{"id":306476,"date":"2026-07-27T12:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/306476\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T12:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:56:11","slug":"national-dance-institute-invites-hundreds-of-alumni-to-runs-leaps-extravaganza-on-july-28th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/306476\/","title":{"rendered":"National Dance Institute Invites Hundreds of Alumni to \u201cRuns &#038; Leaps Extravaganza\u201d on July 28th"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">New York, NY \u2013 <a class=\"event-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaldance.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">National Dance Institute<\/a> (NDI) invites alumni, families, supporters, and all those who believe in the power of arts education to its <a class=\"event-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaldance.org\/en\/ndi-runs-and-leaps-event-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Runs &amp; Leaps Extravaganza<\/a> at the iconic Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, for a festive day of NDI signature repertoire called Runs &amp; Leaps. No dance experience is necessary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The event kicks off with rehearsals for participants to learn easy and fun choreography, and will welcome participants of all ages and abilities \u2013 from those who\u2019ve never set foot on the dance floor, to seasoned performers. Artistic Director of NDI, Kay Gayner, and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Christopher d\u2019Amboise will guide participants through dance steps from beloved NDI repertoire, accompanied by NDI\u2019s live band under Music Director Yakir Ben Hur.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Runs &amp; Leaps commemorates the birthday of NDI\u2019s founder, the late, legendary ballet dancer Jacques d\u2019Amboise (1934-2021). It is both a celebration of the community he built and the generations of New York City youth whose lives have been shaped by the power of dance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cRight now, in a moment defined by fear and the pressure to perform only when outcomes are guaranteed, joy is its own act of resistance. Choosing to show up, to move, and to make something with people who are different from you is not a small thing,\u201d said Kay Gayner, Artistic Director. <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cThere is something incredibly moving about seeing alumni return to dance alongside today\u2019s students, all coming together on what would have been Jacques\u2019 birthday,\u201d said Jermaine Jones, Executive Director.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Runs &amp; Leaps Schedule:<\/p>\n<p>9:00 a.m: Check-in at Naumburg Bandshell<br \/>\n10:00 a.m: Small group rehearsals<br \/>\n11:00 a.m: Large group rehearsal<br \/>\n12:00 p.m: Performance<br \/>\n1:15 p.m: Closing remarks<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Registration for the Runs &amp; Leaps Extravaganza is open until July 20 <a class=\"event-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/endurancecui.active.com\/new\/events\/96921618\/select-race?_p=036432481170640574&amp;error=login_required&amp;state=c879cd0c-0791-48fd-b118-6f4449c57b00&amp;e4q=997be45f-a6cd-4066-ae26-2d41ae6e0a30&amp;e4p=0c69bb89-9e90-4c88-99b7-a596d596b911&amp;e4ts=1782250498&amp;e4c=active&amp;e4e=snawe00000000&amp;e4rt=Safetynet&amp;e4h=d76f2909fb7fe62a6373860dd6f12a19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">at this website. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York, NY \u2013 National Dance Institute (NDI) invites alumni, families, supporters, and all those who believe in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[1117,11894,3056,75,84,83,9,24,11893,63,905,116005],"class_list":["post-306476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-dance","tag-default-tier","tag-festivals","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-metro-area","tag-nyc","tag-theater","tag-uptown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}