National Dance Day!

National Dance Day is an exciting celebration that started in 2010, thanks to the passion and vision of American Dance Movement co-founder Nigel Lythgoe and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Every year, people of all ages from coast to coast are invited to get moving and experience the pure joy of dance! The American Dance Movement is all about bringing people together, supporting health and well-being, and helping everyone connect mind and body through the magic of movement. National Dance Day takes place on the third Saturday in September and celebrates every style of dance you can imagine. Each year, the American Dance Movement releases an official routine created by top choreographers to make dance fun, easy, and welcoming for everyone. The best part? The tutorial is just a starting point. You can dive in and learn the routine on your own or grab your friends and family to join the fun—then show off your moves by sharing your videos online! Want even more excitement? Join interactive events happening all across the country on Saturday, September 20, at amazing places like The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, and Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. There’s something for everyone to enjoy!

I thought it would be cool to hear how dance has affected and inspired  some of MCCA’s Alumni. 

Christina Davis, MCCA Alumini Staff & Student 2014-2023

“Dance challenges me to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself. I love how it has helped me connect with new people, especially at MCCA where I was able to learn in a safe environment. What inspires me most about dance is when I see others grow, challenge themselves, and achieve their goals after working so hard in classes.”

Ms. Jessica Grapes, MCCA Staff

“Dance has been part of me since I was 4 years old, and I’ve never stopped. As an adult, it still runs through everything I do. I tap dance through grocery stores. I choreograph in my head every time a good song comes on (which is basically all the time). Dance is in my bones, and it’s even the reason I became a teacher. I honestly can’t imagine life without it!”

Maddie Bohrer Ervin, MCCA Staff Alumni 2014 - 2016

“Dance has been a part of my life for over 25 years and being a dancer is an identity I hold so dearly and proudly. The expression, the creativity, the movement - they all mean so much to me, and I can’t imagine my life without dance.”

Madalyn Cornwell, MCCA Alumni Class of ‘22

“Dance has influenced me in so many ways. It taught me the importance of coming prepared for everything in life, even the smallest of things. It taught me to make sure to always support those around me, have patience, and enjoy the music. It also brought me some lifelong friends, and for that, I am forever grateful.”

Karlee Witherite, MCCA Alumni Class of 2021

“Dance has been my constant since I was two: my confidence, my stress reliever, my joy, and my identity. It has shaped who I am today.”

Krysten Gutrich, MCCA Staff 2016-2017

“Dance has helped me not take life so seriously. It helped me to locate my inner child and allow her to coexist with me even as I’ve gotten older. Dance has inspired me to not make myself smaller to fit in any societal box and that I can be multifaceted. Sure I can perform but I can also produce, write, design and anything else I put my mind to. Dance reminded me that the first form of therapy we all learn is through movement. So even now as I don’t formally dance as much, when life is beating me up or just not as fair I refer to what has always healed me: movement♥️”

Kayla Hoover, MCCA Alumni Class of 2019

“Dance has been the single most influential thing in my life. Every single hour spent in the studio has paid dividends of joy, success, skill and love that I’d be lost without. It’s always there to guide me home. And for that, I’m eternally grateful.”

Ms. Jamie, MCCA Staff

Dance has been a part of my life since I was four years old, and I have loved it from the start. I did not realize until I was a teenager how it meant so much more to me than just a pastime. It was an outlet, a way of sharing my story—my joys, happiness, pain, anger, and even trauma—and allowed me to process in my own way when words were not my strong suit. Throughout my adult life, there have been moments when I thought it was time for dance and me to part ways, but the universe would very loudly say, “No, ma’am. Keep dancing.” It is my calm, my happiness, my meditation. I have been blessed to create a life of dance, learning and moving with amazing people and being inspired by so many while inspiring others.