#4THELOVEOFDW
Dancewear Hosts the Finale of “For the Love of Danceware” Competition at its Jdeideh Retail Outlet
Beirut, Lebanon – August 30, 2017: Danceware, the first and only provider of dance apparel and shoes locally and regionally, hosted the exciting final event of its original “For the Love of Danceware” dance competition under the patronage of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture and with the support of the Lebanese DanceSport Federation (LDSF) on Wednesday, August 30 from 6:30 – 9:00 pm at its new retail shop in Jdeideh, with the presence of local and regional dancers, media representatives and social figures.
Danceware works with the most prominent dance TV shows and dance schools across the region and the event drew on those relationships with a live performance from each of the six competition finalists as well as riveting performances including an opening by Broadway dancers from Steps Performing Arts Studio, a Lebanese Champions Formation Show from Dance Factory by Mike Poladian and a special choreography from Maya School of Arts by Maya Nehme.
“At Danceware, our core mission is to support dance education. We believe dance is an education and a source of art, a mode of expression and communication, not just an activity or sport,” said Carol Abdo, Danceware’s Operations Manager. “In dance, we expect to give rather than receive and at Danceware, we strive to incorporate that concept into everything we do. Our “For the Love of Danceware” competition is sharing powerful, beautiful, meaningful performances with the Lebanese community and beyond. We’re excited to provide a forum to showcase the exquisite talent right here in our region and provide a lifetime of opportunities to learn, grow and make the world a better place through dance.”
The “For the Love of Danceware” final event is the culmination of a 3 week social media dance competition where dance enthusiasts from around the region uploaded dance videos of themselves using the hashtags #4TheLoveOfDW and #4TheLoveOfDanceware.
A distinguished panel of renowned professionals: Caroline Hatem, Cynthia Dariane, Danielle Rahbani, Mike Poladian and Roy Khouri chose the final six participants following the end of the open competition on August 12. Those six finalists then took part in a round of online public voting which results were included in each of the contestants’ final grades during the live event at Danceware’s new Jdeideh store.
The aforementioned jury members, in addition to Rita Lamah, a Lebanese stylist and blogger, chose the winner of the competition following their live performances. The grand prize winner received a summer camp experience at the London Studio Center, while the five other finalists won a one-year scholarship at local dance schools to continue their professional training and dance education.
#AYADINAASSOCIATION
Reine is a 13-year-old Lebanese girl with a strong passion for ballet. Her dream is to become a ballet teacher and to perform professionally on stage.
She has lived all her life in a small, low-income neighborhood in Beirut, taking ballet lessons after school at a local NGO called Ayadina Association.
She has never before had the opportunity to travel outside of Lebanon… until now. Since 2012, Reine has been enrolled in The Nawaya Network, a local NGO that develops the talents of disadvantaged and marginalized youth.
In Summer 2013, a dance instructor in New York noticed Reine’s passion and talent from her online video on www.nawaya.org, and contacted The Nawaya Network to invite her to attend a two-week intensive ballet class in New York this July 2014!
This invitation has practically changed Reine’s life and her family’s. Her parents have become much more interested and supportive of Reine’s dancing, not allowing her to miss any lessons, and encouraging her to practice daily and to eat healthily.
They have gained so much confidence in their daughter, and this has reflected so positively on Reine as well.
Our Non profit initiative is to enhance the education of flipping barely used dance wear to needed essential dance gear in an attempt to spread the culture of recycling that will sustain dance feasibility in a healthy world
STUDENTS’ SAVING PROGRAM
As part of our continuous mission of supporting dance culture, we created a loyalty program in order to encourage dance students to carry on their education. Once they are registered in our program, they start earning points for each purchase. Special discounts are being given once a specified amount of points is reached.
DANCERS’ LOYALTY PROGRAM
When dance students are promoted to professional dancers’, we continue to be art of their journey. Our loyalty program allows them to earn points with each purchase they make from our shop. Free gifts are distributed when required points are earned.