A complete history of the Cambridge City Dance Party
If Cambridge had hosted a city-wide dance party in 1846, women would’ve lifted their petticoats as they stepped from from horse-drawn carriages. Men would tip their hats to their female dance partners, who would feign smiles as they tried not to faint because their corsets squeezed their ribs too tight. They would dance in an open field in what is now Central Square.
Fast forward 150 years. The field is now home to the large, Romanesque city hall building.
And Friday night, that exact spot will welcome thousands of people who will get their groove on in the city-wide dance party from 7 to 11 p.m.
City officials planned their first such party to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary in 1996. More than 500 people showed up.
Why a dance party?
Uh, why not?
Sure, the city could’ve planned a street festival or a parade, but Ini Tomeu, Cambridge’s public information officer, said the event was meant to be a true celebration of community. And what better way to get to know your neighbors than belting out the lyrics to “Safety Dance’’ with your barista or doing the hokey pokey and getting all turned around with your local librarian?
The event was such a success they planned another dance party for the next year. Then the next. Then the next. (You get the idea).
Now, in 2015, the city is expecting its biggest crowd ever, which is saying something for an event that typically draws between 10,000 and 12,000 people.
Tomeu said the city expects more than 20,000 people based on estimates from the City Dance Party Facebook event page.
“Some people call every year to double check the date because they plan a mini vacation around it,’’ Tomeu said. “We’ve had calls from the South Shore and New Hampshire.’’
The free event is intended for Cambridgians (Cambridge-ites? Cantabridgians?) but Tomeu said anyone is welcome.
And, she stressed that no alcohol is allowed.
What about the people who sneak in flasks?
“We hope people don’t do that,’’ she said. “It’s an alcohol-free event.’’
At the beginning of the night, she said families arrive with little kids come, and seniors park themselves in lawn chairs across from city hall— if they aren’t dancing. After a few hours, the fashionably late young people show up and dance on into the night.
The scene, Tomeu said, is wall-to-wall people. Or, as Mike Avagianos put it:
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Tomeu said DJ Herbie Tavares will play conga lines, nae naes, and oldies.
They will be a blend of pretty much everything, just like Cambridge.
After all, Cambridge has grown into a diverse community of more than 105,000 residents (up from 8,400 in 1840), with more than 28 percent born in other countries.
But one thing seems to unite all Cambridge residents — a love of dance.
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