Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The ballet school giving girls hope in a tough Nairobi neighbourhood

    Through Project Elimu, children in the Kibera neighborhood of Nairobi can take free dance classes that help them develop confidence, teamwork, self-expression, and physical fitness. The organization provides free meals to participants and also offers programming around sexual health, a crucial resource in an area where rates of teen pregnancy are high.

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  • What Greek Festival Dancers Can Teach Faith Communities

    Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral's folk dancing program and Greek Festival involve more than 450 dancers and roughly 500 volunteers. Faith leaders credit the festival with helping to build a sense of community that has kept engagement steady while other faith groups have seen a drop in participation.

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  • At Platinum Divaz, Black Girls Are Mentors And Leaders

    Platinum Divaz builds leadership skills and self-confidence among young people. While boys and all ethnicities are welcome to participate, the program focuses on raising the self-esteem for Black girls through dance. Divaz are assigned teammate mentors, typically teenagers, who teach dances and help younger girls with day-to-day struggles like school, bullying, and self-confidence. Practices like saying what they like about each other helps build each girl up with confidence and self-esteem. Supportive adults are also available as mentors to the girls.

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  • From dance to karate, schools keeping kids active with online sessions amid coronavirus

    Dance, karate, and music instructors in Staten Island, New York are adapting and shifting the ways they deliver lessons to work within the virtual landscape their students, and the rest of society are living in due to the pandemic. Some of the new ways these instructors have approached lesson delivery include using Google Classroom, developing a new music-specific learning platform, and incorporating new classes normally not offered.

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  • Minneapolis hoop dancer giving life lessons 

    Hoop dancing, an activity with origins in indigenous dance traditions, can provide a means to physical fitness and child development. In Minneapolis, a professional hoop dancer is using this knowledge and his skill to teach others at the University of St.Thomas Anderson Student Center how to utilize the practice to improve their own lives.

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  • The South Sudanese Refugee Dance Group with a Mission

    In 2018 Bidibidi's Got Talent crowned the dance group Burn dem squad as best in the entire settlement. The group was founded by a few teenage boys and is now made up of 15 members aged 17-19. The founders say that they use dance as a way to make friends and to "help fellow refugees deal with trauma from the war, raise awareness about social ills and promote peacebuilding between the diverse ethnic groups in the settlement and the host community".

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  • The hip hop school taking on Medellin's mean streets

    Learning the art of hip-hop provides youth with an alternative to the violence and despair that characterize disadvantaged neighborhoods. In Medellin, Colombia, a program called 4 Elementos teaches kids dance, Dj’ing, rap, and graffiti in a structured way, providing a creative outlet. Hosted in the high school of one the cities most troubled neighborhoods, the program began as an initiative of the Colombian hip-hop group, Crew Peligrosos. Having already reached thousands of kids, the program is looking to expand across Colombia with support from the ABC Foundation.

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  • Dancing through Gunshots in Brazil's Favelas

    The ballet program “Na Ponta dos Pes” (On Tiptoes) uses the teaching of ballet to girls ages 4-15 to inspire hope among the youth living in one of Rio de Janeiro's most violent favelas. Tuany Nascimento is not trying to turn all the girls into professional ballerinas, as she once was. Instead, she uses the discipline of dance lessons to show girls their lives can transcend their surroundings. Says one of the girls who attests to the power of the lessons, "They think we're only girls from a favela. Being poor, being black, being a woman ... We are people looking for hope."

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  • 'Dance has done so much for me': the leader of Kenya's slum ballet school

    Mike Wamaya opened a ballet studio for underprivileged children in Nairobi. Through dance, the children learn a skill, have a means to express often difficult things about their lives, and learn solildarity across tribal lines.

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  • Alive and Kicking

    The Young People’s Chorus of New York City uses music and dance to provide an emotional and creative outlet for children and teens from disparate communities. Through opera, dance, and chorus, this group creates connections between students who may never interact otherwise. The YPC now has a membership of 1,700 students and partnerships with famous composers, like Michael Torke, that produces original music. On top of everything else, the group also offers SAT tutoring, homework help, and guidance on applying to college.

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