Events: Jam for Sandy at Seize the Dance Gym

The east coast’s best battle dancers will rally together to raise funds and collect clothing for victims of the devastating Hurricane Sandy. On Saturday December 15th, 2012, at 4:00 pm, The Jam for Sandy will take place at the newly opened Seize The Dance Gym in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Proceeds will be donated directly to New York Cares. The jam promises to be an exciting event consisting of many activities.

While the battles will be sure to get competitive, rival dancers will come together for a good cause. The jam will consist of a 2v2 bboy battle and a 1v1 all styles battle with the fee to battle being $5. Amazing dancers from all over the east coast to the Midwest have already signed up and registration is open until the day of the event. Those planning on just watching the event will only have to pay $7 – which will be donated directly to New York Cares. There will also be a clothing donation drive at the event.

In addition to the registered battles, there will be 5 different DJ’s spinning all night as well as an exhibition contest. The exhibition battle will be between Fleg (Lionz of Zion/MD) Vs Man of God(Rhythm Attack/Motion Disorders/Chicago). Special guest chef Bounme Phetdevone will be vending food. The Jam for Sandy promises an amazing evening with guest judges that include, Bboy Domkey, winner of Red Bull BC one North America, and Prince Lavince of the International House of Waackers – NYC.

Jam organizer Bboy Dynamike Chau, who also represents Culture Shock D.C. says, “This jam is not only to help those in need in the North East, but to show the power of the Hip Hop Culture. Many dancers know that the birth place of Hip Hop is the Bronx, New York. When the birth place of our culture that we live in is in need, the least we can do is try our best to help restore it. Hip Hop does not owe us anything, but we definitely owe it a lot.”

The above information is adapted from a press release received Thursday, November 29th.

The Deets

• Jam for Sandy
• Seize The Dance Gym – 9251 Hampton Overlook; Capitol Heights, MD 20743
• Saturday, December 15th, 2012 at 4:00 p.m.
• $7 Entrance Fee

Dancer Profile: Ian Christian-Reyes De Leon of Culture Shock DC

Ian Christian-Reyes De Leon, also known as B-boy “Ruffian,” is from Germantown, MD. He has been b-boying and breakdancing for more than a decade and has spent the last two years studying hip hop and urban choreography. In addition to being a member of Culture Shock DC, he also practices with many urban freestyle dancers and choreographers in the region. Follow him on Twitter @theovenstudio and support the local dance community through his Facebook page DMV Dance Network.

Photo Credit: Dana Pajarillaga

DC Dance Collective, Halo Dance Studio, KODACHROME, The Oven (formerly). Favorite instructor is MaryAnn Reyes who now lives in LA.

How has dance changed your life? How do you feel when you’re dancing?

Dance has opened many doors for me and introduced me to many great people, opportunities and experiences. When I dance, I feel free.

Any advice for people who are interested in dance, but have never danced before?

Have fun and take your time. Practice won’t make you perfect but it will make you better. Make sure you love the music!

Anything you want to promote? Anyone you want to give a shout out to?

The DMV Dance Network – an online community dedicated to bringing people in our scene together! Shout out to Culture Shock DC, Oven Fam, KODACHROME, Baltimore Dance Crews Project, Cruz Productions, the bboy/bgirl community, and every other dance company and crew in the DMV doing positive things for our community!

danceDC Weekend Event Guide 3/26-3/27

TAKE Dance performs at the opening ceremony of the National Cherry Blossom Festival this weekend.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival starts tomorrow March 26th. The event kicks off with Family Day at the National Building Museum. Shizumi Kodomo Dance Troupe and The Washington Ballet are scheduled to perform! Immediately following Family Day is the opening ceremony featuring New York City based TAKE Dance, who recently performed at Dance Place. Other Cherry Blossom Dance Festival performances are listed below. Where will I be? Selling tickets at Culture Shock DC’s 2011 Youth Showcase. Come support these young, talented dance groups and do some dancing of your own at the Youth Showcase Workshops on Sunday at DC Dance Collective. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Saturday, March 26th

