Just in case you’re in downtown Santa Cruz on Thursday afternoon looking to buy some cool socks or a Zoccoli’s sandwich, be aware it won’t be business as usual.

It’s again the annual celebration known as Santa Cruz Dance Week, and it kicks off Thursday, as it always does, with a quickie street festival on Pacific Avenue, featuring a dizzying number of dancers and dance styles on three stages. The huge public danceathon includes demonstrations of ballroom, hula, samba, folklorico, ballet, tango, pole dancing and more — so much more. The schedule calls for a different dance troupe to take the stage every 10 minutes. The fun begins at 5 p.m. and goes into the evening, followed by a big community dance party at Abbott Square.

The downtown event is merely prelude to a full week of dance events, sponsored and presented by Motion Pacific. Those events include participatory workshops, pop-up dance classes and live performances. Most events are free.

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Wallace reports and writes not only across his familiar areas of deep interest — including arts, entertainment and culture — but also is chronicling for Lookout the challenges the people of Santa Cruz...