Hot Spot For Hip Hop In Downtown Philly Offers Special Fringe Dance And Theater Programming

For the third year in a row, UMA presents (mostly) family friendly experimental dance theater dreamed up and brought to live by the talented and *diverse* aka not-all-white-people of UMA's teaching crew. Will the shows be Weird? Yes. Will they be boring? No.

Fringe Season at Urban Movement Arts (UMA) this year is not just one show, but two shows. There's also an all inclusive dance party on opening weekend. Plus, in an effort to get everyone in the world to dance, an Introductory Month of classes is $10 of regular price. So come forth, you fine Philadelphians and get your Fringe-y paws on 30 days of dancing for $30. And come to these shows:

The first show appearing on the Fringe horizon is You are Not a Shining Star, created by Mark Wong with Vince Johnson. Have you ever thought about your legacy? I mean, what makes you SPECIAL? What does it mean to be YOU? Are you the experiences you've accumulated? Are you the thoughts in your brain? If you've never pondered this, don't worry. Vince and Metal are here to help. This show runs the first and last weekends of Fringe.

The second show in the Fringe firmament is Fire in the Sky, a group show created by UMA community members Queenz Collective (Sanchel Brown & Caitlin Green), Haylee Warner & collaborators, and Kayla Bobalek & Maddie Hopfield. Look, presenting a show as part of Fringe is not cheap. UMA is supporting, subsidizing, showing love to this group of dance theater makers because we want their work shoot into outer space to become a constellation of stars shining down on you from the heavens for years to come. This fierce line up is taking over all the nooks and crannies of UMA's labyrinth of studios to bring you everything from an interactive spaceship to the fast footwork of the Afro-diaspora club dance styles. Get. You. Some. This group show is an extension of UMA's Artists in Residence (AIR) program, directed by Lily Kind.

UMA serves as a home for all bodies, genders, sexualities, ages, and experience levels to dance their hearts out. Meanwhile, it is also the not-so-secret-since-this-breaking-in-the-Olympics-coverage hot spot for professional dancers in under-represented forms to practice, cipher, and build. In Da UMA is a seasonal house and funk dance party that aims to bring people together through the love of music and social dance. The Intro Month and the In Da UMA dance party are further invitations for anyone looking to dance to enter this movement galaxy.

UMA Studio: 2100 Chestnut St, 2nd FL, Philadelphia PA 19103. All shows: $15. Tickets available at the door, www.fringearts.com and www.urbanmovementarts.com