About salsa in the park
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What is Salsa in the Park?A free and popular outdoor summer event for all ages, backgrounds and abilities, Salsa In The Park is an innovative community engagement project that transforms public space for public benefit through music, dance and education. A public health initiative, featuring movement as a key to wellness, it draws over 500 people from all walks of life for salsa instruction (dance and percussion), high quality performances showcasing a variety of cultures and genres, social dancing and health and wellness promotion.
Many salsa & Latin dancers in Boston claim Salsa In The Park as their favorite event of the city, not only for the appeal of dancing outside "al aire libre," and witnessing engaging performances, but as a way to give back to the community. Dancers, and non dancers, volunteer all summer by donating their time to teach dance lessons to people of all ages and varying abilities; performing at the event; setting up and breaking down the dance floors; assisting with event staffing; maintaining a recycling program; and cleaning up from the festivities late into the night. Want to bring Salsa In The Park to your neighborhood or event? Through grant funding, partnerships and contracts, MetaMovements is able to coordinate Salsa In The Parks and "Salsa in the Park inspired" events in various locations (indoor/outdoor, one time and series options available). Using our partnership with the Blackstone Community Center as a model for success, we have embarked on new initiatives and partnerships throughout the city in recent years. As Salsa In The Park continues to move throughout the city, we engage local partners and stakeholders to always produce a culturally relevant event. Besides our weekly Salsa In The Park at the Blackstone, locations have included Charlestown, Boston City Hall, Cambridge, Allston, Martha's Vineyard and South Boston's Lawn On D. Who makes it all possible?MetaMovements (MM) is an entrepreneurial artist collective dedicated to using the arts as a tool for positive transformation of self and community, creating bonds, fostering meaningful relationships and creating lasting social change. With community partners, supporters, funders and volunteers, MetaMovements brings Salsa In The Park to life!
None of this would be possible without financial contributions from our sponsors, funders and Salsa In The Park attendees and supporters! We are currently seeking sponsors, vendors, volunteers and donors to get us the funding we need to make our Salsa In The Park events happen! HISTORY OF SALSA IN THE PARK! In 2007 at the Charlestown Community Center, MetaMovements, with the support of the salsa community in Boston, produced the very first Salsa In The Park (SITP) program. In 2008 we expanded SITP to the Blackstone Community Center to increase positive activities inside and outside of the Center in an effort to reduce violence and drug use that was happening in and around the courtyard. In 2014 we expanded SITP to include a Cuban area in which Boston Rueda has been an integral part of through teaching and engagement. To date our collaborative efforts have provided arts programming (dance, percussion, theater, events hosting) for thousands of families, including meaningful summer jobs and internships for over 150 youth, year-round internships for college students, and free weekly outdoor events which so many people look forward to every summer. We are proud of the work we have done together! From 2008 through 2019, we held weekly Salsa In The Park events that were made possible through an ongoing partnership with BCYF's Blackstone Community Center and others. For staffing of the event MM helped coordinate two internship programs and volunteers! Each summer, 25+ youth aged 12-19 had a summer of transformation: becoming leaders in the effort to improve their community, building essential 21st century employment skills, studying and performing dance, music and theater (and learning to share their arts with others) all through MM's Youth Arts Ambassadors Program. The youth in the program spent numerous hours with healthy, driven and passionate adult role models that are hired through MM's Career Training & Practicum programs. List of Partners: Since the event's inception in 2007, MM has collaborated with Boston Dance Alliance, Charlestown Community Center (BCYF), Blackstone Community Center (BCYF), ArtWeek, Boston's Moves for Health, Cambridge Community Centers, Margaret Fuller House, Cambridge Public Health Association, Boston Centers For Youth & Families (BCYF), Cambridge Senior Center, Lawn On D and Spontaneous Celebrations with financial support from the City of Boston & the City of Cambridge, private foundations, DJ Hernan, SalsaBoston.com, BioMed Realty, Burlington Mall and more! Features of the event
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