultures, delivering on a vision for what a 21st century arts center should be—inclusive, accessible, and interactive. Featuring three soaring, contiguous pavilions along with 130,000 square feet of greenspace and public gardens— the REACH is a place where visitors, audiences, and artists can come together for collaboration, experimentation, and exploration in the spirit of President Kennedy’s vision for a new frontier for the arts. The REACH will open September 7 with a free 16-day festival through September 22.

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A full and detailed National Dance Day schedule is located here on the Center’s website. All National Dance Day events are free and reservations for timed passes will be required for entry. Reservations are available here. 2019 National Dance Day Routine Choreographed by hip hop choreographer, DJ, and producer Matt Steffanina, the 2019 National Dance Day routine is set to Dua Lipa’s “Electricity.” It is available now on American Dance Movement’s YouTube Channel. The public is encouraged to submit videos of themselves performing this year’s routine and participate in the dance challenge, #DanceMadeMeDoIt. Encouraging all to celebrate dance in one’s own way, this year’s challenge is to create your own version of the National Dance Day routine.

Launched in 2010 by So You Think You Can Dance co-creator and American Dance Movement (formally Dizzy Feet Foundation) co-president Nigel Lythgoe and Hairspray producer, Adam Shankman, National Dance Day is an annual celebration. This grassroots campaign highlights the importance of physical activity through dance, which, in addition to improving cardiovascular health, also improves self-confidence, self-expression and social skills. It was officially recognized in 2010 when Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a resolution declaring the last Saturday in July to be the country’s official National Dance Day. Now shifting to September 21, National Dance Day celebrates its 10th Anniversary this season.

In addition to the Kennedy Center, The Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, California, joins for an official 2019 host venue for September 21. For more information about National Dance Day, please visit the American Dance Movement website.

Biographies In a career that spans three decades, the name Debbie Allen is synonymous with dynamic energy, creative talent, and innovation. For her vast body of work, Allen has earned three Emmy® Awards, a Golden Globe, five NAACP Image Awards, a Drama Desk Award, an Astaire Award (for Best Dancer), and the Olivier Award. She holds four honorary doctorate degrees and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was appointed by President George W. Bush to represent the U.S. as a Cultural Ambassador of Dance. She has been artist-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for more than 15 years, creating original works with the legendary Arturo Sandoval and James Ingram, such as Pepito’s Story, Brothers of the Knight, Dreams, Alex in Wonderland, Soul Possessed, Pearl, Dancing in the Wings, and Oman O Man. Her long list of directing and producing credits include television classics such as FAME, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Jane the Virgin, Empire, A Different World, Everybody Hates Chris, Stompin’ At The Savoy, Polly, That’s So Raven, Cool Woman, Quantum Leap, The Fantasia Barrino Story, and on stage, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She is currently an Executive Producer/Director/actress on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

Tiler Peck is an international award-winning principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, an actress,

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and designer. Last summer, she added the title of Curator to her ever-growing list of accolades, as she starred in the second installment of The Los Angeles Music Center’s presentation of Ballet Now, part of the Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance At The Music Center. Peck recently made her debut as a choreographer at the Vail International Dance Festival on a piece titled Lincoln Square. She has had the honor of performing for President Obama at the 2012 and 2014 Kennedy Center Honors and portrayed the role of Louise in the Emmy®-nominated production of New York Philharmonic’s Live From Lincoln Center’s Carousel. She recently played the title role in Susan Stroman’s musical, Marie: Dancing Still, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre and is attached to star for an upcoming Broadway run. She was also seen on Broadway in the Tony®-nominated, On The Town in the role of Ivy Smith. Peck is the recipient of numerous awards including the Mae L. Wien Award, a Janice Levin Honoree, a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Dance Fellowship, and Dance Magazine Award, among many others. She is also the designer of Tiler Peck Designs for Body Wrappers. As an athlete and ballerina herself, she conceptualized and designed a product line that includes leotards, dresses, tutus, shorts, skirts. www.tilertalks.com @tilerpeck.

About American Dance Movement Founded by producers Nigel Lythgoe (So You Think You Can Dance), and Adam Shankman (Hairspray, Step Up, What Men Want), American Dance Movement (ADM), formerly Dizzy Feet Foundation, is a funding organization that builds healthy communities by expanding access to dance and movement, educating about its benefits, and inspiring generations of dance enthusiasts through its annual event, National Dance Day (NDD). American Dance Movement—on a mission to move us all by building healthy communities through dance.

To learn more about American Dance Movement and National Dance Day, visit the website at AmericanDanceMovement.org, on Twitter at @DanceWithADM and on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at @AmericanDanceMovement.

Funding Credits National Dance Day is presented as part of the Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives.

Additional Support is provided by Suzanne L. Niedland.

Wells Fargo is the Presenting Sponsor of the REACH Opening Festival.

The Centene Charitable Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of Millennium Stage.

The Millennium Stage is brought to you by Target and The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

The Millennium Stage was created and underwritten by James A. Johnson and Maxine Isaacs to make the performing arts accessible to everyone in fulfillment of the Kennedy Center's mission to its community and the nation.

Additional funding for the Millennium Stage is provided by Kim Engel and Family, The Isadore and Bertha Gudelsky Family Foundation, Inc., The Meredith Foundation, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A.J. Stolwijk, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Millennium Stage Endowment Fund.

The Millennium Stage Endowment Fund was made possible by James A. Johnson and Maxine Isaacs, Fannie Mae Foundation, the Kimsey Endowment, Gilbert† and Jaylee† Mead, Mortgage Bankers Association of America and other anonymous gifts to secure the future of the Millennium Stage.

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

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PRESS CONTACT TICKETS & INFORMATION Brittany Laeger (202) 467-4600; (800) 444-1324 (202) 416-8445 www.kennedy-center.org/ [email protected]

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