Everybody Dance Now--Finalist in the @15 Community Impact Challenge

Introducing Everybody Dance Now from Santa Barbara, CA. Everybody Dance Now is one of the 15 finalists in the @15 Community Impact Challenge.





Everybody Dance Now! (EDN!) uses hip-hop dance to create positive outlets for at –risk youth in Santa Barbara. They have offered free, high-quality dance programs to over 750 underprivileged children and teens in Santa Barbara County, holding 11 weekly classes in Santa Barbara and 4 weekly classes in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. Founded by a 14-year-old inspired by the expressive and creative power of dance in 2005, EDN! provides a creative alternative and outlet for at-risk teenagers, service learning through outreach performances, cultural diversity and education through international dance classes, and pre-professional dance exposure.




If selected as a Challenge recipient, EDN! would better serve the middle school students in Santa Barbara, students at a critical age facing many important life choices and different pressures, by offering programs directly on middle school campuses. EDN! will additionally increase the number of teaching locations among all Santa Barbara schools, increasing their reach to more students at risk of joining gangs. EDN! would potentially also create a more sustainable business model by offering fee-based dance and service-learning for students who can afford them, generating the income to support work in the community when grant money runs out.












Between March 15 - April 2, 2010, you get to decide which five of the 15 finalist teams of young social entrepreneurs will each receive $5,000 and which five teams will receive $1,500 each to expand their local ventures. So be sure to cast your vote on at15 between March 15 - April 2, 2010.