The Pointe School of Dance

One of the goals of the DA:NCE is to highlight organizations we feel embody healthy dance. DA:NCE would like to introduce you to our featured healthy dance studio:  The Pointe School of Dance.  Located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, they stress correct technique and performance skills along with age-appropriate choreography, costumes and music.  To quote founder […]

Bringing Awareness to Healthy Dance Versus Harmful Dance

Healthy Dance.  At first thought these two words as written appear simplistic and self- explanatory, but with more critical thought and further examination the term, healthy dance reveals a far more complex meaning.  Healthy dance is in fact made up of many layers that are not apparent on the surface. Many years ago, when I […]

A Call to Action

“I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside, give them a sense of pride…” ~  Whitney Houston The powerful lyrics by Whitney Houston resonate deeply in my heart as a dance educator of almost 50 years. They hold not […]

Emotional Adultification in Youth Dance: Beyond Hypersexualization

Abstract While scholarship on youth dance has increasingly focused on hypersexualization, far less attention has been given to the emotional demands placed on young performers. This article introduces the concept of emotional adultification: the expectation that children embody adult emotional narratives such as trauma, grief, depression, pregnancy, and suicide. Drawing on over thirty years of experience […]