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. Admittance will be first come, first served, so we recommend that you arrive early to ensure that you will have a spot. You may sign in for a workshop up to 15 minutes before the class begins. Students may not sign in for multiple workshops in a row to ensure that new dancers who arrive also get a chance to join in. However, if space permits, you are absolutely welcome (and encouraged!) to take several consecutive classes at the same venue.
A volunteer will be monitoring check-in and capacity at each location. Space can sometimes get tight at Major Moment (capacity: 30), however, we do not anticipate having any trouble accommodating dancers at Headlong Studios or the Ethical Society, where the evening events will also occur.
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 barre or ballet 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 and given a wristband before attending the workshops. Once you’ve signed the waiver, you only need to put down the last three digits of your wristband when you sign into subsequent workshops. Please keep the wristband on all day.
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 likely sweat. It happens to the best of us.
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 also some specifically for kids. A few others are open to all ages and children are welcome to attend:
- Creative Dance
- Zumba for Kids
- Intro to Hip-Hop
- Sh’Bam, Body Jam and Zumba: these three cardio programs are designed to be accessible to all dance levels and abilities. Children as well as adults will get an exhilarating workout.
- The hip-hop/cardio pop master class at the Ethical Society. Some choreography is more advanced, but the music will be suitable for dancers of all ages.
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 more difficult closer to Rittenhouse Square, however, you can sometimes get lucky finding spots on the weekend. Parking at a garage in Center City can range from $10 to $25.
Those attending the evening events at the Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square should note that EZ Park and Central Parking operate several lots within a half mile of the Ethical Society Building. You can print a coupon for discounted weekend rates at a few of the Central Parking lots.
All of the workshops offered before 5 p.m. are completely FREE. To attend any of the evening events held at the Ethical Society, there is a one-time $5 donation requested. This fee helps cover the cost of the volunteer-run event, which includes renting venues, printing promotional materials and purchasing snacks for participants.
Yes. The first “National Dance Day” was held in 2010 and has continued ever since on the last Saturday of July. After the 2017 Philadelphia Dance Day, the next event will take place on July 28, 2018. 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.