Dance for Dance for Social Change is MDD’s community celebration! Our annual event raises critical awareness and funds needed to support our mission and programs.
Tickets, Donations, and Sponsorships can be found here.
The 2026 Silent Auction is coming soon. See the 2025 Silent Auction here.
Donations by Check: Dynamic Forms, Inc., 107 Suffolk Street, Studio Theater 310, New York, NY 10002
We use dance to engage and empower NYC students through performance and education. For over a decade, MDD has produced the annual event with so much volunteer and in-kind support that direct costs pre-COVID were less than 5% of gross revenue with 95% going to programs. In COVID and with a virtual event, 100% of funds supported our programs.
Dance for Dance for Social Change 2026 is our 39th Anniversary Celebration and Dance Party of the Year! We will feature our 39-year commitment to bring impactful evidence-based dance education to disenfranchised and under-resourced communities and public schools across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.
We will honor internationally recognized performer, teacher, choreographer, and author, Dr. Daniel Lewis, with our “Educational Visionary” Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 presented by Dante Puleio. The evening includes food and drinks, music and dancing, a silent auction, photo opportunities, an honoree, and performances. Dance for Dance for Social Change 39th Anniversary is held at St. Mary’s Church on the Lower East Side on May 7th, 2026, 6:30-9:00 PM.
- Fun! Diversity! and Inclusivity! are traditional hallmarks of our event for more than 10 years.
- Ours is a family-style party where everyone is welcome and encouraged to join us!
Disclaimer for 2026 attendees:
*Photographs and/or video will be taken during the dance party.
By taking part in this event you grant the event organizers full rights to use the images resulting from the photography/video filming, and any reproductions or adaptations of the images for fundraising, publicity or other purposes to help achieve the group’s aims. This might include (but is not limited to), the right to use them in their printed and online publicity, social media, press releases and funding applications.
2026
*MDD Board Members
In Formation
In Formation
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Mark DeGarmo Dance’s DANCE FOR DANCE (D4D) FOR SOCIAL CHANGE 2026 honors internationally recognized performer, teacher, choreographer, and author, Dr. Daniel Lewis with our “Educational Visionary” Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 presented by Dante Puleio. Thursday, May 7, 2026, 6:30-9:00 PM, St. Mary’s Church, NYC’s Lower East Side. D4D raises awareness & funds for NYC Public Elementary School Dance & Literacy work.
ABOUT Dr. Daniel Lewis
Daniel Lewis joined NWSA as the founding Dean of Dance in 1987. An
internationally recognized performer, teacher, choreographer and author, he
graduated from The Juilliard School in 1967, served on its faculty from 1967-87, and
was the Assistant Director of the Dance Department from 1984-1987. He danced
with the José Limón Dance Company for 12 years, originating leading roles and
staging works of companies worldwide. In the first year following the death of Mr.
Limón, Mr. Lewis became the company’s artistic director, taking the company on a
tour of the Soviet Union. At the end of the tour, he sent the company to Paris to
perform and he returned to New York to form Daniel Lewis Dance, a repertory dance
company.
Mr. Lewis’ book, The Illustrated Dance Technique of José Limón, has
been translated into German, Spanish and Japanese. In addition, Mr. Lewis has
published two articles for Medical Problems of Performing Artists, entitled Health
Care for Dance Students at a Performing Arts Academy: A Dean’s Perspective, and
Dancing With A Prosthesis. His paper, Dance Education in the USA K-12, was
presented in 1990 at the International Symposium München, Germany and published by Tanztendenz. Mr. Lewis’ commitment to the growth of dance in South Florida is illustrated by his production company Miami Dance Futures, Inc., which since 1988, in addition to supporting local dance companies, has presented the 1990 Balanchine Conference, 1991 Dance History Scholars’ Conference, and the 1997 American College Dance and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th National High School Dance Festivals, among others.
He still co-produces the Daniel Lewis Dance Sampler with the Florida Dance Education Organization. Mr. Lewis has served on the Fulbright Screening Committee and as a dance panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1990, the National Society of Arts and Letters awarded Mr. Lewis the gold medal for Lifelong Achievement in Dance. In 2001 he received The Florida Arts Recognition Award recognizing his outstanding initiatives, leadership and excellence in supporting the arts in Florida. In addition to his duties as Dean of Dance at NWSA, he was the president of the National Association of Schools of Dance and was on the board of the Council of Arts Accrediting Associations, Arts for Learning and the Armour Dance Theatre.
His biography Daniel Lewis, A Life in choreography and the Art of Dance was released in May of 2020. He has received five lifetime achievement awards, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Florida.
ABOUT Dante Puleio
Dante Puleio, a widely respected former member of the Limón Dance Company for more than a decade, is the sixth Artistic Director in the Company’s 80-year history—a lineage that began with modern dance pioneer Doris Humphrey. A Medici Scholar, Puleio began his professional dance training in London at the Laban Centre and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds before earning his BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and his MFA from the University of California, Irvine.
As Artistic Director, Puleio is dedicated to preserving José Limón’s legacy while ensuring the Company’s continued relevance in the 21st century. His vision bridges the historical and the contemporary—commissioning innovative choreographers, expanding educational initiatives, and deepening the Company’s engagement with global and intergenerational audiences. Under his leadership, the Company has revitalized seminal works from its repertory while introducing new creations that reflect the diverse voices and experiences shaping today’s dance landscape.
In formation