Dance Day has been established in view of attracting attention to the art of dance. On the 29th of April, as every year since 1982, Dance Day will be celebrated all over the world by the international community of dancers and dance enthusiasts. Sanspointe is joining with Fuzion' Dance Artists and Children's Dance Foundation to participate in or host an event in and around Birmingham each day, April 22-April 29 in celebration. Stay tuned for a list of those activities, performances and lecture demonstrations that will be free and open to the public.The official message for Dance Day29 April 2009The future of dance lies where there are persons who do not dance. These belong to two categories: those who simply did not learn, and those who think that they are not able to dance. They represent the greatest challenge for the dance teacher's profession.
In line with UNESCO's struggle against prejudice and discrimination, we are trying to expand the boundaries of dance and to change the current perception of what a dancer is. Dance performances are not necessarily exhibitions of extreme physicality, accurate precision, or bursting emotion - they can be celebrations of interaction between performers. We can enrich dance concerts with dancers, singers, actors, narrators, mimes, acrobats etc., of all ages and all degrees of ability.
Bringing the 'excluded' into dance is a moral duty, but also opens a great door in times of economic crisis and unemployment. In every country there are millions of persons with physical or mental disabilities. We believe they are ready to dance. They will create jobs to thousands of dance teachers. They can be assisted by the Ministry of Health, whose budget is many times bigger than that of the Ministry of Culture. Integrating marginalized persons into the practice of dance is as important as integrating them into the workforce.
CID holds to the philosophy that everyone can dance. Dance Day 2009 is dedicated to inclusive dance. Let us include all members of society into our classes and our performances.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council
CIDUNESCO, Paris
www.unesco.org/ngo/cidhttp://www.cid-unesco.org/
Sarah, an assistant professor of dance at The University of Alabama, is setting a work on Sanspointe this spring for the first time (our ambitious goal is to set that work in 9 hours!). Growing up, Sarah was an “army brat” who never lived anywhere more than 4 years, with the shortest stint being 9 months in one spot. In high school her hair was every color of the rainbow, though not all at once. She married her high school sweetheart and last year they celebrated 10 years in Kauai. She has two lovely children, Aiden who turns 4 in May, and Keslyn who is now 16 months old. Sarah is really good at making Kraft mac n cheese and hot dogs, reading "The 
Very Busy Spider" by eric carle, and playing chase. She has a Pilates reformer in her house that she paid $50 for and has used approximately twice in the last 3 years (though she has really high hopes for several more uses in 2009). In addition to the kids, husband and reformer, she has a 130 pound dog named Jasper and 2 cats, Simon and Tyrone. Tyrone was named after the 6 fingered man in The Princess Bride (one of Sarah’s all time favorite movies) because he has 6 toes on his front paws. Sarah ha
s an intense love of water. “I think I am deeply influenced in my movement by the freedom and fluidity of water itself and the feelings of being in water (supported by the space around you and able to be “off center” with ease).” By: Shellie Chambers