Kick Off Bay Area Dance Week With Free Classes and a Flash Mob

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Bay Area Dance Week, a 10-day celebration of dance featuring more than 600 free events, begins on Friday. And it's not just for folks who have been taking ballet since toddlerhood. Tons of fun (and fitness) filled events are lined up for anyone who's (maybe secretly) enjoyed doing the electric slide at a wedding. Yes, basically everyone.

Take the dance exercise program Rhythm and Motion, for example. They're kicking off Dance Week with One Dance, a flash mob in Union Square starting at noon sharp. Want to dance with them? All of the choreography is online, featuring our very own Hottest Trainer of 2013, Dudley Flores, who is also the artistic director and master trainer for Rhythm and Motion. If you start practicing now you have plenty of time to get up to speed. You can also practice the dance—which is a medley of the most iconic dance moves in the history of pop culture, ranging from the Charleston to Gangnam Style—at Rhythm and Motion classes this week. Check out who's teaching the dance here, and find them on the schedule here.

"Rhythm & Motion and Dancers' Group (the organization that organizes Bay Area Dance Week) wanted to create a dance that the general public could relate to and have fun with. Everyone, at some point in their life, has seen or danced one of the iconic dances in this year's One Dance kickoff event. Whether it was seeing Chubby Checker do 'the twist' on American Bandstand, watching PSY's 'Gangnam Style' on youtube, or friends jamming to The Bangle's 'Walk Like an Egyptian' or 'Vogue' by Madonna, we've seen these dances before. This is an opportunity for everyone to stroll down memory lane and experience the dances that moved us (and the generations before and after us.)"

One Dance was also designed to give young people a frame of reference for dance beyond Miley Cuyrus, Dudley says. "Before Miley and twerking became a thing, there were many other people and dances that gave us great music and movement. We wanted to spotlight our rich history of pop culture dance."

There will A LOT of dancing in Union Square Friday afternoon, with a free-for-all dance party happening until 1pm. Check out last year's event for a taste of what you'll be in for. Plus, Rhythm and Motion will offer three free dance classes in honor of Dance week on Monday, April 28 from 12:00 to 1:00pm, Wednesday, April 30 from 8:45 to 10:00am, and Thursday, May 1 from 5:45 to 6:45pm. Check out lots more free events here and here.
· Bay Area Dance Week [Official Site]
· Rhythm and Motion [Official Site]
· Dudley Flores Is Racked SF's Hottest Trainer 2013 [Racked SF]