Photos: Dance Parade Turns East Village Into A Giant Street Party

You couldn't ask for better weather to start NYC's summer spectacle season on Saturday, as the 13th annual Dance Parade stepped off just north of Union Square and turned the East Village into a party. More than 150 different troupes and organizations participated this year, with an estimated 10,000 dancers making their way to Tompkins Square Park, having a blast along the way.

Dance Parade is one of the more culturally diverse of all the city's great parades. Among the approximately 100 different styles of dance on display this weekend were Samba, Hip-Hop, Disco, Bolivian Tinkus, Modern, Congolese, Salsa, Irish, Bellydance, Capoeira, Korean, Jazz, Cha Cha, Trance, Caribbean, Line Dance, Majorette, Chinese Folk, American Tribal, Kathak, Bolivian Carporles, Funk, Pom, House, Scottish Highland, and Freestyle.

The point of it all, beyond the fact it's incredibly fun to participate in and awesome to watch, is to "promote dance as an expressive and unifying art form." Dance Parade is a non-profit organization, and even as it's grown and become a downtown tradition, the event, which also includes a festival in Tompkins Square Park, still feels very grassroots. Click through for a look at this weekend's celebration.