May in New York City brings lots of tequila on Cinco de Mayo, tons of sailors during Fleet Week and plenty of parties to mark the unofficial start of summer over Memorial Day weekend.  For the past five years, May in Gotham also sends New Yorkers dancing in the street with Dance Parade New York.  If you missed the festivities that occurred on Saturday, May 21, there is still an opportunity to get your dance on in June.   The seventh season of National Dance Week – NYC begins June 15 with a kick-off event featuring choreographer Michelle Robinson leading a routine of more than 20 dancers at Union Square.  National Dance Week – NYC is an annual 10-day festival that enlists the support of well known dance studios and fitness centers throughout New York City in an effort to commemorate the beauty and variety of dance and offers free dance, fitness and wellness 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 and Yoga Works (Downtown).  To view the lists and schedules of studios, offerings and instructions, click on NDW-NYC’s website at www.ndw-nyc.org/free-classes.

The festival ends on June 26 with a special performance from Jacob Clemente who plays the lead role of Billy Elliot on Broadway. I suggest all New Yorkers put their dancing shoes on and get to stepping.  National Dance Week – NYC is a great way to experience the eclecticism of NYC’s dance scene.

Just in case you missed last month’s dance parade, check out the slideshow.

Slideshow:  Ronnie Ginnever, Brian Lin, Leonard Rosemarin and Jessica E. Stack