Dance lovers across New Zealand will be making movement and celebrating the annual New Zealand Dance Week from April 21-29.

Dance week was established by Dance Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016 as a way to celebrate local dance talents and to get communities moving and engaged in the diverse world of dance.

It is an open-access platform aimed to raise the awareness of the art form, to grow dance audiences and highlight the positive benefits it has on community, physical health, mental well-being and the spirit.

Dani Miller, director of Bay of Plenty Performing Arts in Mount Maunganui participated in the 2017 event. 'Dance Week is a great platform for New Zealand dancers of all ages and genres to share their work with the community and for the community to get involved in dance. We participated in the Tauranga Dance-o-Mat event in 2017 and it was so nice to see such a range of performers entertaining the CBD during their lunch break. We also held a give-it-a-go dance workshop resulting in over 60 local youngsters being able to experience dance."

People from all backgrounds can be a part of Dance Week and there is a multitude of ways to be involved, from hosting dance workshops, curating pop-up performances, dance flash mobs and studio open days, to attending a performance or workshop or simply using #nzdw2018 in any social media activity.

DANZ will be holding the official Dance Week launch in Christchurch on April 21. For more information visit: danz.org.nz