Event Lectures and Symposia Live! At The Library: R&B and Soul Line Dancing with "Queen Nur"
Date and Location
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When: Thursday, February 27, 2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm EST
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Where: Thomas Jefferson Building - Great Hall
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Part of Live at the Library
This free event is included as part of Live! At the Library. Tickets for Live! At the Library are required and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Click the "Get Tickets" link below for more information and to secure your ticket.
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.

Part of Live! At The Library, this event, led by Karen Abdul-Malik (“Queen Nur”), will feature R&B and Soul Line dancing for folks of any level to participate in over the course of the evening. Set to the music of two popular DJs from the Philadelphia region, workshops for beginners to learn basic steps – such as the cha, cha, salsa, and derivatives of swing like Chicago stepping and the Philly Bop – will also be offered at the starting and halfway points. Dancers will be treated to a selection of R&B and Soul classics of The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Stevie Wonder, and Prince, through to more contemporary artists. Dancers that will be featured are Gloria Kingcade and Aline Goodman. Instructors there to support the event will be Theresa Brown and Kenny J.
R&B and Soul Line dancing is a longstanding tradition in African American communities across the U.S., particularly in urban centers from the East to West coasts, including here in the DMV region, too.
“Queen Nur” was selected as the 2022 awardee of the AFC Community Collections Grant to document the history and innovations of Urban Soul Line Dancing communities in the Philadelphia region.
The AFC’s Community Collections Grant program is part of the Library’s Of the People: Widening the Path initiative to create new opportunities for Americans to engage with and add their perspectives to Library collections, so as to share a more inclusive ‘American story’