For World Dance for Humanity performers, ages 22 to 88, the Solstice Parade is about more than dressing up and having fun – it’s about helping people in need.
While practicing for Solstice the past six weeks, the local nonprofit has been raising funds for refugees, orphans, and cancer patients in Ukraine.
All class fees contribute to the $5,000 World Dance for Humanity sends each month to trusted partners in the Ukranian cities of Bakhmut, Ismael, Irpin, Kiev, Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Since the start of the war, World Dance has donated $250,000 to help people trying to survive in Ukraine. Most recently, they teamed up with volunteers aiding children in Mykolaiv’s burn unit.
World Dance members meet their Ukrainian partners on Zoom every Sunday to talk about their lives, and dance together to music from Ukraine and around the world. Lately, they are dancing together to the Solstice tunes, bringing a bit of joy to war-torn lives.
In the Solstice Parade, Saturday, June 22, 50 World Dancers will be decked out in sequins and shine, grooving their way up Santa Barbara Street to upbeat tunes like “Freedom” by Jon Batiste, “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars; “Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson; and Marvin Gaye’s “Dancing in the Street.”
World Dance for Humanity is a 501(c)3 charity. In 2023 the group raised $600,000 for relief efforts in Syria, Hawaii, Ukraine and Rwanda. In Rwanda, World Dance provides ongoing aid to 14,000 people in 28 rural cooperatives.
All World Dance class fees and designated donations go to people in need; no money goes to overhead or fundraising.
To learn more about classes and charitable donations, email janetworlddance@outlook.com or visit https://www.worlddanceforhumanity.org/.