Explore Folk and Traditional Arts at the
5th Annual Dance DC Festival
Featuring Live Music!

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities will present its 5th annual Dance DC Festival on September 26 – 28, 2008. The Festival celebrates the vitality of folk and traditional performers in Washington, DC and introduces audiences to distinctive and culturally diverse music and dance expressions. Artist will come alive at venues around the city in over 60 free performances and interactive workshops, including hand dance, go-go, belly dance, classical Indian music, and Asian dance. This 3-day festival is free and open to the public. For a complete listing of events and locations call 202-724-5613 or visit http://dcarts.dc.gov or www.dancedcfestival.org.

The Dance DC Festival’s opening night performances and reception entitled “Carnaval Folklorico” is Friday, September 26th at the National Music Center at 801 K St, NW, 5:30 pm (see attached document for a complete schedule). Many of this year’s performances will feature open dance floors for the public to join right in! During its rich history, the Dance DC Festival has celebrated and fostered appreciation for the diverse cultural communities in the District of Columbia, through an annual performance season of dance styles that have included traditional classical dance, sacred dance genres, vernacular dance forms, social dance and folk dance pre-sentations. For the first time in Dance DC Festival’s rich history this year’s festival has been expanded to include live folk and traditional music for the first time!

The Festival has presented over 2,000 dancers, with dancers from community groups performing alongside internationally recognized professionals, students beside masters, and cultural groups as different from various cultures. The Festival performers are selected through and application process that is judged by a peer committee of artist with backgrounds in folk and traditional art forms. Participants in the field come from varied socioeconomic backgrounds and represent a broad range of occupations
and lifestyles.

Background: Since 1968, the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities has developed and promoted local artists, organizations, and activities as part of its mission to enrich the quality of life of the people of Washington. Dance DC Festival was founded to present the diverse ethnic dance companies in the District
of Columbia Area. Over the years, the Festival has expanded its reach to include performers from throughout and has presented over 200 dance companies
from over 60 different genres.