Nope. Just show up, ready to dance (and in some cases, dressed to sweat!) HOWEVER, please note that there are space limitations at a few of the locations, and admittance will be first come, first served. We recommend that you arrive 5 to 10 minutes early to ensure that you will have a spot at the following venues:
- Major Moment Studio (capacity 40)
- Studio 1831 (capacity 25)
- Philly Premier Pole Dance (Capacity 32)
- Master J Moves (Capacity 30)
A volunteer will be monitoring check-in and capacity at each location. We only had a few workshops that exceeded capacity last year, but again, the best way to ensure your spot is to arrive on time, or even a little early. We do not anticipate having any trouble accommodating large crowds at the Ethical Society, where the evening events will occur, nor at the Arts Parlor or YMCA.
We recommend that you bring a bottle of water, though we will have extras available at some of the studios for 50 cents. Some people also like to bring a small sweat towel. If you have dance footwear, you should bring that, too:
- Ballet slippers are ideal for the ballet and balletEXTREME classes, however socks work fine if you don’t have them.
- Ballroom shoes, or heels for ladies and smooth-soled shoes for men for ballroom workshops (salsa, tango, etc)
- Dance sneakers are great for Zumba, Jazz, Hip-Hop, etc. Regular old sneakers will do the trick, too.
You will be asked to sign a waiver before attending the workshops. The YMCA requires a more extensive waiver so we recommend that you arrive a little earlier to those workshops to fill it out.
For the daytime workshops, you can’t go wrong in fitness attire. It’s July and you’ll be moving – so even though there’s air conditioning at all of the studios, you will probably sweat.
Partner dancing classes are much less strenuous, so streetwear (shorts/jeans and tshirts/tank tops, etc) is fine.
Most of the workshops are geared toward teens and adults, but there are some open to all ages and a few specifically designed for children:
- Kids’ Ballet at 10:45 a.m. For children ages 5-7.
- Beginner Hip-Hop at 3 p.m. Music and choreography will be suitable for dancers of all ages.
- Zumba Party at 5:30 p.m. Like the beginner hip-hop class, Zumba is designed to be accessible to all dance levels and abilities. Children as well as adults will get an exhilarating workout with plenty of “sabor.”
This, of course, is the issue with driving in the city. None of the studios have parking lots, which means you will need to find street parking or pay for a lot if you decide to drive. Parking will be most difficult closer to Rittenhouse Square and the Art Museum area, however, you can sometimes get lucky finding spots on the weekend.
Central Parking operates six lots that are within half a mile of the Ethical Society, where all the evening events will occur. The Ethical Society has discounted rates at the Parkway garage at 1845 Walnut Street and the EZ Park garage at 2101 Chestnut Street. Ask the volunteer at the door for the coupon. You can also print a coupon that will get you discounted weekend parking for a flat rate of $6-$10.
All of the workshops offered before 5:30 p.m. are completely FREE. To attend any of the events held at the Ethical Society, there is a one-time charge of $5. This fee helps cover the cost of the volunteer-run event, which includes renting venues, printing promotional materials and purchasing snacks and drinks for participants.
Yes. The first “National Dance Day” was held in 2010 and has continued ever since on the fourth Saturday of July. We’ll host the next “Philadelphia Dance Day” on July 26, 2014. All of the dance groups volunteering to lead classes during the event also run ongoing group classes year-round, so you can take whatever classes fit your schedule, any time! The logos on the home page of this site link to the websites of each group, where you can find their respective class schedules.
Did you know that there’s also an International Dance Day, usually held in April, and a National Tap Dance Day held on May 25 every year? And you can’t forget about “National Dance Like a Chicken Day,” on May 14.