International Dance Day 2014

Movers and groovers around the world are celebrating International Dance Day today, April 29, with unique and creative festivals, parties, and performances.

 

First introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute, this special day was created to recognize and applaud dance in all its forms – from social dance to stage dance to street dance and everything in between. Fittingly, it commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, an 18th century choreographer who brought about sweeping changes in the world of classic ballet.

 

Here in Canada, dancers and dance-enthusiasts alike always find fun and innovative ways to celebrate International Dance Day. Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS) is one such organization that pulls out all the punches through blockbuster flash mobs staged in and around Toronto. Inspired by their efforts on this special day, we’re sharing our favourite flash mobs that have really given us cause to smile.

 

To kick things off, NBS made big waves with this Feist-themed flash mob in Toronto’s Eaton Centre in 2010 to celebrate International Dance Day and the school’s 50th anniversary.

 

 

More recently, whose heart didn’t melt when they saw this touching performance – and brilliant marketing strategy – from WestJet during the 2012 holiday season?

 

 

Keeping with the theme of inventive and out-of-the-box marketing ideas, we loved the T-Mobile Liverpool Street Station dance-off from 2009, but perhaps even more touching was the somewhat lesser known T-Mobile Heathrow Terminal concert from 2010.

 

 

Finally to cap things off, here’s our favourite anti-dance flash mob – the world’s “biggest freeze” from Paris, 2008.

 

 

Categories: Musings