A DNC-themed dance party kicks off Philadelphia Dance Day

This year, Philadelphia Dance Day (our incarnation of the National Dance Day festival), in addition to free workshops all over the city, will include a post-Democratic National Convention dance party at Headhouse Shambles on July 29.

National Dance Day goes back six years thanks to Nigel Lythgoe, co-founder of Dizzy Feet Foundation and co-creator of the reality TV competition phenom So You Think You Can Dance. This unofficial national holiday was endorsed with a resolution from US Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, “to promote dance education and physical fitness.”

This nationwide celebration of dance falls on the last Saturday of July each year. Philadelphia Dance Day will feature dance workshops (most of them free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis) for all ages, spanning genres from tap, ballet, hip hop, salsa, and bellydancing to “Bollywood Blast” and more (here’s the full schedule).

National Dance Day and its Philly festival will be on Saturday, July 30, and the night before, South Street Headhouse District will partner with the Society Hill Dance Academy to kick things off with an all-ages Post-DNC Dance Party Under the Shambles.

The free rain-or-shine event will feature food and drink vendors and live jazz from the Blackbird Society Orchestra. Attendees will have the chance to donate to local charities including Project Home and the Philadelphia Dance Foundation.

The Post-DNC Dance Party Under the Shambles is coming to Headhouse Shambles on Pine and 2nd Streets from 7-10pm on Friday, July 29. The event is free and open to the public.