Thousands of Tucsonans learn “Move your Body” dance in anticipation of flash-workout at TMY Festival Oct 15th 2pm

In an effort to bring Tucsonans together to increase awareness of the benefits of physical activity in our daily lives, Tucson Meet Yourself is providing more than 50 free dance and music workshops for children, youth, and adults at TUSD schools and at selected dance studios and community centers throughout the city.

The Tucson Move Your Body dance workshops utilize Beyoncé’s popular dance and exercise workout in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Lets Move! campaign to combat childhood obesity. In Pima County, 6 in 10 adults are overweight or obese, and nearly 1 in 3 children and teens are overweight or obese. Research indicates that children who are overweight or obese face increased risk for disease and are prone to bullying, social exclusion and low self-esteem.

As an extension of its educational programming leading up to the Festival, Tucson Meet Yourself recruited 20 volunteer teachers to teach 32 workshops for youth at TUSD schools and youth centers in addition to 20 community rehearsals open to the general public. To date, a total 4,010 participants are signed up for the free sessions and more volunteers and participants are joining daily. The workshops will culminate in a gigantic Flash Workout that will take place at 2pm on October 15th at various stages and locations in the TMY Festival in tandem with TUSD Festival of Schools, a new Partner with TMY. Local Pilates instructor and dancer Mirea Sharifi is coordinating the program on behalf of TMY.

The Move Your Body event is part of a larger set of programs under the theme of Traditions of Health and Wellness featured at the festival this year. Connecting the theme to TMY’s mission, Executive Director Mia Hansen said: “It is important to recognize that dance and exercise are some of the most common ways through which people come together to form “folk communities” of shared meaning.”

A full schedule of upcoming workshops can be found at www.TucsonMeetYourself.org. The Move Your Body workout sessions and the Traditions of Health and Wellness area of the Tucson Meet Yourself festival are funded through a grant from Pima County Communities Putting Prevention to Work www.HealthyPima.org with additional support from La Frontera Arizona, TUSD, and Providence Service Corporation.