BILLY ELLIOT to Perform at National Dance Week, 6/17

Now in its 7th year, National Dance Week-NYC (NDW-NYC), a yearly festival that advocates dance conditioning and wellness, will offer more than 100 FREE dance, fitness and wellness classes over the course of 10 days, starting June 17, 2011. The festival will commence with a flash mob in Union Square followed by a kickoff event at Union Bar on Wednesday, June 15. A culminating performance to celebrate NYC arts will take place at Salvatore Capezio Theater at Peridance on Sunday, June 26 and will feature presentations by American Tap Dance Foundation: Tap City Youth Ensemble, Aveia, Ballet Noir, Billy Elliot the Musical, COBU, Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn, Flamenco con Magdalena, The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory, and Marie-Christine Giordano Dance.

The New York City chapter of National Dance Week encourages everyone in the community to participate in dance at any level and in any capacity. Catering to New Yorkers' interests and the city's diverse arts community, the 10-days of dance events includes a variety of styles including latin, ballroom, tap, ballet, swing, hip-hop, aerial acrobatics and Zumba - a popular dance fitness craze. Participants can choose from a selection of studios and levels and events cater to all ages.

Studios throughout Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn will offer a sampling of dance classes. A schedule of studios, offerings and instructions can be found on NDW-NYC's website (*sponsoring studios): www.ndw-nyc.org/free-classes. Participating studios include: The Ailey Extension; American Tap Dance Foundation*; Astoria Fine Arts Dance*; Ballet Basics; Bridge for Dance: Brooklyn Ballet; Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn; Dance Manhattan; Dance New Amsterdam; Dhoonya Dance; Dokoudovsky New York Conservatory of Dance; Fit, Fab, and Sexy*; Fit, Fab, Teens; Flamenco con Magdalena; Forces of Nature Dance Theatre; Fred Astaire (West Side); The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory; Joffrey Ballet School*; Kat Wildish at The Ailey Extension; LA Dance; Mark Morris Dance Center; Marie-Christine Giordano Dance; Nika Ballet Studio; Peridance Capezio Center; Pushing Progress; The Queens Dance Project; Sandra Cameron Dance Center; STREB Extreme Action; Tropical Image NY; Yoga Works (Downtown).

2011 sponsors of NDW-NYC include National Dance Week, Fit-Engine, kd Dance, Capezio, Oriens Healing Sanctuary, SJE Productions, and Jenny Craig 14th Street NYC.

2011 partners include The Ailey Extension, Billy Elliot the Musical, Dance New Amsterdam and Peridance Capezio Center.

The organization also reaches out to peer leaders who are making efforts to keep dance and fitness alive within the five boroughs to be recognized as Front Runners in promoting the festival. A video interview with Front Runners can be found on NDW-NYC's YouTube channel. 2011 Front Runners include Kat Wildish, Marie-Christine Giordano, Astoria Fine Arts Dance, and Covenant Ballet Theatre of Brooklyn.

2011 Schedule
NDW-NYC Flash Mob
Date: Wednesday, June 15
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Union Square
What: Resident choreographer Michelle Robinson leads more than 20 dancers with a dance showcasing moves from 20's, 50's and current trends.

NDW-NYC Festival Kick-off Event
Date: Wednesday, June 15
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Union Bar, 204 Park Avenue between 16th and 17th Street
What: Drink specials, dance party, door prizes, raffle, and surprise performance
RSVP: http://www.venugo.com/?module=venueparty&id=134

NDW-NYC Festival Dance and Fitness Classes
Date: Friday, June 17 - Sunday, June 26
Locations and Schedule: Visit www.ndw-nyc.org/freeclasses

NDW-NYC Festival Culminating Performance
Date: Sunday, June 26
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Salvatore Capezio Theater at Peridance, 126 E 13th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues
Tickets: $14 Early Bird Special / $15 Advance / $20 At the Door
http://bit.ly/ndwnycperformance
A cocktail reception will follow the performance, co-sponsored by Peridance Capezio Center.

National Dance Week-NYC (NDW-NYC) collaborates with noted studios in New York City to celebrate the joy and diversity of dance with an exhilarating 10-day festival of FREE dance, fitness and wellness classes. The festival engages the community and families to experience dance, encouraging them to live active, healthy lifestyles. The organization moves beyond traditional dance forms to teach participants how all dance genres benefit mind, body and spirit. Part of the nationwide National Dance Week, the festival is held in June at a variety of venues throughout New York City and serves hundreds. Additionally, throughout the year NDW-NYC promotes dance studios and companies through their newsletter, projects, dance/fitness events and partnerships.Tasha Norman founded the New York Chapter in 2005. Nearly 25 local studios partner with the organization each year to increase public awareness. The festival receives recognition from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Borough Presidents Adolfo Carrion, Jr. (Bronx), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn) and C. Virginia Fields (Manhattan).

American Tap Dance Foundation: Tap City Youth Ensemble
The Tap City Youth Ensemble, directed by Susan Hebach and Margaret Morrison, gives talented youth tap dancers the opportunity to work with professional choreographers to learn classic and contemporary tap repertory. The repertory currently includes works by Brenda Bufalino, The Copasetics, Harold Cromer, Michelle Dorrance, Barbara Duffy, and Jared Grimes among others. The Tap City Youth Ensemble performs in a range of New York area venues including formal concerts, school shows, free public events, and Tap City - The New York City Tap Festival each July. Some performance highlights for TCYE are River to River's "Evening Stars", New Tap Choreography, Dancewave's Kid's Café, Tappy Holidays and "Amateur Night at the Apollo".

