Although D.C. is a great city for dance, it hasn’t historically been a great city for dance galas. On any given night in New York, top dancers regularly perform short, explosive pieces in the name of one charity or another, but that wasn’t the case in D.C. until 2013, when we finally got a decent gala of our own. The cause is a worthy one: CityDance’s DREAM program, which offers after-school dance lessons at six D.C. public schools. Bad Boys of Dance founder Rasta Thomas is producing the program, and he’s brought in an array of stars from all genres. Ballet will be well-represented by local leaping wonder Brooklyn Mack, as well as Pete Leo Walker and Anna Gerberich, a power couple from the Charlotte Ballet. A trio of dancers from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its junior company will travel south from New York for the occasion, as will two dancers from Complexions Contemporary Ballet (pictured.) From Chicago comes tapper Jumaane Taylor, and local hip-hop troupe Culture Shock DC is in the mix. And that’s only the first part of the lineup. Tickets cost about half the price of a comparable event in New York, so get out and see some dancers to keep the kids dancing, too. The performance begins at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. $25–$38. (202) 888-0050. thelincolndc.com.