Built to Move: CityDance brings dance, movement and community together in Friendship Heights
From a toddler taking their first creative movement class to an adult trying Zumba, flamenco or ballet, CityDance Studios believes there’s a place for everyone on the dance floor.
The nonprofit arts organization has been transforming lives through dance for nearly three decades, combining exceptional training with a commitment to community. CityDance's work spans three areas: CityDance Conservatory, which provides pre-professional training for aspiring dancers; CityDance Studios, offering classes for dancers of all ages and experience levels; and community engagement through partnerships, performances and artist support.
And Friendship Heights is an important part of the CityDance story.
“CityDance was founded in 1996 and began right here at 5207 Wisconsin Avenue,” says Ivy Chow, Executive Director of CityDance Studios. After outgrowing its nearby Tenleytown location, CityDance returned to Wisconsin Avenue, where its four studios are now busy seven days a week.
“We’ve worked intentionally to become part of the fabric of the neighborhood — a place where people feel comfortable walking in, meeting new friends, dancing, sweating and being themselves,” Ivy says. “Whether they’re three years old or seventy-three, we want them to feel that CityDance is their place to move.”
At CityDance Studios, you don't need aspirations of becoming a professional dancer to join in. In addition to ballet, modern and other traditional dance classes, Studios offers fitness and cultural classes including barre fit, Zumba, POM, flamenco and KPop. For dancers interested in pursuing professional training, CityDance Conservatory offers a dedicated pre-professional pathway.
That range reflects the idea behind the organization’s longtime slogan, “Built to Move.” As Ivy explains, the goal is to help people cultivate a lifelong relationship with movement and leave feeling “energized, inspired and connected.”
There’s plenty happening this fall, too. CityDance offers classes and programs for children, teens and adults, and this December, CityDance Conservatory will present Mary Day’s Nutcracker at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre, featuring dancers from both its Conservatory and Studios programs.
For Ivy, Friendship Heights is exactly where CityDance belongs: a neighborhood that combines the energy of Wisconsin Avenue with the residential community just beyond it. And yes, the CityDance team has a neighborhood favorite: Booeymonger.
Learn more about CityDance, explore classes and see what’s coming up at CityDance Studios HERE.