National Dance Day Comes to Stamford

On Saturday, communities around the country will gather to celebrate the second annual National Dance Day, hosted by the Dizzy Feet Foundation and FOX’s "So You Think You Can Dance” (SYTYCD).

Recognized by Congress last year, National Dance Day seeks to bring awareness to health and wellness issues, as well as encourage everyone to get up and dance. The Dizzy Feet Foundation, founded by SYTYCD producer Nigel Lythgoe and director Adam Shankman, "Dancing with the Stars" judge Carrie Ann Inaba, and actress Katie Holmes, works to help underprivileged young people to realize their dreams of becoming dancers.

This year, National Dance Day participants will gather at Six Flags theme parks, as well as in other locations around the country. Here in Fairfield County, is hosting a free National Dance Day event downtown.

“The idea is for it to become a big event to promote health and the joy of dance,” Kristen Hallett Rzasa, a Norwalk resident and the owner of Jazzercise of Southwestern Connecticut, told Patch. “I’ve owned a Jazzercise franchise for 21 years and a lot of times people will say they have two left feet. It’s hard to get them through the door. We want to get them moving and saying, “I can do this.””

Dancers will gather on the lawn of the , at the corner of Bedford Street and Third. They are encouraged to arrive early to sign up and to bring their comfortable shoes and a bottle of water.  All ages are welcome on Saturday and, in the spirit of National Dance Day and of Jazzercise, no prior dance experience is necessary.

“[Jazzercise's founder] Judi Sheppard Missett heard people saying that dance classes were too challenging, so she created Jazzercise — it was dancing for fun rather than dancing so you can go on “So You Think You Can Dance,”” Rzasa said.

Participants can choose from three dances in different genres and levels of difficulty. Rzasa will teach the dances on Saturday based on the skill levels of the crowd that shows up — all three routines, or just the beginner and intermediate dances. For this year's event, Mary Murphy, a regular judge on “So You Think You Can Dance,” choreographed a simple salsa routine.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re six years old or 60 — Dance Day is for everyone,” Murphy proclaims at the start of her video.

For participants looking for a more challenging routine, Robin Antin, best known as founder of the Pussycat Dolls, choreographed an intermediate level dance. Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo, choreographers frequently featured on “So You Think You Can Dance” — put together this year’s advanced routine, a hip hop dance for people with some background in dance.

The beginners’ dance will start at 11 am, intermediate at 11:30, and advanced at noon — at 12:30, all participants will dance again for a final mini-performance.

“Our competition is the couch really,” Rzasa said. “We want people to do something they love to stay healthy.”

Rzasa just returned from China where she taught dance in rural schools as part of a group from Yale Alumni Service Corp.

“There was a lot of pointing and miming,” Rzasa said. “It showed me that everyone can dance, you don’t even have to speak the same language.”

The three dances for National Dance Day can be viewed on the Dizzy Feet Foundation’s website.