DA:NCE Newsletter – May 2023

Want to participate? There’s still time to enter!
Visit DanceAwareness.com/SheLovesToMove for all the details.

Our friends at At the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) generously wrote this article about DA:NCE for their newsletter in February 2023. Used with permission

I’m honored to introduce you to a new DA:NCE trailer: Dance Studios & Children: 3 Survivors Speak About Hypersexualization. It weaves evidence-based research and personal stories into a powerful message about hypersexualized dance. It’s all about courage from Frances, Danielle and Jaime.

Beneath the Surface of Hyper-sexualized Dance in Children Growing up, I learned to split the light and dark sides of life. My conscious self lived in the light, while my unconscious self lived in the dark. Because no one in my conscious life spoke of this darkness, I too learned to never speak of it and ultimately to forget it entirely.

Consent. It is a concept that has always been and continues to remain highly valued. Emphasized not only as a way to protect people, but also to measure instances of abuse. However, it is false to assume that it is universally understood.

On November of 2022, I came across an article on the internet written by Clare Amari. It was developed to analyze questions that adults should ask before enrolling their child in ANY youth organization or program. Action-based and practical.

Feel free to share the information with your relational world. This is a much-needed cultural resource.

One of the goals of the DA:NCE is to highlight organizations we feel embody healthy dance. We are pleased to present: Stage Door Dance Productions, located in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Here is a brief report about a social media platform called Tik Tok that draws in 45 million children online. This information about Tik Tok is particularly relevant to dance students because they share dance videos online from dance and home studios that attract predators.

Share Your Dance Story

New Educational Presentation PowerPoint Video:
“Wholesome to Hypersexualized: What Happened to Children’s Dance?”

Voices of Courage magazine featuring the article “A History of DA:NCE: healthy, educational children’s dance to harmful, hypersexualized children’s dance”
Voices Against Trafficking (VAT) has announced the release of digital and print versions of the first-ever Voices of Courage magazine. This magazine is dedicated to honoring the everyday heroes who selflessly fight to protect human rights.  Readers will be inspired to find out who they are and why they took up the challenge.  Featured stories will cover topics including situational awareness, taking the next steps after a trauma (PTSD), the call for better care for victims, online child safety, breaking a perpetual cycle of abuse, survivor stories, and more.  Copies of the Voices of Courage magazine can be obtained at: www.voicesofcourage.media/digital-newsstand  (digital subscription)
www.voicesofcourage.media/newsstand/p/voc-spring-summer-issue  (print subscription)

Upcoming Events
National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Conference May 22-25 in Orlando, Florida

At an early age, young children are often being taught how to approach relationships and how to approach intimacy in the wrong way. The art of dance should not be used to divert young girls(and boys) from healthy sexual development. We need to carefully evaluate the cultural choices that entice young children to be viewed as adults. We need to produce healthy boundaries in dance so that girls and boys are protected relationally. Then, when they experience the beauty of dance, they can move as young children, not as adults.

You can make a difference by starting a petition in your own community. Your signature, and those of other concerned adults, can raise awareness and give a voice to end the sexualization of young girls through choreography and costumes in your own community!

Our Step by Step Guide to Educate Dance Studios provides helpful tips you can use when collecting signatures, and also outlines best practices for presenting the signatures collected to your local dance studio owner or teacher. And if you are ready to dive right in, download the local dance petition signature collection sheets and start collecting signatures. Your efforts will no doubt make a big difference in protecting young dancers in your community!

• Like what you see? Consider forwarding this email to a friend!
• Did a friend forward this to you? Click Here to start getting our newsletter.
• Would you like Mary to speak at your next event, give an interview or write an article? Click Here to contact Mary.
• Support the mission and message of DA:NCE. Click Here to give.