Zoe Harr

Still tapping our toes, the Center for the Arts looks back on SW!NG OUT's time within the community, George Mason University, and the Center. As an Artist-in-Residence, SW!NG OUT company members engaged with local swing dance groups, area students, Hylton Performing Arts Center’s Veterans and the Arts Initiative, and community members to share the history of swing and Lindy Hop—and get dancing too! After a wonderful collection of community activities, SW!NG OUT concluded its time at George Mason University with its highly anticipated performance at the Center for the Arts on March 19.

Having grown up between Minnesota and Mexico, Lila Downs holds great pride in her expansive heritage of being the child of a Scottish-American father and Mixtec mother. In an interview with Reforma magazine, Downs recalls her mother, a singer as well, giving her advice when she was young, “Lila, canta con sentimiento o no cantes. Lila, sing with feeling or don’t sing at all.”

Bringing local communities together to celebrate and explore Latinx cultures Hylton Center Artist-in-Residence Ballet Hispánico participated in multiple days of in-person and virtual activities with Northern Virginia dancers leading up to their performance February 19.