The 9th Annual Dance Union Festival, Carolyn Dorfman Dance’s signature county event, united over 200 diverse community members across Union County through the transformative power of dance. Funded in part by a HEART grant from the Union County Board of County Commissioners, the multi-week festival engaged middle and high school students, senior citizens, and people with disabilities through two core components: the Day of Dance and Dance on the Move.
The festival launched on Friday, February 27, 2026 with the Day of Dance, hosted for the second year at Frank J. Cicarell Academy in Elizabeth, NJ. Artistic Director Carolyn Dorfman and CDD’s ten company dancers led workshops and open rehearsals for approximately 100 high school students from five Union County schools: Cicarell, Thomas Jefferson, David Brearley, Hillside, and the Plainfield Academy for the Arts & Advanced Studies (PAAAS). From 9:30am to noon, students trained in Dorfman Technique and Repertory. Following a lunch break, they returned from 12:30 to 2:00pm for a peer-to-peer showing and open rehearsal, exchanging constructive feedback on works-in-progress with CDD company members. The company also shared excerpts of upcoming work to get feedback as well from the student participants.
The momentum continued from March 2–11 with Dance on the Move, a county-wide workshop series. For students, the series focused on technique and repertory; for senior citizens, it featured accessible movement exercises, video excerpts, and mini-performances. The tour kicked off on March 2 at Roosevelt Intermediate School (teaching 8th-grade drama students) and Westfield Senior Housing. County Commissioner Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded stopped by to observe the workshop at Roosevelt. On March 5, CDD visited PAAAS to teach 7th and 8th-grade dancers, concluding the tour on March 11 at the JTG Senior Recreation Center with Linden seniors and David Brearley Middle School (teaching 7th & 8th grade dancers).
From youth to seniors, the festival beautifully embodied CDD’s mission to connect and move communities, paving the way for the festival’s 10th anniversary in 2027.
