SCOOP: National Dance Day at the Kennedy Center draws rave reviews: "In the darkest of times, the Kennedy Center reminds us that as we stand, dance or cry together, our unity is our strength"
National Dance Day took the Kennedy Center by storm, and attendees told the Washington Reporter that it embodied the best of what the prestigious arts center can offer under its new leadership.
The Kennedy Center drew spirited crowds of dancers across genres and skill levels eager to celebrate National Dance Day on Saturday September 20th.
“It’s a celebration of all things dance,” Estela Vélez de Paredez, the Artistic Director of Furia Flamenca, said. “There’s nothing like going out there to the community and just sharing it outright on a day like today.”
A sea of smiling amateurs boogied to the beat as professionals flocked the stages set up on the Kennedy Center’s Reach campus, including Vélez de Paredez’ Furia Flamenca — an award-winning dance company — that brings the ferocity and passion of flamenco from Southern Spain.
“We’ve had a long-standing relationship with the Kennedy Center dating back to more than a decade,” said explained. Vélez de Paredez also recalled one the most memorable performances dating back to 2010 in front of a packed crowd at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. “To step on that stage and to look out at that atrium and to say ‘my goodness, this is the grandiosity of the place that I’m at...this is like a national treasure and to be a part of that and contribute whatever little bit of art that I can bring to it and my dance to it is just an amazing opportunity.”
Since then, Furia Flamenca has performed at some of the most prestigious venues throughout the D.C. Metro area — including the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and Terrace Theater, the Lincoln Theatre, the National Theatre, Wolf Trap, the Baltimore Lyric Opera House, Publick Playhouse, and Alden Theatre, among others.
Ever since President Donald Trump took over leadership of the venue in February, calls to boycott the prestigious Kennedy Center appear to have fallen on deaf ears as the turnout on National Dance Day included dancers from all walks of life; from belly dance and flamenco to Irish step and powwow Zumba, the day brought together DMV communities through movement, music, and culture.
“What it means to me is being able to celebrate an art form and dance and bringing cultures together the enrichment of life experiences from all over the world — from local artists to national artists bringing everybody together,” Daniel Paredez, the Assistant Director of Furia Flamenca, said.
Just last weekend the Kennedy Center drew thousands of mourners to attend a memorial service and prayer vigil to honor the late Charlie Kirk. Lawmakers, Trump administration officials, and other dignitaries took the stage that dancers and performers alike built their careers on as they grappled with the tragic assassination.
"It's been a mixture of unspeakable sadness and grief and anger and even fear," Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), said, and added that “it's as if a dark shadow was cast over our country."
Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of the Office of National Intelligence (ODNI), brought our inevitable mortality into the question. “Ultimately, for every one of us, the time that we have in this world is temporary,” Gabbard said. “Our time will come sooner or later.”
"And so the critical question that we have for ourselves is whatever time we have, what are we doing with it? How are we making the most of every day that we have?" she continued.
The sight of blissful children on the Reach Lawn unabashedly celebrating life and adults alike exercising their First Amendment right lent credence to Gabbard’s question on National Dance Day.
One of the Kennedy Center’s self-described “avid supporters” told the Reporter that events like National Dance Day are exactly what they Kennedy Center should be doing more of.
“The Kennedy Center is restoring the best of American values by uplifting the community through light, art and freedom of expression,” Ramirez said. “In the darkest of times, the Kennedy Center reminds us that as we stand, dance or cry together, our unity is our strength.”
Vélez de Paredez reminded attendees that Flamenco itself was born from a time of oppression, much like the Blues in America, restoring the value that beauty can always be born from the raw expression of suffering if we choose to do so.
“Life is tough,” she reflected. “We all go through very difficult times in life, and it can throw some curveballs at you unexpected. And there is a dance, a rhythm, in flamenco that is made for that moment in your life, whether it's the happiest moment to the deepest of sorrows to everything in between, you can channel it. You become a better dancer as you go through life.”