Dance Bethesda Festival Brings Performance, Free Lessons Downtown This Weekend

Learn hip-hop, salsa, ballroom and swing for free on Friday at four local studios, part of the eighth annual Dance Bethesda, which will culminate in a concert showcasing six dance companies on Saturday at .

Dance studios in downtown Bethesda will open their doors to anyone wanting to learn new styles, dance socially or party from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Friday.

will teach salsa, rumba, social dancing, ballroom and Latin; Dansez! Dansez!, hip-hop, jazz, folklore and Latin; Du-Shor Dance Studio, salsa, swing and tango; and , ballroom, jazz and hip-hop, according to event producers and the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District.

“You don’t have to bring a partner; you can go as a single person and really have a good time,” said Stephanie Coppula, director of marketing and communications for Bethesda Urban Partnership. 

On Saturday, six D.C. area dance companies will perform at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, at 8 p.m.

“The idea behind the concert is to showcase the diversity of dance that’s within the region, and every year we bring in a different group of dance experts, an outside panel of judges, to review all the audition DVDs that come in,” Coppula said.

Three judges looked at more than 40 audition tapes and selected the top six performers and choreographers. Alexandra May Ballance and Joy of Motion Dance Center’s Youth Dance Ensemble, Culture Shock DC, Erica Rebollar and Rebollar Dance, Furia Flamenca, Soul In Motion and Tzveta Kassabova will perform pieces in a range of styles, including hip-hop, flamenco, modern, contemporary and West African, according to the event producers. 

, is the youngest choreographer in the showcase, Potomac Patch reports.

The concert costs $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Purchase tickets at the door or at www.bethesda.org.