Dancing Grounds festival will address the impact of violence on New Orleans residents

Dancing Grounds will hold its annual Dance for Social Change Festival: Rhythms of Recovery Thursday (May 16) and Saturday (May 18). A fundraising gala will be Thursday followed by a festival with free interactive activities on Saturday. Both events will be at the Contemporary Arts Center.

Dancing Grounds, established in 2012, offers dance classes on a sliding scale to New Orleans residents of all ages. The organization works to be a catalyst for social change through movement and artistic expression. 

Chanice Holmes, program manger for Dancing Grounds, said the festival and fundraiser will be led by seven youth from the Dance for Social Change Teen Company. She said the festival will explore how violence affects young people as well as the difference between healing and coping.

“This becomes a space for youth to be able to be heard,” Holmes said. “Those spaces are needed for young people.”  

The festival will feature wellness resources like meditation and yoga, plus dance activities. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., attendees can participate in yoga workshops and witness performances from kindergarteners through eighth-graders in the program.

During Thursday’s gala, the organization will unveil new artistic work from members of the teen company. Over the past year, the group worked on a live dance routine and film that deal with coping with, and healing from, violence.

Holmes said, “This year we’re thinking about what we’ve been doing; we’ve been coping. How do we get to the healing?” 

The Saturday festival is free and open to the public. However, RSVPs are required because of limited space.

Tickets for the kick-off party vary from $25 to $75. Fundraiser tickets include the patron reception, dinner and drinks.

The festival offers a luncheon, which is by paid admission. Food trucks will sell items like hamburgers, chicken and snowballs.

The Contemporary Arts Center is at 900 Camp St. Go to the Dancing Grounds website for information.