“In New York and all over the world, audiences tend to select an aesthetic and stay with it,” the Battery Dance Company artistic director, Jonathan Hollander, said. “You’ll find your ballet audience and your flamenco audience, but I don’t want to encourage such parochial behavior. I want to encourage a taster’s choice, so that ballet fans can suddenly be touched by an African dancer even though they thought they didn’t have the knowledge to understand it.”

Mr. Hollander makes his vision a reality today, as his Downtown Dance Festival begins shows at Chase Plaza for the 25th consecutive year. Starting at noon today, downtown workers, residents, tourists and dance fans can enjoy outdoor performances beginning with the most local of all companies, Mr. Hollander’s own.

But Mr. Hollander has made it his mission to expand his audience’s eyes. “I feel strongly about including all aesthetics of dance, and showing the public a full range of styles and techniques,” Mr. Hollander said. “We worry that people do not get access to dance for economic or logistic reasons, or because they feel it’s not something they’ll enjoy.We want to open their minds and make dance accessible to the public.”

So until Sunday, audiences can feast on a buffet of styles, ranging from authentic Chinese tribal dances to classical Northern Indian combined with other foot-stepping such as tap and flamenco. Monday’s lineup travels from Argentina to New York and mixes ingredients of Austrian, Cuban, and American cultures. New Generation Dance Company bursts the boundaries of tradition with a contemporary-tango company directed by Argentinean Dardo Galletto. Rumba Tap is an Austrian tap dancer’s fusion of 1930s tap moves and Afro-Cuban rhythms. And lastly, the New York-based Vissi Dance Theater combines jazz, West African, modern, and funk in an urban contemporary style.

And this year marks the first since 2002 in which the festival will run its weekday lunchtime Art in the Workplace series, which has been absent in recent years due to a lack of funding. A five-person panel, including Hollander himself and an Asian Cultural Council Fellow and dance scholar, Daisuke Muto, selected from 16 companies from over 60 video applications to participate in the performances.

The real novelty of this year’s festival, however, is “Ocean of Light,” a dance tribute to mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and to remember the victims of the Asian Tsunami. Instigated by Sanjay Doddamani, an “empanelled artist” with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, this homage resulted from the collaboration of dancers and musicians from India, London, New York, and New Orleans. The group will perform Thursday and Saturday, before moving on to New Orleans for performances later this fall.

But Mr. Hollander notes that his programming won’t ignore classical ballet roots either. Peridance Ensemble will perform Igal Perry’s Nocturne, and Elie Lazar will followup on Lazar Ballet NYC’s debut at the festival last year. Kate Thomas, having moved from modern to contemporary ballet will present a preview of her new choreography with “Ballet Neo.”

“This will be interesting for people who only think of “Swan Lake” when they think of ballet, but also for those who want to see where new choreographers are going,” Mr. Hollander said.

The Downtown Dance Festival has long been a place for both the established and the newly emerging. As a result, festival audiences have ranged from pinstripe suited men craving culture over lunch, to families with children, dance lovers, workers, and more. With this year’s emphasis on diversity of style, it promises to continue to do so again.

Until August 27 (various locations, for more information, call 212-219-3910).