`Avei`a is a fresh, new, and vibrant dance group that specializes in a blend of traditional and contemporary styles of Polyneisan cultural dances with a flair of modern dance technique. Designed with both authentic and striking new fashions, the costumes compliment the rigorous, highly rhythmic, and captivating choreography, drums, and music.

Since 2007 co?artistic directors Corey Baker and Leyland Simmons have led an outstanding collection of dance and music artists in noted performance venues such as the City Center Studio Showcase, Smoke Lillies Jade Arts Initiative, The Joyce Soho A.W.A.R.D. Show!, Battery Park Downtown Dance Festival, The Garden State Festival, The Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out Festival, City Parks East River Park Dance Series in NYC, and the International Ballet Festival of Miami. Ballet Noir features artists of diverse disciplines and cultural traditions in works that reflect the kaleidoscope of expression in a 21st century America. By integrating a broad scope of musical, literary, theatrical, technological and visual artistic expression, the company creates a relevant social experience for audiences through the performing arts.

Billy Elliot the Musical - Jacob Clemente (Billy)
The 2009 Tony Award winning musical Billy Elliot (music by Elton John, books and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling, direction by Stephen Daldry) tells the story of a young Billy as he stumbles out of the boxing rin and into a ballet class, discovering a surprising talent for dance that inspires his family and his whole community, and changes his life forever. Jacob Clemente (Billy) will perform "Electricity" from the show.

Jacob Clemente was seen previously on Broadway in Patti Lupone's Gypsy. Like Billy, Jacob is a dancer who comes from a family of miners. Jacob started dancing when he was 7 years old and has held such titles as 2007 Junior Mr. Starquest and 2008 National NYCDA Mini Outstanding Dancer.

Cobu, based in New York City, was created as a Live Rhythm Performing Arts Group in 2000. Yako Miyamoto, the founder of Cobu is a current member of the off broadway-hit STOMP. Cobu combines elements of the Japanese traditional Taiko drumming with rhythmic Tap dancing. The extremely positive impact of the performance has received rave reviews from The New York Times and The Chicago Sun and has touched audiences through major festivals in Boston and Chicago. Their signature sound is created organically through acoustic instruments, rather than digital transcription. This juxtaposition of traditional modernity makes them one of the most unique and original mind-blowing groups of our time.

Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn is a professional dance company that marries rigorous classical and modern technique with African-American soul and spirit. Under the direction of Jamel Gaines, reviewers in the United States and Europe have hailed the company for its "richness of dance tone "and" contagious vitality. The repertoire addresses socio-cultural issues through an artistically potent mixture of theater, song, movement and poetry, and the performers imbue each work with a deep spiritual resonance. The company has collaborated with such artists as Michael Jackson, Malik Yoba, Max Roach, Savion Glover, and Jennifer Holiday. They have performed in major venues and festivals including The United Nations, Acapulco Black Film Festival, BAM Dance Africa, 651 Arts, The John F. Kennedy Center forthe Performing Arts, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Jacob's Pillow and Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

Magdalena started her dancing career in 1993 in New York City. She has joined Pasion y Arte, Flamenco Triana, American Bolero Dance, and Juanito Pascual, among others, for tours and Arts-in-Education programs across the U.S. As a free-lance artist, Magdalena is involved in many diverse projects related to her craft. She has coached opera singers (most notably Janara Kellerman of NYC Opera) in preparation for their roles as "Carmen", recorded flamenco footwork for pop singer Antony & The Johnsons, and is currently featured in several documentaries about the journey of a foreign flamenco dancer. Inspired by her mentors, Magdalena integrates her unique educational and musical background to teach the art of Flamenco to students of all ages and backgrounds. She is best known for her traditional style and musicality and has been awarded grants from The Field and Fractured Atlas for her work as an independent performance artist.

The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory (HDC), founded by Safi A. Thomas (Artistic Director), is a world-renowned institution for professional hip-hop dance education in NYC. The first and only conservatory for hip-hop dance in the world, they view it as their responsibility and duty to preserve and protect hip-hop dance culture and it's foundations as well as train dancers to be viable assets to the dance community. A faculty with extensive professional experience and a passion for dancer empowerment and development deliver their intensive and comprehensive curriculum. The core pedagogy includes improvisation, composition, hip-hop history, anatomy and physiology, health and nutrition, acting for dancers and more. With the assistance of many prominent figures in the history of the art form, HDC is currently codifying hip-hop dance and developing a teaching structure to bring hip-hop dance to a level playing field with it's classical counterparts.

Marie-Christine Giordano Dance (MCGD) has a two-fold mission that embraces both artistic expression and education. MCGD strongly believes that dance is a much-needed expressive, healing, and unifying art form. The company presents thoughtful and deeply moving pieces that explore the differing texture of dancing and the complex landscape of the human heart. In addition to presentations in leading cultural venues, MCGD uses dance and movement forms at classes with Brooklyn's young people to convey positive messages of hope, accomplishment, and community that go well beyond language and cultural differences.