• 11am-12:20pm: Workshops with nicholas leichter dance at Dance Place
• 12:45pm-1:30pm: CHERRY BLOSSOM Tamagusuku Ryu Keisho Kai-Kinjo Hirae Ryubu Dojo at Performance Stage at Sylvan Theater
• 1pm-2pm: Dance Conditioning with alight dance theater’s Caitlin Jordan at Greenbelt Community Center (Greenbelt)
• 1:30pm: Proteges III at the Kennedy Center
• 3pm-10pm: Circles 12 Hip Hop Charity Event at James Madison University (Harrisonburg)
• 3:30pm-4:15pm: CHERRY BLOSSOM Hong Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute at Performance Stage at Sylvan Theater
• 4:30pm: Discover Tsam Mongolian Ritual Dance at Artisphere (Arlington)
• 6pm-9pm: Classical Ballet Theatre Annual Fundraiser “Ballet and Bourdeaux” at Center for Innovative Technology (Herndon)
• 7pm-10pm: Culture Shock 2011 Youth Showcase at Schlesinger Concert Hall (Alexandria)
• 7pm-10pm: “Young at Heart” CCP Spring Modern Dance Concert at Minnie Howard School (Alexandria)
• 7:30pm: Bowen McCauley Dance ‘Red, Hot & Fabulous’ 15th Anniversary Spring Performance at the Kennedy Center
• 8pm: nicholas leichter dance presents The Whiz at Dance Place
• 8pm: SOLD OUT Studio to Stage Showcase at Joy of Motion/Friendship Heights

Sunday, March 27th

• 12pm-12:30pm: CHERRY BLOSSOM The Warrenton Ballet Company at Performance Stage at Sylvan Theater
• 12pm-2pm: Workshops with nicholas leichter dance at Dance Place
• 12pm-3pm: Culture Shock Youth Showcase Workshops at DC Dance Collective
• 12:45pm-1:15pm: CHERRY BLOSSOM Gamelan Wrhatnala USA at Performance Stage at Sylvan Theater
• 1:30pm: Proteges III at the Kennedy Center
• 3pm-3:30pm: CHERRY BLOSSOM Rhythmaya School of Dance at Performance Stage at Sylvan Theater
• 6pm: Khuree Tsam Mongolian Ritual Dance at Artisphere (Arlington)
• 7pm: nicholas leichter dance presents The Whiz at Dance Place
• 7pm: SOLD OUT Studio to Stage Showcase at Joy of Motion/Friendship Heights

danceDC Weekend Event Guide 2/5-2/6

If you’re in Baltimore this weekend, support Baltimore Dance Crews Project by attending their February Community Dance Workshop. Also show your love for Culture Shock DC at their Speed Dating Fundraiser tomorrow at Ulah Bistro on U Street. I’ll be at dance class Saturday then watching No Strings Attached. Judge all you want, but you know you want to see it! And now I leave you with some dance news you can use:

Unevenlane performs at Dance Place this weekend

Fresh Produce Festival of Live Art kicks off tonight 8pm at the fridge. Contradiction Dance will be performing.

Dhoonya Dance auditions that were scheduled for Tuesday, February 1st were canceled due to the weather. They have been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 8th. E-mail info@dhoonyadance.com for details.

Tickets are now on sale for INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival. Dance performers include Coyaba Dance Theater, Urban Artistry, DCypher, Furia Flamenca, Jane Franklin Dance, Step Afrika! and more.

Saturday, February 5th

• 12:30pm-4:30pm: Baltimore Dance Crews Project February Community Dance Workshops at Patterson Park Public Charter School (Baltimore)
• 1:30pm: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at The Kennedy Center
• 2pm: Ballet 360 presents Beyond the Steps II at The Kennedy Center
• 2pm-5pm: Culture Shock DC Speed Dating Fundraiser at Ulah Bistro
• 4pm, 7pm: Sharna Fabiano Tango Company presents Abrazo at Sidney Harman Hall
• 6pm-7:30pm: Joy of Motion Youth Dance Ensemble Open House at Joy of Motion/Friendship Heights
• 7:30pm: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at The Kennedy Center
• 8pm: Daniel Burkholder/The Playground presents Ad Libitum at Joe’s Movement Emporium (Mt. Rainier)
• 8pm: Unevenlane at Dance Place

Sunday, February 6th

• 1:30pm: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at The Kennedy Center
• 4pm: Unevenlane at Dance Place
• 4pm, 7pm: Sharna Fabiano Tango Company presents Abrazo at Sidney Harman Hall

Culture Shock DC Season 9 Auditions

Culture Shock DC held Season 9 Auditions at the CityDance Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland yesterday afternoon. If you don’t know about Culture Shock Dance Troupe, they are a network of nonprofit hip hop organizations with dance companies in San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, Canada and DC. I’ve taken Culture Shock DC class a few times, but this was my first time auditioning.

