*Trigger Warning: This article discusses themes of Child Abuse* There are very few experiences in this life that stimulate the mind, body, and soul in the way that dancing does. Dance has the unique ability to speak in a way that words cannot, and impact us on a deeper emotional and spiritual level. Anyone who
Exactly a year ago, well into a pandemic that unleashed a spike in child sex abuse, Netflix released the film Cuties. The storyline centered on an 11-year-old Senegalese girl living in France who, like all preteens, struggles in defining her own identity while desperately seeking acceptance from her peers; in this case, a group of
by Heather Harrington As a mother, dancer, choreographer, and educator I want my daughters to go to dance class to learn about their bodies, explore connections between their mind and body, and find ways to express themselves. I do not want them to learn from dance how to worry about their appearance; are they thin
This is a post-truth era. We are living in a time where the idea of absolute morality is no longer in question. We are living in a time where individual autonomy reigns – whatever the viewpoint, whatever the circumstance. We live in a culture where what is right is defined by doing what feels right.
By Kristin Kusanovich, Senior Lecturer, Santa Clara University, Artistic Director, k2dance, San Jose, Past President CDEA, California Dance Education Association When I was volunteering at a carnival at my daughter’s school a couple of years ago, I found myself with time and space to think. I was stationed at the dessert booth with a great
by Grace French As a survivor of child sexual abuse, a dancer, an advocate, and the founder of a national non-profit focusing on preventing and responding to sexual violence in sport, DA:NCE’s mission immediately stood out to me. I started dance at 5, fascinated by the twirling ballerinas, tutus, and scarves I had seen on
Dr. Brook Parker-Bello was happy to be interviewed for the 2020 DA:NCE film: ‘Healthy and Harmful Dance: What Do the Experts Say?’ Although she did not dance as a child, she was abused and exploited in her early years. As a national expert on child abuse with a PhD, Dr. Bello knows that all forms
by Susan Gingrasso, MA, CMA, LOD Teacher Trainer Associate Director of the LODC What if children had an “alphabet” of movement concepts to explore, experience, and build their understanding of themselves as movers, as creators? What if this “alphabet” guided children to think, do, and feel their own movement fully – to develop their ownership
by Susan P. Lloyd Last October, I was on a flight from SFO to Miami, FL to present at the National Dance Educators’ Conference. I happened to sit next to Nancy Ng from the Luna Institute in Berkeley, California. She too, was on her way to the conference. Ms. Ng asked the title of my
by Kristen A. Jenson, M.A. “The girls come to the set ‘porn-ready’” remarked one pornographer, as he commented on the changes he saw in the performers. Thanks to so much sexual objectification in the media and in dance, his new female “porn stars” needed little coaching. How tragic. But how understandable. Especially when you acknowledge
