No one can tell these New Yorkers not to dance.

Saturday's Dance Parade 2019 was sponsored by Spectrum News NY1.

Now in its 13th year, the event that got its start as a protest to a prohibition-era law that banned dancing in restaurants and bars, if they did not have a special license. 

"A bunch of people said, 'No. How can that be?'" said Greg Miller, executive director of the parade.

The law has since been repealed, but organizers have continued the dance tradition for many reasons. 

"The wide variety of participants, and the fact that everyone is celebrated for being exactly who they are," said organizer Yana Landowne.

NY1's own Roger Clark helped kick off the festivities at the intersection of Broadway and East 21st Street, riding the Spectrum News float all the way to the grandstand at Astor Place, where he served as emcee.  

Hundreds of dancers followed, but not before a new addition to the parade: a Native American circle dance performed by dancers from each of the 170 groups taking part in the parade. 

Dancers young and older, able-bodied and disabled, joined dancers of all shapes and sizes celebrating more than 100 different types of dance. Some practiced for weeks. 

It literally rained on last year's parade, but this year, organizers had no trouble lining the streets with spectators.  

"We're here on holiday and we just happened upon this," said one spectator.

After getting their fill of dance performances on the street, the public was invited to attend Dancefest, a dance party that continued at Tompkins Square Park. Some capitalized on the opportunity to strut their stuff with NY1's Ruschell Boone as part of the NY1 Dance Challenge. 

Overall, it was a colorful celebration of dance and culture, with no translation needed.