Hip-Hop Dance Event In Wayland Will Mark Juneteenth

WAYLAND, MA — In its second Juneteenth observance, the Wayland Free Public Library this weekend with host a Philadelphia dance company for a hip-hop dance event.

Illstyle & Peace Productions will perform Saturday afternoon on the lawn outside the library.

"The company creates work rooted in contemporary, West African, old school and new school hip-hop blended with an eclectic mix of dance and performance disciplines, including tap, ballet, hip-hop and more," the library said in a news release.

The dance performance will come on the eve of Juneteenth, a holiday that will be celebrated in full for the first time after state and federal recognition in 2021. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers informed slaves in Galveston, Texas, about the Emancipation Proclamation.

A consortium of local libraries, including Wayland, organized a June 16 event with Wellesley College professor Kellie Carter Jackson to discuss Juneteenth. All Wayland town offices will be closed on Monday to observe the holiday.

Saturday's hip-hop dance performance begins at 3 p.m. at the library, 5 Concord Road.