National Dance Institute Will Host a Virtual Gala Featuring Alec Baldwin, Josh Groban, Mandy Patinkin, and More!

National Dance Institute will host its 44th Annual Gala: From the Heart remotely this year on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, 7:30 PM EST. NDI's virtual gala will be an online livestream event of dance, music, and revelry to support the extraordinary work NDI is doing to bring the arts into the lives of children throughout New York City, across the United States, and around the world. More than 60,000 children participate in NDI programs annually. The evening will feature both new and archival performances, celebrity friends of NDI, a tribute to long-time NDI benefactors, Judy & Josh Weston, and of course, the exuberant dancing children of National Dance Institute.

NDI will livestream the event free of charge on nationaldance.org, Facebook, YouTube, and IGTV.

The Annual Gala is National Dance Institute's largest fundraising event and raises $1.5 million annually in support of NDI's award-winning arts education programs that reach thousands of children every year. Two million children have been impacted by NDI's programming since its founding in 1976.

Appearances will include: Jacques d'Amboise, renowned ballet dancer and National Dance Institute founder; Alec Baldwin, actor; Charlotte d'Amboise, actress and dancer; Josh Groban, singer and actor; Kathryn Grody, actress and writer; Dharon E. Jones, Broadway actor/singer/dancer; Judy Kuhn, singer and actress; Terrence Mann, actor and singer; Jillian Mercado, model/actress/disability activist; Mandy Patinkin, actor and singer; and more. Ellen Weinstein, Artistic Director, and Traci Lester, Executive Director, will also participate in the evening.

In support of its mission, NDI's Star Committee includes: actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; composer and conductor David Amram; Charlotte d'Amboise; Alec and Hilaria Baldwin; Mandy Patinkin; Whoopi Goldberg; Mikhail Baryshnikov; Glenn Close; Michael Cerveris; actress and writer Kathryn Grody; Terrence Mann; Lysiane Luong Grooms; Red Grooms; Bill Irwin; Kevin Kline; Rebecca Krohn; Norm Lewis; Ann Martin; Sara Mearns;; Desmond Richardson; Chita Rivera; James Taylor; Edward Villella; Wendy Whelan; and Tony Yazback; American Ballet Theatre dancers Isabella Boylston and Calvin Royal III; and New York City Ballet dancers Tiler Peck, Daniel Ulbricht, Sterling Hyltin, Megan Fairchild, Robert Fairchild, Joaquin De Luz, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Ask la Cour, Teresa Reichlen, and Ashley Bouder.