Zumba Convention

Downtown Indianapolis will transform into each basketball fan’s fantasy the firstborn week of April as the NCAA Women’s Final Four Basketball Tournament rolls into Downtown. April 1 – 5 is jam-packed with probabilities to cheer on your bestloved teams. No ticket, no problem! With more than 300 restaurants and bars and various fan events, Downtown is the place to catch each minute of the tournament. Use this selective information as your guide to optimize your basketball experience Downtown.

Women’s Final Four Games:

• April 3, 7 & 9:30 p.m. – National Semifinal Games (Conseco Fieldhouse)

• April 5, 8:30 p.m. – National Championship Game (Conseco Fieldhouse)

Even if you don’t have tickets to the games, there are a heap of ways you may still get enjoyment from Final Four excitement.

Fan events:

• April 1 – 3, respective times – Tourney Town (Indiana Convention Center) FREE

Tourney Town is the epicenter for all Final Four fan and community events. Enjoy basketball interactives and clinics, children’s entertainment, coach and former player autograph sessions, giveaways and merchandise. It is home to the Center Stage concert venue which offers FREE daily concerts. Fans will experience outstanding music in a festival-style atmosphere of food, syndication experiences, concessions and fan excitement activities. Kellie Pickler headlines April 2 for a FREE concert!

• April 1, 11:30 a.m. – POWERADE NCAA Youth Clinics (Tourney Town) FREE

Boys and girls ages 8 – 16 may participate in the NCAA youth clinics to learn and heighten their achievements in basketball and in life with women’s basketball coaches, student-athletes and basketball experts from around the country. This event is FREE and open to the public. Registration is required.

• April 2

o 8 a.m. – 4Kay Run hydrated by POWERADE Zero (Motor Speedway)

Join the fight versus women’s cancers by taking part in the 4Kay run held in honor of late North Carolina State University head women’s basketball coach Kay Yow.

o 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. – NCAA Girls Junior Journalism Workshop (Conseco Fieldhouse and Tourney Town)

Participants get to detect Women’s Final Four practices, be active players at news conferences and learn radio, TV and blogging techniques. To top it off, all players will receive official NCAA credentials.

o 10:45 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Open Practices and Team Autograph Sessions (Conseco Fieldhouse) FREE

Attendees may watch teams exercise and receive autographs from the Women’s Final Four student-athletes and coaches on complimentary commemorative posters.

o 3:45 – 4:15 p.m. – Battle of the Bands (Conseco Fieldhouse) FREE

Immediately after open practices, this battle features the pep bands form the four foundations displaying their school spirit.

o 4:30 p.m. – WBCA High School All-American Game (Conseco Fieldhouse)

This esteemed event showcases the most gifted female high school basketball players.

o 5:30 p.m. – Kellie Pickler at Center Stage (Tourney Town) FREE concert

Indiana native, Casey Jamerson, will be the guest performer at 4:30 p.m.

• April 3

o 7:30 am – Sunrise Service with Indy Racing Ministry (Artsgarden) FREE

Service will feature pastors and musicians and is open to all fans and community members.

o 10 am – noon – Special Olympics Youth Clinic (Tourney Town)

Special Olympic youth players will learn and heighten their sports, conditioning and life skills.

o 2 p.m. – Circle City Dribble (Conseco Fieldhouse and Tourney Town) FREE

Youth, 18 and under, are invited to dribble their way through Downtown Indianapolis. Participants receive a t-shirt and basketball.

o 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. – NCAA Pep Rally (Tourney Town) FREE

Features performances by the pep bands, cheerleading squads and mascots from all Final Four teams.

• April 4 & 5, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. & 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Tourney Journey Tours (Throughout Downtown)

Visit major Indianapolis landmarks and stimulating attractions.

• April 5, 11:30 p.m. – NCAA/WBCA Coaches’ Trophy Presentation (The Westin Grand Ballroom) FREE

Celebrate the winning 2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champion and the head coach. FREE and open to the public.

