Get Your Groove on It's National Dance Day!

A grassroots effort led by Nigel Lythgoe, producer and judge on the wildly popular So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and founder of the Dizzy Feet Foundation, National Dance Day celebrates the art of dance and its positive impact on health and self-esteem.

The event has groups across the country planning dance events, flash mobs, videos, and even charity benefits. The goal is to inspire every one, from top-notch dancers to those with two left feet to get up and move!

National Dance Day was officially recognized by congress thanks to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Norton is a leader in the government's healthy lifestyle movement. She initiated the Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise (LIFE) Act which draws the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into the roll as lead agency in promoting exercise and diet changes.

"More than 30 percent of Americans are obese and childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years," said Norton in a press release. "Television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance are not only entertaining but are also encouraging people to live a physically active lifestyle. Holding a National Dance Day in the nation's capital is a terrific way to promote fitness and fight obesity."

And on Saturday, there will be definitely be dancing in the nation's capital. Norton will host a flash mob on the National Mall where area dancers and past So You Think You Can Dance finalists will bust a move in an explosion of movement.

Over on the West Coast, famed choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo, or NapyTab as they are affectionately known on the show, will be creating their own massive dance party. At the Music Center Plaza in Los Angeles, the duo will be leading the Biggest Dance Ever 2010. The streets will be closed off and dance lovers will gather to perform a routine choreographed by NapyTab.

The dance has been broken down in a video for people all over the country to learn. If you haven't checked it out yet, see below and get to studying your material! You don't have to be in LA to join in the fun. The goal is to get people moving and grooving all together all over the nation.

“National Dance Day does not belong to any single corporation, television show or charity,” said Lythgoe according to the SYTYCD blog. “It belongs to the people. It will be up to the individuals, corporations and charities of this country to come up with ways to take part –– wherever they may be and whatever their motivation: whether it’s to lose weight, raise money for a nonprofit or just have fun.

It is my hope that countless exciting dance ideas will come to fruition on National Dance Day, like the world’s longest conga line in Miami or the world’s longest kick line in front of Radio City Music Hall or scores of breakdancers taking over the Venice boardwalk. The sky is the limit.”

Photo by Whole Wheat Toast via Flickr.