Get Down: a virtual dance off benefitting the Global Poverty Project

The Global Poverty Project is built on the idea that poverty is perpetuated by a lack of access to education worldwide.

What does that have to do with dance? Nothing. It’s not possible to dance poverty away… or is it?

Dance is a universal language that can be a powerful tool in igniting change. The Global Poverty Project believes that dance can be used to raise awareness and money to support their goal of providing access quality education to all children, everywhere.

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Get Down is an internet dance off challenge in which anyone can upload his/her best moves and invite social media contacts to vote for the video. More votes means a higher chance of winning some pretty impressive incentives. This week, for example, One Direction tickets are up for grabs (like whoa)! Aside from the incentives, there is an option to fund raise for this year’s cause: Cotton On Foundation’s projects in Southern Uganda. So, dancing can really make a tangible difference for an important organization. This, to me, sounds like a way better prize than seeing a boy band, but we’ll call it a win win.

Maybe the best part of the Get Down campaign is that anyone can do it. Whether you are trained or not, Get Down is founded on the idea that everybody can get down (get it?) whenever they want.

The video below gives a brief overview about the cause, the organization, and the campaign (running through March 2):

For more information, visit https://www.getdowndanceoff.org/

 

Author: Lauren Warnecke

Lauren Warnecke is a freelance dance critic, contributing to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine. She is senior editor of See Chicago Dance. Lauren covers dance across the Midwest and writes regularly for Dance Magazine and Pointe with additional bylines in Milwaukee Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and Dance Teacher. Forthcoming publications include essays on ballet training in Chicago (University of Illinois Press) and Shirley Mordine (University of Akron Press). In 2020, Lauren published an opinion piece on the impact of COVID-19 on the arts in the South African journal Agenda. Lauren holds degrees in dance and kinesiology and has presented research on dance training practices at the National Dance Education Organization and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. She has co-facilitated critical dance writing intensives in Chicago and Durban, South Africa, and participated in writing residencies at the National Center for Choreography, Bates Dance Festival and JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience. Lauren teaches dance history and kinesiology for dancers, with part-time appointments at Loyola University Chicago and Illinois Wesleyan University.