Final Four Fan Gathering Restaurants

Downtown restaurants will adopt fans from each Final Four team for the duration of the championship.

Spokane Regional: Buffalo Wild Wings

Dayton Regional: RAM Restaurant and Brewery

Philadelphia Regional: Champps Americana

Dallas Regional: Scotty’s Brewhouse

Additionally, check out the Final Four Tent at Scotty’s Brewhouse April 2 – 6 or get enjoyment from feed and drink specials while observing the games on one of Champions Sports Bar’s a great deal of HD TVs. Get a list of Downtown restaurants at Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.

Spring Break Fun Downtown

Basketball isn’t the only stimulating thing happening Downtown this spring. Check out what’s happening March 25 – April 10.

Just relax & see the sights!

Take a scenic tour of White River State Park on a Segway. Segway of Indiana has coordinated an outdoor excursion that takes players past the a lot of attractions at White River State Park such as the Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis Zoo and NCAA Hall of Champions.

If a peaceful Spring Break is what you seek, the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) ought to be your initial stop. Every Thursday night from 5 – 6 p.m., you may walk the tranquil grounds of the IMA for a Meditation Hike. If you can’t make it out for the duration of Spring Break, don’t worry – they run all year long, each Thursday! You may also take a stroll in the 100 acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Nature Park. Tours commence at 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Don’t miss out on any of the exhibits inside the museum including Gauguin as Printmaker: The Volpini Suite, The Old Masters and Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial. See Chicago-based installation artisan Theaster Gates and his ensemble’s response to Hard Truths at And the Whole Yard Said Amen April 8..

Catch a movie at the Indy IMAX, the Garfield Park Arts Center or the Central Library for a distinctive movie night experience. Sea Rex 3D, Hubble 3D and Born to Be Wild 3D will all be at the IMAX respective times. Want to see the man behind the curtain? Register for Reel Life: IMAX Behind the Scenes to get a backstage tour March 30 & 31 and April 1, 4, 5 & 6. Space is fixed so call in advance. Go to vintage movie night at Garfield Park and see a movie for $3. See The Law of the Sea April 9. The Central Library’s series Movies that move the Arts will feature “Blood of the Poet” April 10.

See Madagascar Live at the Old National Centre March 29 & 30 starring the cast from the “Madagascar” film series including Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the Hippo and King Julien and the cunning Penguins. Join the action-packed adventure with magnificent singing and dancing for an experience the entire family will enjoy.

Nothing says spring like lemonade. Relax with a glass at Scotty’s Brewhouse and make a divergence for the duration of your spring break. Twenty-five percent of all lemonade and Shake Up sales in April will go towards instructing kids to be entrepreneurs.

Take me out to the ballgame Indians style

Baseball season in Indianapolis starts with the Indians opener April 7 at Victory Field. Enjoy the game, fireworks and then take your ticket stub to Scotty’s Brewhouse and get a FREE order of dill chips with the buy of two entrees.

Get feed and drink specials on game day at Champions Sports Bar and look for them at the stadium for further and added coupons! Champions will support you aid your favored pro team too, no matter who you are rooting for, with their baseball package.

The Indiana Pacers are almost finished with the regular season, but there are still numerous games where you may catch the action at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers take on Boston Celtics March 28, Detroit Pistons March 30, Milwaukee Bucks April 1, Washington Wizards April 6, Atlanta Hawks April 8 and New York Knicks April 10.

Get fit

The Madame Walker Theatre Centre has ways to get you fit this spring. Attend weekly Zumba classes on Mondays or the Stepper’s class on Tuesdays with the Circle City Steppers.

Have fun and get fit at the Learn to Skate classes at the Indiana/World Skating Academy Mondays and Saturdays.

Exciting exhibits

See the Bat suit, Darth Vader’s helmet or the Wicked Witch of the West’s hat at Incredible Costumes from Film and TV at The Children’s Museum. Make a day of it and explore the numerous other arousing and attention holding exhibits on display.

