Special Events, The Daily Feed, The Hill

Dance for Refugees

CityDance Ensemble. Photo credit: Paul Gordon Emerson.

CityDance Ensemble. Photo credit: Paul Gordon Emerson.

Tomorrow afternoon from 4-5:30pm, the U.S. Helsinki Commission will host a panel discussion on the plight of Iraqi refugees, the largest displacement in the Middle East since 1948. Free and open to the public at the Capitol Visitor Center’s Main Auditorium, the program will highlight the condition of approximately two million Iraqis straining the resources of their host countries.

As part of the event, CityDance Ensemble will perform Wishes of a Sailor, a piece inspired by their recent tour through the region where they visited Iraqi refugee communities in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

CityDance’s own Paul Gordon Emerson will participate in the panel along with U.S. Helsinki Commission chair Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), and Dr. Michael Gabaudan of the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The refugee situation is dangerous not just because of the human suffering involved, but the risks it presents to the region’s already delicate security. Be inspired by the dance, and learn more at the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

Entertainment, Special Events, The Daily Feed

CityDance: Latitude

City Dance Ensemble, photo credit Paul Gordon Emerson

City Dance Ensemble, photo credit Paul Gordon Emerson

CityDance Ensemble has just returned to their DC homebase from tours in the Middle East and Chile, and are settling into the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre for two performances this Thursday and Friday at 7:30pm. “Latitude” features contemporary works by Artistic Director Paul Gordon Emerson, Choreographer-in-Residence Christopher K. Morgan, and others from Brazil, Chile, and Israel.

This year they were awarded the DC Mayor’s Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline, no small feat. They even run an early arts outreach program teaching dance to kids across DC. Dancer Magazine calls them “breathlessly innovative.” Go see why.