Dance to Unite 3rd Annual Benefit Features Debbie Harry

On Tuesday, May 3, Dance to Unite presents the 3rd Annual Benefit: One Way or Another featuring live music from Debbie Harry at Avenues: The World School, located in Chelsea. The evening will be a celebration of artistic excellence and cultural diversity to benefit Dance to Unite's expanding free after-school dance and education programs.

"In the society we live in, unfortunately, many young teens do not have a support system. They need a place to go where it is positive and inviting. Often these youth are left to fall through the cracks and be forgotten. Dance to Unite will open so many doors for respect, and self-worth and give them the tools to succeed in life no matter what path they take," said Tayna Carmon, a volunteer and parent of program participant.

This year, Dance to Unite proudly honors Jenny Morgenthau, who recently retired after 32 years as the Executive Director of the Fresh Air Fund. �As part of the celebration, students of Dance to Unite will perform to music icon and Blondie lead singer, Debbie Harry's biggest hits live. The attire will be business casual.

"What I like about Dance to Unite is that we showed people that no matter if we're different on the outside we're the same on the inside," said 9-year-old Josh, a program participant of Dance to Unite.

Dance to Unite, Inc.�is�a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to use dance as a vehicle to teach and to celebrate cultural diversity. We are committed to creating positive experiences for children to develop understanding, acceptance, respect and compassion for all cultures culminating in unity for the purpose of future peace.

Dance to Unite, Inc. partners with After School programs to offer weekly free dance classes with an educational component that celebrates cultural diversity. The classes are complemented periodically with special guest artists who conduct workshops to promote our mission of unity and peace. Each Dance to Unite class culminates with and end of the year performance.

The name Debbie Harry evokes many images: seminal rock-n-roll figure, complex songstress, incandescent front woman and fashion icon. As a vibrant global force and a shaper of pop culture, Debbie's chart-topping success, fearless spirit and rare longevity led to an induction into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame for Blondie in 2006, more than 40 million albums sold worldwide and acclaimed solo projects to boot. She has even engaged in an acting career with over 30 film and television roles to her credit. She has become and still remains a true national treasure, one whose influence continues to impact the worlds of music, fashion and art.

With Blondie, undeniably one of the most trailblazing and influential bands of our time, she and co-founder Chris Stein brought the worlds of rock, punk, disco and ska together with "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me" and broke ground by combining hip-hop and pop on "Rapture." As a solo artist, Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards co-produced her first release "Koo Koo" in 1981 and she continued to defy expectations with such genre-busting efforts as "French Kissing in the U.S.A.," "Rush Rush," "Rain" and "The Jam Was Moving."

Her spectacular voice drips with a sophisticated elegance rarely heard in pop music and she continues to infuse her work with an exquisite artistic sensibility. From an irreverent Lower East Side punk goddess to bona fide international ambassadors of New York cool, Debbie Harry will forever be synonymous with that punk spirit that lives somewhere in all of us.

The 3rd Annual Benefit: One Way or Another will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3 at Avenues: The World School, located in Chelsea at 259 Tenth Avenue, NYC, 10001.

Tickets can be reserved by making a $150 minimum donation per person at http://www.dancetounite.org/events/.