Dance of Life

With the support of the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport, The School of Dance set out to design and deliver a new outreach programme called Dance of Life. Planned for a span of 14 months, Dance of Life reached or surpassed every goal set.

Photo by Nicola Henry: street dance off in front of The School of Dance, July 28, 2011

Dance of Life focused on mental health and wellness, positive body image, nutrition, physical fitness, artistic expression and the celebration of community. Each project was designed to provide information, to entice participation, to listen to the concerns and worries of young people and to encourage attainable action plans. Over 14 months, The School:

• created and then directed 93 projects throughout Ottawa reaching more than 2,931 citizens of all ages, plus countless observers, in a variety of locations including: Bruyere Continuing Care; Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre; St. Peter's High School; National Arts Centre; St. Laurent Complex; Dovercourt Recreation Centre; Patro d'Ottawa; Glebe Community Centre; Ecole le Trillium; Ecole le Petit Prince; Ecole Assumption; Heron Road Community Centre; and the streets of Ottawa

• performed in 3 large public events (with the NCC, the Rideau Canal Festival and the Capital Pride Festival)

• hired 14 Ontario artists (both young and established) to deliver the workshops 

• gained 11 new community partners including: St. Peter's High School; St. Laurent Complex; Patro d'Ottawa; Glebe Community Centre; Ecole le Trillium; Ecole le Petit Prince; Ecole Assumption; Heron Road Community Centre; DragonFly; the National Capital Commission; and Capital Pride Festival.

• hired/worked with 8 specialists as part of the planning team, experts who helped create the relevant and vital platform of pertinent health information

• increased the number of volunteers supporting the workshops (from the partner organizations and The School)

All of the workshop material created for Dance of Life was entirely health oriented based on:

• good mental health through self-expression

• positive body image through exploration and knowledge

• the benefits at any age of a healthy life-style through quality food choices and positive physical activity

Dance of Life received national coverage shortly after the announcement of the project by the Ministry; Lussier-Ley, C. & Leger, B. (2011). Dance of Life: Learning community, health, identity, and expression. The Physical and Health Education Journal, 77(3), p.32-35.

Goddess, created by Ottawa artist Audrey Greyeyes is the image that represents Dance of Life projects. The original drawing of Goddess, ink on rice paper, is owned by Vreni Tanner.

For more information regarding Dance of Life projects or any of The School's other community outreach programmes, please contact Merrilee Hodgins, Artistic Director