Get your dancing shoes on because on Friday, August 9, at 5 pm in Ocean Park, you can dance with the world-renowned Dance Theater of Harlem (DTH) at their free community event, Dancing in the Streets. The public will participate in the fun and personal expression of an old-style Soul Train line pulling from pieces in the company’s repertoire.
The event is a collaboration of DTH, the Yard, and Oak Bluffs library. Yvonne Mendez, the Yard’s programming director, shares that it began when DTH chief executive officer Anna Glass reached out about doing programs together when they would be on the Vineyard.
“Anna said that they have this really fun, interactive program where you just grab people passing by and have them learn our steps to do a Soul Train line,” Mendez says. “I was excited about it, but the question was, how do we present it where there is a place with lots of people.”
She thought of Ocean Park and reached out to Oak Bluffs library programming coordinator Amy K. Nelson, who was excited about helping to secure the location. “For the Yard, it’s really exciting because it’s such a high-profile spot, and there are so many people from all over that it’s great to have some visibility there and to be able to engage folks in this iconic space,” Mendez explains.
Fatima Jones, DTH’s chief marketing officer, adds, “Wherever we go, we try to interact with the community. The DNA of this company is that dance is for everyone, every ‘body,’ so being able to do Dancing in the Streets is exactly the type of project we like to do to accompany what we do in various cities.”
“The collaboration was quite seamless,” Nelson says. “It just came together naturally. Dance Theater of Harlem’s ethos that dance should be for all is why this is such a natural collaboration for the library since that is what we stand for. We are free and open to all.”
She continues, “In this time, it is so beautiful to create true connection. I hope people leave feeling joy and closeness with their community and that we send a message that events like this are crucial when it comes to offering free spaces for the arts.”
“And for folks to be touched and to see that there is a place for them in the arts,” Mendez adds.
Jones agrees: “The arts can really open your mind and bring things together when the world is a bit scary and divisive. When the arts do their job, they open hearts and minds and bring people together.”
Dancing in the Streets on Friday, August 9, at 5 pm, is free and open to the public. (No registration required.) DTH will also teach master classes at the Vineyard Arts Project from Thursday, August 8, through Saturday, August 10, at 11 am for intermediate and advanced students ages 16 and up. For more information about the event and the three master classes, visit dancetheyard.org/dance-theatre-of-harlem.
