An outdoor dance festival debuting on Sept. 30, 2017, in Wake Forest is the first of its kind in the greater Triangle area. The Wake Forest Dance Festival is a free, family-friendly, daylong event from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. featuring professional dancers at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road, Wake Forest.

The inaugural event is presented by Wake Forest Arts in partnership with the Town of Wake Forest and will bring a day of dance to the Triangle in an outdoor setting. The event will feature national and regional professional dancers, as well as local rising advanced dance performers.

“For 25 years, Wake Forest Arts has supported and enhanced a strong, vibrant community through arts and cultural activities,” said Mary Petretich, president of Wake Forest Arts. “We’re happy to be involved with the Wake Forest Dance Festival from its inception and have plans to establish it as a mainstay arts event.”

The festival’s director Mariya “Masha” Dashkina Maddux is a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City. Currently, she is a professional concert dance performer and a dance educator living in Wake Forest.

“After many years of performing in various outdoor festivals both nationally and internationally, Joyner Park presented an opportunity and an inspiration to start a professional dance festival and bring attention to the art of dance in the community in a beautiful setting,” said Maddux. “It's our goal to inspire dancers, entertain the public and expose the audience to the art of movement.”

The festival will begin with an educational technical rehearsal in the morning and conclude with a staged performance lasting through the early evening. During the day, mini dance performances showcasing various dance styles will take place in select areas of Joyner Park culminating with a staged performance.

• 10 a.m. – noon: Technical Rehearsal – Attendees who want a behind the scenes look can attend the Technical Rehearsal, which is a run-through of the Festival Concert that will take place later in the day. Some of the performers and the stage manager will be available to answer questions.

• 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Tour in Motion – A guided tour will begin at the top of every hour and give attendees the opportunity to experience dance in intimate outdoor settings throughout Joyner Park.

• 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: Festival Concert – The main concert of the festival will feature professional dancers and rising advanced dancers from local dance institutions.

The event will pay tribute to long-time Wake Forest dance instructor Elizabeth “Betty” Hunt Holding and her dance legacy. Having studied ballet under famed Russian choreographer George Balanchine and performed with the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, Holding arrived in Wake Forest in the 1940s. She opened Wake Forest’s most historic dance studio, the Holding School of Dance, in her home where she taught dance to students for more than 30 years until her death in 2007.

Visit the event’s website www.WakeForestDanceFestival.org and Facebook page www.facebook.com/WakeForestDance for more information on the event and for sponsor and volunteer opportunities.