History
In 1999, Community-Minded Dance founder and executive director Caryn Carrasco found herself enveloped in the cultural revival of American swing music and dance. Frankie Manning and Norma Miller, swing dancing legends from Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, traveled to cities around the world, bringing the spirit and movement of America's roots to a new generation. Inspired by this global community, Caryn enlisted a team to establish cmDance as Denver's first organization responsible for world-class social dance education and arts programming. Since then, cmDance has expanded much of its programming to serve even more of the community. We are deeply entrenched in the Colorado dance world of many styles, always seeking to provide a bridge for people to learn and enjoy movement. Because of our continued efforts, our events keep getting better, we are able to teach more and more youth during the school year, and we are excited to be fostering the next generation of dancers, musicians, and artists.
Specialties
Community-Minded Dance is about people. We are committed to providing high-quality dance instruction and performance to all age groups throughout Colorado. We do this by (1) running major dance weekends over the year with classes and live music, (2) providing excellent dance education in several public school districts across Colorado, serving thousands of youth, (3) running a professional swing dance company that fosters developing community leaders (4) running a training company for teens and adults, and (5) providing high-octane swing dance performances and flash mobs complete with jazz, Charleston, tricks, and high-flying airsteps!