Bodies were moving this past Friday in Ocean Park for a free community event called Dancing in the Street, where Islanders participated in an old-style Soul Train dance.
The world renowned Dance Theater of Harlem — in partnership with Oak Bluffs library and local dance group, the Yard — organized the event.
Fatima Jones, the Harlem group’s chief marketing officer, explained that wherever they go, they try to interact with the community they find themselves in.
“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,” Jones said in the same article.
Library programming coordinator Amy K. Nelson said that Dancing in the Streets was a big hit. “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,” Nelson said. Her hope was that people would leave the event feeling a sense of joy and connection, and feel that they have a place in the arts.
