about dance anywhere®

Thank you to everyone who participated in dance anywhere® from 2005 to 2016.

Over the span of the event, dancers performed simultaneously in 7 continents, 66 countries and more than 714 cities.

What if there was a public celebration of dance everywhere, around the world, simultaneously? What if, in one moment, the whole world started dancing?

Everyone is invited!

dance anywhere® is a simultaneous worldwide public art performance and we want YOU to join us!

Since 2005, people of all ages and artistic capacities have made dances in parks, museums, street corners, schools, work places, community centers, offices, and just about anywhere you can imagine. Participants have been professional dancers and artists, plumbers, doctors, soccer players, teachers and politicians. Some dances are choreographed, some are improvised, and some stretch the definition of what dance is.
We hope you will participate on Friday, March 18, 2016 at noon CA, 3pm NY: click here for your time) for the 12th year of dance anywhere!

Where will you be?

At work? Taking a lunch break? In class? Running an errand? In line at the bank? The library? The grocery store? Walking the dog in the park?… Perfect! Your participation doesn't need to be an event you plan months in advance! … Tap your foot, do a little jig, bob your head… You have our permission. And you will be joined by thousands around the world. Get together with your friends, family, colleagues or strangers on the street - wherever you will be - and have some fun!

the mission of dance anywhere®

  • reconsider the definition of art, public space, and community
  • make art accessible to more people
  • find common ground we can share
  • inspire creativity 
  • Artist Beth Fein originally conceived the idea in an effort to acknowledge dance practice (rehearsal, class, etc) as an art form, that formal performances are only a part of dance, that the less observed dance practice is also an art form. As a dancer and visual artist, Fein has continued to develop this original concept to not only blur the line between art practice and art, but to dissolve the line that often separates art and dance from our daily lives. This is dance that transforms our familiar and ordinary locations.

    To learn more about Beth Fein and her dance and visual arts practice visit www.bethfein.com.

    Thank you to our wonderfull hosts who have opened their doors to dance: 

    Yerba Center for the Arts

    Yerba Buena Gardens
    San Francisco Public Library
    SFMOMA
    Berkeley Art Center
    Oakland Museum of California
    SFJazz



    Every year dance anywhere gives us the opportunity to connect with… colleagues at work, family, acquaintances & those we don’t even know creating a new form of communication... This year 15 people at MCCLA danced with the idea of opening a door to better communication among ourselves. Thank you dance anywhere! Adrian Arias / Mission Cultural Center
    To dance is to let beauty, the love of the world, manifest itself and flow, like water, through you... Steven R. Holloway / artist
    It is a moment in time to connect with others through dance. We might not be in the same place, doing the same dance, but we are (at the same time) putting dance out there for all, for one, for oneself to see and feel and become.

    I love the idea of being part of this moment in time, connected to others by movement. Josie Alvite
    I am very excited to participate in Dance Anywhere simultaneously from Leipzig, Germany, and in San Francisco. I think getting work out of the confines of traditional performances spaces is both thrilling and necessary. Alex Ketley
    I find the invitation to dance anywhere® is irresistible… dance synchronized across the globe is a collaborative connection that has become an annual rite for me. Susan Wolf, artist

    Zaza Dance Theatre/photo: Ruth Shapiro

    Axis Dance Company / photo: Ron Saunders

    Photo: Alfonso Arzapalo