FOX 8: Now anyone can groove in downtown Akron — here’s where to go

Now anyone can groove in downtown Akron — here’s where to go

by: Justin Dennis

AKRON, Ohio (WJW) — A dance floor now in downtown Akron’s Lock 4 is the city’s public dance party spot.

The temporary installation has Bluetooth speakers to play music from cell phones or other devices and depicts large-scale hands wearing rings and a bracelet, according to a news release from the city.

Dancers can bump their favorite playlists from 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. through Oct. 2. The connection has a 20-minute time limit, however, “to allow anyone else in the vicinity to enjoy the installation,” according to the release.

The installation was funded by an arts award from The Knight Foundation.

It was created by Swedish architects Anna Fridolin, Anna Pang and Teres Selberg, part of the collaborative Dansbana! founded in 2015 in Stockholm. The all-female group started designing open-access dance floors due to “a lack of public recreation spaces for young girls and women around Stockholm,” reads the release.

The site design came from a series of workshops over the past year involving Akron-area dancers, cultural organizations and artists. Its installation is part of an “ambitious artistic presentation” by FRONT International, a free, triennial public art festival in Cleveland, Akron and Oberlin.

“Local artists and dance organizations sharing their vision for public space helped to create this collaborative platform for dance and creative expression in the heart of downtown and we hope Akron residents and visitors will enjoy engaging with this installation,” FRONT Triennial founder Fred Bidwell is quoted in the release.