Debbie Allen is teaming up with choreographer JaQuel Knight and a long list of famous friends. Together they will host Dance To The Music, a 12-hour digital dance-a-thon. The livestream runs on Saturday, June 13, 2020, from noon to midnight Pacific time. It will stream on Allen’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
The goal is to raise money for dancers, choreographers and dance teachers whose work stopped because of COVID-19. Allen said dancers seem overlooked in the economic crisis, so she wants to change that. Dance and the arts were left off lists of vital industries, she noted, even though they bring joy and hope.
What viewers will see
The program mixes impromptu performances and celebrity talks with classes, studio spotlights and DJ sets. Announced guests include Dolly Parton, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ellen Pompeo and Billy Porter. From the dance world, Misty Copeland, Mia Michaels and Savion Glover are on the bill. The Rockettes and New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck will also appear.
Dance studios can take part too. If a studio hosts the biggest digital watch party for its students, it wins magazine subscriptions from Dance Media. That studio also gets recognition at the Dance Teacher Magazine Awards.
The Debbie Allen Dance Academy and the JaQuel Knight Foundation present the event. Dance Media, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation are also presenters. Money raised will go to a group of nonprofits:
- The Actors Fund and Career Transition For Dancers.
- The International Association of Blacks in Dance.
- The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science.
- Dance Resource Center and Dance/USA.
- Debbie Allen Dance Academy and the JaQuel Knight Foundation’s Dancers’ Relief Fund.
- National Dance Education Organization and the NYC Dancers Relief Fund.
Allen began holding dance classes on Instagram in March, after the shutdowns started. She hopes the dance-a-thon brings energy and light to dancers while connecting them around the world.
