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The Tabor Dance Community, a weekly gathering in Southeast Portland, will hold a special celebration for Juneteenth.
“We are honored to celebrate the significance and importance of Juneteenth, and be reminded of the historical legacy about this day, and ending slavery and for African Americans,” vice president of finance for Tabor Dance Kevin Torres says. “We have a really big community of DJs and musical talent around Portland and we just wanted to commemorate that and spotlight these individuals in this event.”
Tabor Dance first started during COVID when a group of friends decided to start bringing Bluetooth speakers up Mount Tabor and inviting people to dance in a socially distanced manner. Since then, the weekly event now amasses an average of 500 people every week, moving to different park locations, and has officially become a nonprofit organization.
“Our events attract a very diverse group of people in Portland,” event organizer and board member Nick Johnson says. “Everyone’s kind of just having a good time and bringing love, and it’s infectious.”
For the Juneteenth event, Tabor Dance collaborated with Jonathan Denerson of Samewave Radio in putting together the evening’s lineup, consisting of Black DJs Chaz Van Queen, Diff Hue, and Aux Pope (Denerson). This week’s dance will take place at Laurelhurst Park, starting at 6 pm.
Juneteenth aligning with the weekly dance is a coincidence, but it’s one the event organizers at Tabor Dance fully embrace.
“It’s really fortunate that this year our Wednesday free event that we do throughout the summer happened to fall on a very important holiday,” Johnson says. “We are excited to celebrate important holidays with our community. Uplifting each other and welcoming everyone is what really drives our community and we’re doing what we’re doing to continue to make that happen.”
More information about the event and Tabor Dance Community can be found at tabordance.org.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to better express the intent of Kevin Torres, Nick Johnson, and Tabor Dance.