The registration process took place in the room next door to where they held auditions. Dancers lined up to sign in, pay the $5 audition fee and to receive their registration forms. The form was pretty standard with questions about your dance background, availability and reason for auditioning. Once completed, the form was handed in and they took a picture of you with your audition number.

Chris Law of Culture Shock DC and GnC Crew led warm ups in the same room as registration then we moved over to the larger studio next door to learn the audition choreography. The former and current artistic directors of Culture Shock DC taught eight 8 counts of choreography to Usher’s “Monstar” – an ambitious amount to learn in only 45 minutes. Luckily, dancers were given the opportunity to practice on their own before they called in groups of five to perform for the panel of judges.

After everyone performed the choreography in groups of five, they had a freestyle section. Dancers were grouped by style so they could dance to music that was most appropriate for the movement. Bboys and girls started off the freestyle section, followed by lockers, poppers, krumpers and finally waacking, house and vogue dancers.

After the freestyle section, they made their first round of cuts. Numbers were called and these dancers were invited to perform the choreography from the first section again. Unlike the first round of choreography, this part of the audition was open to all dancers so you had a much larger audience than last time. It was hard not to clap for the dancers after they finished the routine, but the judges asked us not to so most people were waving their hands in the air to show their support.

To everyone who auditioned, good luck and great job. Thank you also to Culture Shock DC for a fun day of dancing. For more information about the organization, visit their website at www.cultureshockdance.org, Like the Culture Shock Dance Troupe – Washington DC fan page on Facebook or follow @CultureShockDC on Twitter.

danceDC Weekend Event Guide 12/11-12/12

I’m finally back in DC after a couple weeks of traveling and ready to start dancing again. Tomorrow, I’m hopefully catching a ride to Baltimore for Baltimore Dance Crews Project Community Workshop Dance 4 B’more. Anna Jung of GnC Crew, Andrew Ton and Chris Munar will be teaching class. Only $3 for the day! Sunday, I’ll be checking out the scene at the Culture Shock DC Season 9 Auditions at the CityDance Center in Strathmore. I’m excited to see what the process is like, but bummed that it’s all day so can’t make it to any of Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company’s performances at the Corcoran. If you’re able to go, let me know how amazing it was. Apparently Paul McCartney was there last week to see them. Also I’ll be posting a note about where you can see The Nutcracker in the DMV so look out for that soon. Keep dancing!

Saturday, December 11^th

• 10:30am-2pm: Dance 4 B’more presented by the Baltimore Dance Crews Project at Baltimore Freedom Academy
• 1pm: Silk Road Dance Company presents Living Legacy: Women’s Clothing and Dance from Uzbekistan at the Textile Museum
• 4:30pm-6pm: Dance & Drum Holiday Improv Jam at Joy of Motion/Friendship Heights
• 7pm: Dance Asia Colors! Showcase at Thomas Jefferson Auditorium (Arlington)
• 8pm: Dance Theater Choreography by Nancy Havlik at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
• 8pm: DCypher Dance Mid-Year Showcase at Atlas Performing Arts Center
• 8pm: Eureka Dance Festival at Dance Place

Sunday, December 12^th

• 10am-3pm: Chloe & Maud Productions presents Tap into the Holidays at DC Dance Collective
• 11:30am-6pm: Culture Shock Season 9 Auditions at Strathmore (Bethesda)
• 11:30am, 1pm & 2:30pm: Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company presents America’s Cloud at the Corcoran
• 2:30pm-4pm: Capitol Dance Ensemble Audition at Princess Mhoon Dance Institute
• 3pm: Dance Theater Choreography by Nancy Havlik at Woolly Mammoth Theatre
• 4pm: Eureka Dance Festival at Dance Place
• 4pm: SOLD OUT Joy of Motion Fall Youth Companies Concert at Atlas Performing Arts Center
• 4pm: Youth Showcase at Joe’s Movement Emporium (Mount Rainier)
• 4pm-7pm: Teaching Dance with the Brain in Mind at Joy of Motion/Bethesda