What is Community Dance?

Community dance is for everyone. You don’t need to have any previous dance experience. Community dance embraces people from all backgrounds. It doesn’t matter what age you are, your gender, ethnicity, or what abilities/disabilities you possess.

Community dance provides a means for individuals to explore and express themselves creatively in a safe environment...where one can feel positive, respected and valued about their participation. Community dance is not about learning set steps to music. Rather, it encourages participation and collaboration in a creative process of making dance, connecting to others, developing authentic movement, learning new things, and enhancing one’s sense of greater community. 

Community dance promotes joy, health (in all aspects), creativity, mindfulness, friendship, and a sense of belonging. None of this could be accomplished without the guidance of enthusiastic, dance professionals (such as Desirée) who excel at community-engaged art practice. These highly-skilled dance artists and educators offer their creative and collaborative community dance sessions outside of traditional training settings. Sessions are usually offered at community centres and may be subsidized by grants from funding organizations (e.g. Vancouver Park Board, Vancouver Coastal Health: Arts and Wellness, local community centres). 

- LINDA MASCHAK, COMMUNITY DANCER