The eighth annual Dance Bethesda, a weekend celebrating dance, will feature a formal dance concert showcasing area companies at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 3. The event, produced by Bethesda Urban Partnership and the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, will take place at Round House Theatre, located at 4545 East-West Highway in downtown Bethesda.

The six professional performers and choreographers selected for the concert include: Alexandra May Ballance/Joy of Motion Dance Center’s Youth Dance Ensemble (youth/modern), Culture Shock DC (hip-hop), Erica Rebollar/Rebollar Dance (contemporary), Furia Flamenca (flamenco), Soul In Motion (West African) and Tzveta Kassabova (contemporary).

Tickets are available at www.bethesda.org for $20 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under. Remaining tickets will also be available at the door.

Dance companies were selected through an adjudicated audition process. Nearly 40 dance companies from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., submitted performance pieces for Dance Bethesda auditions. Featured dance companies were selected by Amy Fitterer, Executive Director of Dance/USA; Karen Bradley, head of the Master of Fine Arts dance program and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park; and Meg Booth, Director of Dance Programming for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Dance Bethesda kicks off the weekend with free lessons and parties at downtown Bethesda dance studios from 7-10:30 p.m., Friday, March 2. Participants can learn steps and see demonstrations. Studios hosting open houses include: Dance Bethesda Dance Studio offering salsa, rumba, social dancing, ballroom and Latin; Dansez! Dansez! teaching hip-hop, jazz, folklore and Latin; Du-Shor Dance Studio demonstrating salsa, swing and tango; and Joy of Motion Dance Center offering ballroom, jazz and hip-hop.