Giving the Gift of Dance: An Article Series
At the risk of oversharing, I’ll explain to you where I am, mentally, as I write this article. The world outside looks a little discouraging. Conflict continues between police and protesters around our country fueled by racial tensions. News from the Middle East is dismal. My Facebook Feed displays photos of unrest in Mexico, and an article about child slavery in India. It’s all making my head and my heart hurt. It’s just too damn easy to find the negatives in our world.
Recently, I decided to write an article about dance programs that “give back” to the Philadelphia dance community. Tonight, I need to start writing this article.
I need a mental break from the turmoil that exists in our world, and writing about the good that Philadelphia dancers are doing in our community will be my sanctuary tonight...
So, to the five programs I will write about; (Koresh Kids, the Pennsylvania Ballet, The Rock School for Dance Education, 954 Dance Movement Collective, and Hip Hop Fundamentals), know that you do not only change the lives of the dance students you reach, but you also remind your community that the force for positive change is alive and well in the world, especially in Philadelphia.
Dance changes lives. If you’re a dancer, you know this to be true. If you love a dancer, you know this to be true.
And dance, as the mantra of this website states, is for everyone.
Surely everyone can dance at no cost; it is, after all, just movement. But to push ourselves as dancers through formal training, through education, through exposure… well, it can cost a bundle.
That shouldn’t stop dance enthusiasts, especially young dancers, from pursuing their passion. So, let’s all appreciate the studios, the organizations, and the people in Philadelphia giving back to the dance community.
There are outstanding programs in Philly that offer free/low-cost dance workshops or classes to adults (such as Dance Affiliates, or Philly Con Sabor) and studios that generously advertise their willingness to negotiate class prices for adults who struggle financially.
However, for my blog posts, I decided to focus primarily on five programs that cater to Philadelphia children in particular. Programs for children play a special role in giving back to the dance community, because children, as cliche as it is, are our future. Fostering a love of dance in Philadelphia children offers them brighter futures, and offers Philadelphia a future of dance-lovers and dance-supporters.
I originally thought I would write one post highlighting the four different programs. However, as I delved into the intricacies of each program, I decided that each program needed its own post. There is simply too much amazingness to cram into one article. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll publish individual articles about each of the five programs to create a series. A series about people giving their time, and their heart, to kids in Philly. After all, for our world to become a better place, taking care of our kids, our future, isn’t a bad place to start.
Read the current articles in the series here:
Article written by Hannah Lorenzo.