Remember Pumba from the Lion King? Now you may see his relatives at the Indianapolis Zoo’s Warthog exhibit. The Warthog and Bats exhibits are the two most recent additions to the Zoo family. Since it’s beginning to feel like spring, check out OMG! Orchids in White River Gardens. Gorgeous orchids from the Wheeler Collection at Ball State, the greatest University collection in the United States, will rotate all around the season.

Also check out Red Black: Related Through History at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art.

Show-stopping spring performances

See The Frog Prince at The Children’s Museum’s Lily Theater now – April 17.

Love musicals? See the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Great Choruses of Hollywood & Broadway at Hilbert Circle Theatre March 25 – 27. Also check out the Music of Styx with Dennis DeYoung March 31, Sibelius 2 April 1 & 2 and Tchaikovsky 3 April 7 – 9.

Join the Madame Walker Theatre for Soul Food Friday March 25 or An Evening of Song March 26. The night will include sultry vocalist Catrece Young, saxophonist Dar’rell Green and male vocalist Albert Townsend. Willie Nelson will be performing at the Old National Centre March 26 or see An Intimate Evening with Melissa Manchester at The Cabaret at the Columbia Club April 2. Victorian Theatre by Candlelight, Murder Most Merry will be at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site all around April.

Get a laugh in at the Athenaeum Theatre with Comedian Jon LaJoie March 31 or head to ComedySportz Theatre Thursdays – Saturdays for a lot of unforgettable improv.

Spring specials

Stop by the T-Mobile Downtown to check out a good deal of of the nation’s most immediate phones on the T-Mobile 4G network and get data plans or global talk and text for $10 a month.

Zumba Convention

Dancing in the Rain: Surviving Breast Cancer and Learning to Embrace Life is the story of five breast cancer survivors who are asked to dance on stage with Beto Perez, the creator of Zumba, at a fund raiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It chronicles their personal journeys through breast cancer and their roles as breast cancer survivors in the community. Dancing in the Rain is full of valuable resources including a list of internet sites at the end of the book for anybody facing a breast cancer diagnosis. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. The myriad of treatment choices and conclusions may be overwhelming. How do you know what’s best for you and your family? How do you make your needs clear to your doctors? There is no single treatment option that’s right for everyone. You have to take control and get the facts so you may fight on your terms. Lisa Sayers, Cat Brennan, Margie DiCello, Susan Veitch, and the author Frances Joyce met at a fund-raiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Pittsburgh. The event was sponsored by Zumba International and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The women felt an instant connection both as breast cancer survivors and Zumba enthusiasts. They decisive to portion their stories hoping to give hope or courage to other women to stand up and take control of their treatments. They want everyone to know that breast cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Life doesn’t stop; you just learn to schedule your treatments around it. There will be laughter as well as tears, and once you are diagnosed you become a survivor. You join a powerful and loving sisterhood of women who have been where you are and who have come through treatment with dignity, grace, and a much necessitated sense of humor. This book was also written for the families and friends of women or men who have breast cancer. Lisa, Cat, Margie, Susan and Fran tell you what it’s like to have breast cancer so you may better grasp what your loved one is going through. Learning in regards to the reactions of their families and their friends for the duration of their journeys will support you grasp a good deal of of your own sensations for the duration of this uncertain time.

About the AuthorFrances Joyce lives with her three sons in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania. This is her original published work. She grew up in Palmetto, Florida and attended Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina where she studied Business Administration. In October 2008, she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and she expended the next two years in treatment. She is now cancer free. Since her cancer diagnosis she has become an avid supporter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and 10% of all profits from this book will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Pittsburgh. She has written two other books which are works of fiction and will be published soon. Look for Life’s Work and Lie to Me on in the near future. Her next writing project will be a non-fiction collaboration with Carole Munne in regards to the perceptions and experiences of five women from dissimilar countries coming to live in America.

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