About the Project
Adolescence is this complex period of time between childhood and adulthood during which the teenagers have to face many changes on different levels that are inherent to their condition. Physically, mentally, intellectually and emotionally, a revolutionary process occurs in the adolescents’ bodies and minds. This period of transition may be painful or at least uncomfortable. The role of the adults is to accompany these young people in the best possible way, even if they do not always understand one another.
Since dance appears as a sport, an art and a philosophy, involving the body and the mind we thought it could be a relevant vector to accompany these young people through adolescence and towards adulthood. On the one hand, we will focus on the adolescents’ issues and we will try to lead them towards an embodiment of European values. Dance will be used to express who they are, their emotions, their way of seeing the world and to experiment and embody the European values such as identity within diversity, equality, solidarity, children’s rights, freedom and environmental respect. Each teenager’s issue will be linked to the most relevant European value as a RITE OF PASSAGE.
Dance involves a greater range of motion, coordination, strength and endurance than most other physical activities.
The European teenagers will express themselves through dancing and love for physical exercise. Dance may help them learn to take responsibility, cooperate, make partnership, express freely and know their own rights.The teenagers involved in the project will be able to shape emotionally, spiritually and bodily by DANCING. Thus, they will manage to renounce old habits, spending too much time with electronic devices. They will have the opportunity to socialize, learn and share new movement techniques, cooperate in an optimal context and encourage one another in any situation. Teenagers, not necessarily the most skillful and talented ones, avoiding any kind of discrimination, need to be encouraged and taught to live healthily, share cultural and traditional dancing experiences, learn to live in peace and harmony. We will motivate teenagers into discovering themselves, into studying the various European lifestyles, cultures and dance movements, to learn to live together, with other nations and nationalities and accepting one another. The present teenagers should be allowed to initiate new dancing strategies in order to establish European partnerships and create a new world perspective.
Dancing is the ideal way to concretely support young people to go through that difficult period. It allows individual and collective development. Dancing is also an element of emancipation.
Hopefully, our European teenagers will develop their full potential in every possible way and open to the European values. We wish them to become the happiest and the most accomplished European citizens in the future. Beyond any skills or knowledge they may acquire we would like to convey these teenagers the following message: « You don't have to be great to start, you have to start to be great! »
