The Terrace of the Stillwater Public Library will host the Ninth Annual World Tai Chi Day event from 10:15 am to noon on Saturday. This is a free and family-friendly event that is practiced on the last Saturday in April in cities around the world.

The roots of this Stillwater event trace back nearly a decade. “Nine years ago, another instructor and I thought, ‘Why don’t we get our students together?’ And that began the whole thing,” said Aimee Van Ostrand, the Stillwater-based Healing Within Acupuncture owner.

Each year, they have had more instructors join in the experience, but what sets this year apart is the debut of a traditional Chinese dancing dragon, a nod to 2024 being the Year of the Dragon.

Volunteers and instructors from the Healing Within Acupuncture Studio, have been crafting the dragon with the community for months and during the event, several volunteers will help move the dragon during the finale, orchestrating its dance to the beats of the Women’s Drum Center from St. Paul.

Attendees can expect to participate in and watch an array of tai chi styles and extended energy forms, including cane form, staff form, and the fan form. Leading the movements will be tai chi instructors from both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Van Ostrand said the event’s significance is more than simply practicing tai chi, “it’s a part of a global movement for world peace and unity, with thousands of cities participating, and it’s important for us to act locally, even when thinking globally.”

The event is free but donations from t-shirt sales will be given to The Urban Village in St. Paul, a local nonprofit dedicated to global humanitarian efforts.

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