Kern Dance Alliance - National Dance Day 2022

KDA hosted a National Dance Day celebration on Saturday, September 17, 2022 from 9:00 am - 6:00 pm. The 9-hour dance convention offered $5 classes, workshops, and seminars taught by local, national, and internationally renowned artists at Mechanics Bank Arena, Theater & Convention Center. National Dance Day 2022 was focused on celebrating movers of all ages, levels, and experiences by commemorating a day meant to inspire all walks of life to keep moving. The event also featured a vendor marketplace that was open to the public focused on health, wellness, the arts, and promoting an improved quality of life.
The KDA National Dance Day offered 34 beginning to advanced classes for children through adults ranging from hula to line dance, hip hop to swing dance, and ballet to tap dance. Taught by 26 Kern County dance instructors, as well as 6 celebrity dance artists representing many of America’s finest dance institutions including American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer - Calvin Royal III, award-winning performing artist - Lil Buck, and USC Kaufman School of Dance Faculty - Saleemah Knight, the event offered the Kern County community an opportunity to try a dance class for the first time or advance a dancer’s technique by training with today’s most revered instructors.
KDA saw many tears of joy from our community during the event. The stories ranged from people stating that they had not felt this much happiness in nearly two years to feeling that they finally “belonged” to a community that they had been seeking so desperately since the pandemic. Most were simply grateful that they could dance and move their bodies without pressure with celebrities like Lil Buck and Calvin Royal III and others could not believe that they could dance all day for only $5 a class. As the day went on, it became very clear that our event was not only celebrating dance across America, but that it was also therapy for the attendees.
One of the greatest sentiments came from Mr. Nigel Lythgoe (the creator of National Dance Day, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, etc.). Mr. Lythgoe provided a live interview on our local Fox network on Friday morning and also sent over a personalized video that we shared during our event. We sent him an email thanking him for his support and he sent back an email acknowledging that he was wonderfully impressed with the Bakersfield event/line up and that he hoped other American cities would emulate the KDA National Dance Day model in the future.
A very special thank you to the 2022 National Dance Day Instructors:
Nesi Sheldon
Callie Jenkins
Myka Steele
ABT Principal Dancer - Calvin Royal III
Sydnee Johanesen
Arache’ Colter
Sharida Rejon
Andrew Rosales
Lil Buck
Crista McClain
Marnie Forzetting
Wendy Wisheropp-Brice
Victoria Marchetti
Naomi Rivera
Kristen McLaughlin
Suze DeArmond
Desmond Ramey
Brushay Taylor
Luther Gray
David Moreno
Brenlea Smith
University of Arizona School of Dance Assistant Professor - Christopher Compton
Breanne Oaks
Joel Hoffman
University of Arizona School of Dance Professor Emeritus - Dr. Suzanne Knosp
Megan Furse
Anais Cordebard
Dance Camera West Executive Director - Kelly Hargraves
USC Kaufman School of Dance Faculty - Saleemah E. Knight
National Dance Day 2022 was generously sponsored by KGET - Channel 17, Stockdale Podiatry Group, Stria, Hansen’s Moving and Storage, Poise Pilates and Barre, March Consulting, Unsomnia Massage, McCaan Family Chiropractic, LVL Fitness, Discount Dance, and Bodywrappers.
KDA is already planning National Dance Day 2023. Stay tuned for more information! www.kerndance.org/DANCEDAY