AT_NDD_MAIN“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie,” Agnes de Mille.

It’s that time of the year again. Time to celebrate the thing you love best, the thing that lets you let loose, express yourself and have fun – dance! National Dance Day (NDD) is Saturday, July 26 this year. Will you be celebrating?

NDD was started by “So You Think You Can Dance” co-creator and Dizzy Feet Foundation co-president Nigel Lythgoe in 2010. The idea for this day designated for dance was to encourage Americans to participate in dance as a fun way to stay healthy and fight obesity.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton helped give NDD national recognition by proposing that the US congress in Washington DC declare the last Saturday in July as the US’s official National Dance Day – and they did! Ever since 2010, the last Saturday in July has been filled with people from all walks of life, getting up and shaking their groove thing together.

Official events will occur at the Music Center in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and for the first year ever the Lincoln Center in New York City will participate through their Lincoln Center Out of Doors program. All of the events are free and open to the public!

Obviously not everyone is near one of these NDD hubs, but everyone is still encouraged to participate! Create a flash mob with your friends, put on a show for your community and donate proceeds to those who can’t afford dance class, learn the NDD choreography with your friends (click here and scroll down), and record it all to post on the Dizzy Feet Foundation Facebook page! (They have a NDD tab where you can submit videos.)

We’ve all seen those clips on SYTYCD so who knows, maybe yours will end up on national television too!

Will you be celebrating? Share with us how in the comment section!