Harlem was served a “gumbo of music and dance” on Tuesday night.

Barbara Askins, president and CEO of 125th Street Business Improvement District, gushed about the organization’s Harlem Holiday Lights parade ahead of the event and stressed the importance of preserving the neighborhood’s culture through music and dance—an ode to the 2024 theme: “Dance! Harlem Heartbeat.”

Twenty floats, representing local businesses, charities and organizations that make Harlem, Harlem were each accompanied by their own personal DJ to keep the neighborhood dancing as the floats moved through 40 watch areas and community activations.

The choice to fit each float with a DJ was intentional, Askins tells HarlemAmerica. “We need to embrace our culture and wrap business around culture,” she says. “We got into the soul of Harlem. … People have asked me to close [125th] street [for the parade] and I said, ‘No. We don’t want to close the street.’ We’re doing it in a living environment so you can feel the people of Harlem, watch the people in their cars, watch the people on the bus. Everybody is getting into the vibes.”

Helming the multi-block dance party from 116th Street to 135th Street was Misty Copeland, Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre and the parade’s 2024 Grand Marshal. “It is such an incredible honor. I can’t believe that I was picked,” Copeland says modestly. Her special connection to the neighborhood is stamped by The Misty Copeland Foundation which has “been serving children here in this community through after-school programming [and] free ballet classes,” she shares.

The acclaimed ballet dancer adds: “I stand on the shoulders of so many people from this community – it means everything to me.”

Copeland, dressed in a sparkly black sweater, a black leather skirt, tights and calf-length combat boots, never stopped dancing after she took her place at the top of 125th St. BID’s kickoff float. Her continuous movement and smile under the bright street lights set the tone for her youth dancers aboard and the neighborhood at large. Copeland stayed on the beat as DJ Masai switched from Caribbean tunes to cookout music such as “Before I Let Go” and “Candy” before bringing it to contemporary pop music from the likes of Doja Cat and Beyonce’s early solo discography. 

As Askins promised, Harlem quickly got into “the vibes.” The streets flooded with people coming out of stores, restaurants and their apartments to embrace their community, people rolled down their windows and honked in friendly acknowledgment of the parade and travelers on the bus were seen dancing through the glass windows. Some bold spectators took the booming music as their time to show off their talented moves, generating loud, “Ay’s” from the floats and other audience members.

Children also piled up to receive early holiday gifts from various organizations including Toys of Hope. “Toys of Hope is very excited to provide toys today for children to make them happy. We’re an all-volunteer children’s charity, this is our 30th year – all donations go back to the people,” founder Melissa Doktofsky shares.

The nearly 4-hour-long spectacle proved true to the theme. Harlem’s heartbeat is thunderous, but it’s one filled with love ahead of the holiday season.