Dancing Classrooms Celebrates Connection, Inclusion, And Joy Through Social Dance At MAD HOT BALL 2023

Dancing Classrooms will host its annual Mad Hot Ball on Wednesday April 26, 2023 at 6:30pm EST at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan's Theater District. The event will honor changemakers in the dance field with live music, student performances, a "silent" and "live," fund-a-need auction, and of course, dancing! Watch a video recap of Mad Hot Ball 2022 here and get your tickets today.

Emerging from nearly three years of pandemic disruptions, Dancing Classrooms has expanded its programming to reach students in K-12th grade, as well as Students with Disabilities, and has begun teaching a more inclusive array of social dance forms from around the world in supporting young people who have limited access to arts learning.

Dancing Classrooms' Executive Director Nancy Kleaver says, "Dancing Classrooms' vision is a world that values social dance as foundational to every child's well-being and joy, celebrates the beauty of diversity, and amplifies our shared humanity. Every day we aim to create radically inclusive communities through the power of movement, culture, connection, and joy. Mad Hot Ball guests will experience that power firsthand and get to join our movement to cultivate thousands of engaged learners and collaborative young leaders through dance."

Tickets include student performances, cocktail hour, select wines, a seated dinner, and of course dancing - from salsa and swing to tango and waltz - to the live music of the Paul Errico Orchestra.

Everyone who wants to dance can dance, no matter what level they are! This year guests can bid on VIP Dance Cards and purchase dance tickets to take a spin around the dance floor with some of ballroom's most prestigious professional dancers and teachers (names to be announced in March). All proceeds will benefit Dancing Classrooms' year-round, free social dance programs for young people across the U.S. Details on tickets and sponsorship levels can be found here.

Following a combined $800,000 in gifts from two former Dancing Classrooms Board Chairs, this event will include a special elegiac remembrance of one of those donors, Glen de Vries, astronaut and Co-Founder of Medidata Solutions. A dynamic, and innovative leader, Mr. de Vries' passion for dance was described in his editorial for the New York Times (NY Times Op-Ed), which focuses on how ballroom dance specifically prepared him for success as a scientist and entrepreneur. His mother Madeline Hooper recalls, "When I introduced Glen to Dancing Classrooms, he got hooked on the concept and wanted all children to learn social dance early in life for their self-confidence."

The evening's program will be co-emceed by Mickela Mallozzi, four-time Emmy Award-winning Host and Executive Producer of Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi, a travel series highlighting the diversity of dance, and Dancing Classrooms's alumnus Dwayne Beach, an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist, violist, violinist, singer-songwriter, and ballroom dancer.

The Mad Hot Ball 2023 Gala Steering Committee is Co-Chaired by Mary Lou Quinlan, acclaimed author, playwright, actress, and inspirational speaker, and Mayo Alanen popular ballroom dance professional, coach, choreographer, and former recipient of Dancing Classrooms "Humanitarian Award." Auctioneer Karen Sorbo will conduct the Live Fund-A-Need Auction.

Get your tickets here!

Humanitarian Award

Dancing With The Stars' Maksim (Maks) Chmerkovskiy and Valentin (Val) Chmerkovskiy, along with their father Sasha Chmerkovskiy, have been bringing direct aid and humanitarian relief to the people of Ukraine since February 2022 through their non-profit Baranova 27. The family also founded and owns Dance With Me Studios, which has 14 locations across the US.

Sasha Chmerkovskiy says about Baranova 27, "I can't go and defend the country in person; in my heart, I felt this is the only way for me to be helpful."

Dance Innovator Award

Marisa Hamamoto, is a transformational movement artist and speaker and the first dancer to be named among People Magazine's "Women Changing the World." Marisa's lived experiences of her body repeatedly not being accepted as a dancer and surviving a stroke that initially paralyzed her from the neck down led her to create Infinite Flow Dance, an award-winning, nonprofit dance company that employs disabled and nondisabled artists with diverse, intersectional identities with a mission to use dance as a catalyst to dismantle biases and foster inclusion.

Says Hamamoto, "Dance is a universal language that belongs to everyone. I'm grateful to be part of the Dancing Classrooms community. Dancing transforms lives and teaches our youth important skills that cannot be learned elsewhere."

Alumni Achievement Award

Tareake Dorill Ramos is an artist, educator, artpreneur, and most importantly, a DoER who was born and raised in the Lower East Side, NYC. Since graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance and Choreography, he's danced professionally in works by Twyla Tharp, Jose Limon, and Merce Cunningham and founded Dorill Initiative, an arts education nonprofit committed to collaborating with young artists to tell their stories and transform communities. Tareake also serves as the Second Vice Chair of Manhattan Community Board 3.

Says Dorill Ramos, "Dancing Classrooms shaped the leader and change-maker that I am today. "The professional skills I developed through social dance helped me establish my own nonprofit, Dorill Initiative."

Through the joyful art and practice of social dances, Dancing Classrooms cultivates engaged learners, collaborative leaders, and inclusive spaces. Its gender inclusive and culturally responsive programs serve K-12 grade students predominantly from underserved communities to help them develop social-emotional learning skills that will lead to success in school and life.

Founded by ballroom dance legends Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau almost 30 years ago, the organization partners with nearly 150 schools in NYC each year and supports a network of 10 affiliate sites across the U.S. to create a more equitable, just, and joyful world by dancing together. Visit dancingclassrooms.org to learn more.