The Choreographers Collaboration Project is a non-profit modern dance company founded in 1998 by Mary Jo Smet and Janet Stormes.  CCP strives to engage in collaboration with artists and musicians, to introduce modern dance to individuals across generations, cultures, and artistic media, and to provide quality dance performances that are accessible to the community.  The company also is strongly committed to its youth dance group, who often perform with the company.

CCP rehearses and teaches dance classes at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center in Alexandria, VA, and has collaborated with the Del Ray Artisans, the Irish Breakfast Band, Jorge Pardo's Yambu Percussion Ensemble, Dom Pakka Chikki Afro-Cuban Ensemble, and has shared a concert with the Jane Franklin Dance Company.  CCP members include Mary Jo Smet, Janet Stormes, Silvia Burstein-Hendi, Jason Donaldson, Alicia Luchowski, and Melanie Tung.

Choreographers Collaboration Project
904 Russell Rd., Alexandria, VA 22301
703-683-2070
www.ccpdance.org
 

American Association of Yoga in Daily Life
2402 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Alexandria VA 22301
703-299-8946
www.yogaindailylifeus.org
 

Little Hands has been making music with children in the Northern Virginia area since 1993. In 2000, Little Hands was awarded “Maestro” status by Kindermusik International, signifying them as one of the top studio programs in the country.

For more than 25 years, Kindermusik International, now headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., has been enriching the lives of children and parents with innovative music and movement programs that nurture the cognitive, emotional, language, social, physical, and musical development of children and involve families in the joy of their children’s musical learning. Kindermusik provides unique child-centered educational classes and materials to take home for the fun and learning to continue every day.

Kindermusik
5746 Union Mill Road, PMB 435
Clifton, VA 20124
703-631-2046
bfrook@littlehands.com
 

1:00-1:30
 

What happens when fifth grade students learn to perform feats of magic in school? Bob Weiman, the Lower School Principal at the St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School, has been an amateur magician since he learned his first trick at the age of five. While he enjoys performing close-up magic with objects like cards and coins, his true passion is teaching tricks to young people and having them spread the joy and wonderment of magic to others through community service. He has taught magic to diverse groups of students in Washington, DC, Cincinnati, OH, and Alexandria, VA. His magic students have performed at homeless shelters, soup kitchens, retirement homes, and day care centers. 

Through the St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes magic program, all fifth graders learn classic children’s magic tricks such as putting a needle through a balloon, cutting and restoring a rope, and creating an American flag with separate red, white, and blue handkerchiefs. While they learn and practice these tricks, they hone their public speaking skills and channel their wonderful creativity.  

St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School is a college preparatory Episcopal Church School in the Diocese of Virginia that educates boys and girls from junior kindergarten through grade 12. St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School consists of three distinct campuses, each uniquely tailored to meet the needs of the students within(the Lower School, grades JK to 5; the Middle School, grades 6 to 8; and the Upper School, grades 9 to 12). 

Bob Weiman
Lower School Director
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School
400A Fontaine Street
Alexandria, VA 22302
www.sssas.org

The Ballet Studio offers classes for children age 3 through high school.  Classes include creative movement, pre-ballet, and classical ballet.  Classes are taught by Mary Strum weekday afternoons and evenings, and Saturday mornings.  The Ballet Studio has been on Mt. Vernon Avenue, in the heart of Del Ray, since 1977. 

The Ballet Studio
2107 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
703-519-4789
www.delraydance.com
 

An innovative songwriter and energetic musical performer for audiences of all ages, Don Bridges started writing songs in 1976 and continues to study or share the stage with many of the nation’s finest songwriters and musicians. Through his special passion for children’s music, Mister Don has emerged as one of the mid-Atlantic regions best-loved family entertainers. He received the Washington Area Music Association Wammie award for Children’s Vocalist for both 2004 and 2005 and the Children’s Artist Wammie award for 2006. Now in his 13^th year as a member of the Songwriters Association of Washington, Don remains on the SAW Board for a sixth year, three of which were served as President of the organization.

Don Bridges
P.O. Box 230741
Centreville, VA 20120
703-449-0817
 

The Jane Franklin Dance company is known for its lively mix of dance, theater, and humor and for the ability to engage and inspire populations of all ages. Based in Northern Virginia since 1997, Jane Franklin Dance presents polished, nuanced works that have been presented at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Dance Place, and other state and regional venues. Collaborative projects with poetry, live music, community participation, and visual art have received funding in multiple years from the Virginia, the Alexandria, the Arlington Commissions for the Arts, and the William D. Euille Foundation, among others.

Currently in residence at Alexandria’s Episcopal High School, JFD teaches five days a week in dance styles including modern, ballet, and jazz, and frequently invites educators from the DC dance community to instruct in ballroom, African, tap, and clogging. Outreach includes educational performances and workshops for Young Audiences, Montgomery County Public Schools, and for Arlington’s Humanities Project. A STAR Award recipient for “Outstanding Community Outreach,” JFD’s ongoing projects include Concert for Community for Senior Adult and other community groups, Young Dancers Project for youth ages 7 to 14, and Dance Sampler, a one-day festival.

Jane Franklin Dance
3700 South Four Mile Run Drive
Arlington, VA 22206
703.298.3235
www.janefranklin.com

Boyle’s School of Irish Dance
Irish Dancing

Come see beginner to champion Irish dancers perform at Art on the Avenue.  The dancers, ages 5-18, will show their fancy footwork set to lively Irish music which is sure to be fun for the whole family! 

The Boyle School of Irish Dance, owned and operated by Ellen Boyle Gibbons and Alannah Boyle, is a certified Irish Dancing School, and member of the An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha in Dublin, Ireland.  The school holds classes in Alexandria, Manassas, and Chantilly and has over 200 dancers.

The Boyle Sisters are the daughters of Irish immigrants who grew up immersed in Irish culture, music, and dance.  They were trained in New York as dancers from the ages of 4 and 5 and have won championship competitions throughout the US and Canada.  They have also won in regional and national championship Irish dance competitions and are both two-time qualifiers for the World Championships in Ireland.  The sisters have performed with such Irish music greats as the Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies, Tommy Makem, Paddy Reilly, The Wolf Tones, and 7 Nations to name a few. 

Ellen Boyle Gibbons and Alannah Boyle
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
1608 Russell Road
Alexandria, VA 22301
703-791-0800
www.boyleschool.com
 

Storytelling at its tallest! Come listen and sing along with Cowboy Jack as he yuks it up with tall tales for young and old alike. An area favorite, Cowboy Jack has entertained audiences throughout the Washington, D.C., area at parties and at venues like First Night Alexandria.

Nancy Sies
SIES Incorporated
408 East Duncan Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
 

Tappers With Attitude
Tap Dancing!
 

Tappers With Attitude is a unique and multicultural group of young dancers on the cutting edge of the Renaissance of tap dance.  Founded by Washingtonians Yvonne Edwards and Renee Kreithen, and under the Artistic Direction of Victoria Moss, the dancers, whose ages are from 8 to 18, represent schools from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

The company’s mission is to preserve and promote tap dance as a percussive art with an emphasis on the jazz tradition and to foster a new generation to carry on the art.  Tappers With Attitude makes its home at the Knock on Wood Tap Studio in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Knock on Wood Tap Studio offers tap classes to the public for ages 4 through adult, from beginner through advanced levels.

Tappers With Attitude
Victoria Moss, Executive Director
KNOCK ON WOOD TAP STUDIO
Silver Spring, MD
301.495.0395
www.knockonwood.org