Earth Day was April 22, and World Dance for Humanity (WD4H) was out celebrating, dancing at Paseo Nuevo’s first Save the Planet event on April 21.
World Dance will be performing again at the Earth Day Festival on Alameda Park’s Main Stage, 2:20 p.m. Saturday, April 27, where they will groove to planet-friendly music like Jack Johnson’s “Reduce, Re-use, Recycle,” Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” and Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.”
WD4H is about more than just dancing, though. The nonprofit is helping 28 rural Rwandan communities left divided and destitute by the genocide in 1994.
The group’s Earth Day booth (#342, near Sola Street, between Anacapa and Santa Barbara streets) will showcase an array of ecologically sustainable projects they support in Rwanda, including permculture training; low-emission, fuel-efficient cookstoves; and sewing businesses that make re-usable menstrual pads.
WD4H raises funds all year from dance classes, donations and grants to help 14,000 people build new lives. Their annual Thriller event raises $25,000 each year to send 300 Rwanda students to school.
Since the war began in Ukraine, WD4H has been supporting refugees, orphans, cancer patients, and homeless animals in a direct, personal way through partners in that country.
World Dance offers six dance classes each week to all ages and abilities, for a $5 donation per class. Everyone is welcome, and every dollar goes to the group’s work in Rwanda and Ukraine.
For more, visit www.worlddanceforhumanity.org, and Class Schedule.