World Dance Day message from the International Dance Council CID, 29 April 2011

For the greater part of the history of mankind, dance took place outdoors. People would gather in forest glades, village squares, churchyards, or on threshing floors, to enjoy dancing for hours on end. Nowadays, dance mostly takes place in ballrooms, clubs, theatres, school halls, studios and discotheques.

This year we propose making a step back towards nature by celebrating World Dance Day in open spaces: streets, squares, parks, stadiums, beaches, parking lots, clearings - anywhere under the sky.

The urge to dance is a natural impulse; dancers worship nature in their way, connecting with the universe and feeling its juices flow into them.

All through the year we teach dance, we rehearse, we perform within four walls. On this special day dedicated to dance, let us mark the difference by practising, teaching or performing for everyone to see. It might be cold and rainy, the floor is certainly not good enough, and the wind takes the music away, but the beauty in those movements and the joy on those faces will brighten the hearts of the spontaneous audience of passers-by.

Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
UNESCO, Paris