Accent Dance NYC Brings Global Dance Ensemble to Pelham

Accent Dance NYC, an education and performance initiative that champions learning and communication through dance, presents Let’s Dance: The 2019 Accent Dance NYC Benefit and Performance the at Picture House on September 21stin Pelham, New York. Having served more than 1,000 school-aged children in their inaugural year, the evening will secure funds to continue to bring dance education into underserved communities and school districts, while introducing the local community to the professional dancers and teaching artists of Accent Dance NYC with a versatile program of ballet, contemporary, tango, hip hop, audience participation, and more.

Led by a team of multicultural and multi-disciplinary teaching and professional performance artists from the U.S., Cuba, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Haiti and beyond, Accent Dance NYC has developed a rich and curated dance education curriculum for students as well as high-level educational lecture demonstrations. By cleverly combining elements of ballet, hip hop, salsa, jazz, and tango, the organization’s programming connects each dance style to themes of history, multiculturalism, literacy, self-discipline, creativity, local pride, and mutual respect. Accent Dance NYC has served over 10 schools and local arts organizations since its inception last year: PS 87, PS 23, PS 33, PS 226, PS 246, PS 46, Mott Haven High School, the Poe Visitor Center, and the Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education in the Bronx, and also has performed at the Bronx Music Heritage Center, the Poe Visitor Center, and as part of the Summer Streets Festival in Manhattan sponsored by the NYC Department of Transportation. With students ranging from 3rdthrough 12thgrade, each child is engaged in a creative, compassionate, and hands-on experience, devoted to inspiring, enlightening and empowering them both inside the classroom and out.

An evening program that spotlights the versatile talents of the Accent Dance NYC ensemble, audiences will enjoy a mixed bill of ballet, tango, hip hop and more, while meeting select students from the organization’s spring semester at the Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, displaying its mission at work. The evening also will host a silent auction and light refreshments.

“This first year has been a wonderful window into the potential of what Accent Dance NYC can do for the community,” explains Andrea Ziegelman, founder and President of Accent Dance NYC. “We have met students from all corners of the globe and witnessed incredible growth in each child through the power of dance. We know dance builds bridges, increases self-confidence, builds soft skills, improves teamwork, inspires creative thinking, and even helps to improve grades in school. To be able to expand our outreach to more schools and communities in the coming years through successful fundraising means more students experiencing the joy and positive impacts of exposure to dance education.”

Works from Marius Petipa, Dardo Galletto, Mara Driscoll and Richard Isaac, Lucia Jackson, Elisa Toro Franky and Pedro Ruiz will be performed.

Let’s Dance: The 2019 Accent Dance NYC Benefit and Performancewill take place on Saturday, September 21 at 7:30 p.m. at The Pelham Picture House located at 175 Wolfs Lane in Pelham, New York.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at https://thepicturehouse.org/show/2019-accent-dance-nyc-benefit-performance. All tickets include light fare and a wine toast.