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Teen
Urban Dance
is a
community service project to offer urban dance
performances, workshops, dances and competitions for
Tacoma teenagers. Urban dance includes hip hop, step,
break, krump, pop, freestyle, strollin’ and funk dance
styles popular in today’s teen culture. Dance
activities give young people common ground to socialize
and support one another aside from academics and sports.
This
project, referred to as TUD, is supported by
Action
Dance Academy
in an effort to meet the needs of teens interested in
dance. Although Action Dance offers partial and
complete scholarships to cover the cost of classes the
demand is much greater than the available funds. The
first Action Dance School was founded on Main St in
Sumner, WA in 1984 under the direction of Ilauna
Gamlieli. Action Dance Academy is now under the
direction of Jacob Rodvelt-Gamlieli with two campuses in
Tacoma and Gig Harbor.
Life
Center
shares the outreach mission of Teen Urban Dance and will
host the kick off performance January 30th, 7
pm, at 1717 S Union Street. TUD will introduce local
dance artists and performances by Tacoma dance crews
including Mysterious Kutz, Wilson Flame, Ill Matics, T
Gals Plus One, Non-Fiction, Identity, Id and many more.
Middle
schools and high schools in the
Tacoma
School District
have an
opportunity to learn about TUD in their first assembly
in 2009. A 2 minute DVD presentation promotes the
project along with a performance of the school’s dance
team or a crew brought by TUD. Tickets for the January
30th performance and the scheduled Crew Nights will be
available for free (or $2 at the door) at schools, Life
Center and Action Dance.
TUD
will host
Crew
Nights
for
dances featuring dance crews from 8-11 pm at high school
locations- TBD. Workshops
will be
offered at Action Dance (1010 S 30th St) for
individuals to learn skills to build routines. Groups
of students will be encouraged to form crews to perform
at a Crew Night and possibly at a competition.
Workshops are free with pre-registration and waiver.
Competitions
are
supported by TUD for those students interested in this
kind of dance recognition. Some competitions include
Winterfest, All City Step, Northwest Stompfest and
Spring Bling.
Metro
Parks
is planning a summer dance competition which we will be
a part of.
Activities the size and nature planned by Teen Urban
Dance require collaboration and partnership.
The
Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
is the
fiscal sponsor of TUD and the
Tacoma
Arts Commission
is one
of the financial sponsors. Donations are welcomed and
checks should be made out to the foundation which is a
non-profit organization.
Workshop dates
are
Feb 20, 27; Mar 13, 20; Apr 10, 24; May 1, 22; Jun
2, 26; Sep-Dec TBD
Crew
Nights
are
scheduled for Feb 28, Mar 21, Apr 25, May 23, Jun 28 and
others TBD
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