Bring dancers, children and friends to the family-friendly DANCE ENTHUSIAST's 2nd Enthusiast Event - an evening of creativity, fun, education, dance performances, and mingling, October 13 at the Gibney Dance Center. The event is a cross between a salon performance and a party at your best friend's home, offering audiences of all ages an extraordinary entrée to the passion and creativity in dance. Both kids and adults will have opportunities to participate in dance and visual art projects. AND - It's also the 8th Birthday Party, complete with yummy birthday cake, for The Dance Enthusiast, an ever-expanding, ever-creative non-profit, NYC-based dance journalism website that is leading an exuberant revolution in dance communication.

Founder/Editor-in-Chief Christine Jowers is a firm believer in the power of the arts to bring people together. "What better way," she remarked, "is there to be introduced to the power of art than to bring families together to meet, speak, and create with world-class artists? Meaningful experiences like these are vital to building lifelong relationships to the arts."

Tuesday October 13
5:30 PM - Doors Open for Birthday Benefit Ticket Holders to participate in special projects
6:15 PM - Doors Open for Gala Tickets Holders - nibblies, drinks, socializing and art-making
7:00 PM - Performance and Mingling
7:45 PM - Dessert, Dance-Art Party
Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway (entrance at 53A Chambers Street)
Gala Tickets (ages 16+) - $30
Tickets for children (6-18) with an adult - $10
Special Family passes (2 gala tickets/2 kids tickets) - $75
and Happy Birthday Benefit Tickets are also available
All tickets can be purchased at www.dance-enthusiast.com *All ticket holders enjoy food, drink, socializing, performance and art making
Benefit ticket holders are invited to come early for even more art making fun.

Performances by

CHRYBABY COZIE, founder of Litefeet Nation/Hip-Hop
THE BROOKLYN BALLET, Lynn Parkerson, Artistic Director

Special guests:

*the one-of-a-kind CHRYBABY COZIE, founder of LiteFeet Nation - hub of the new direction in Hip-Hop
*THE BROOKLYN BALLET, directed by Lynn Parkerson, reflecting a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approach to ballet, with a repertory created through collaborations with musicians, writers, designers, hackers, visual artists, and their Brooklyn neighbors
* HU BING, Chinese-American creator who shapes environments from shattered glass, revealing the beauty in what has been
destroyed - making ethereal installations out of debris
* CHERYL McGINNIS, NYC art dealer whose passion is to make art accessible to all audiences in order to broaden the discussion of art and art history.

www.dance-enthusiast.com

This series of events, which is generously supported by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, was created to introduce professionals from all spheres, as well as families and cultural enthusiasts to a deeper appreciation of dance. In a uniquely private setting, with opportunities to socialize with the artists and fellow audience members, attendees can build or expand their personal connection to this often abstract, ephemeral art form. One of The Dance Enthusiast's goals is to cultivate audiences for dance by offering them insider experiences with top NYC-dance artists and other professionals. Dance audience cultivation is a major concern within the arts community, and Enthusiast Events!, offers a simple and direct way to generate enthusiasm for the field at large by sharing views on the art through presentation and conversation with dancers, guests, and audience members.