When I took dance as a child, my parents dropped me off at dance class and then picked me up. During that time, I was not exposed to hypersexualized adult content in costumes, choreography and music. Back then, cultural norms assumed that the dance environment for children was safe. And initially, for the main part, it was. But that has changed. An avalanche of new technology appeared 25 years ago that introduced children’s dance to the adult sexual culture through the internet, media and porn industries. That bled into exposure of inappropriate material for children. Over time, these entities produced an interconnected web of content that overlapped, reinforced, introduced and transformed the beauty of children’s dance into distorted money-making interests, commodification and soft-core porn. These industries, unlike other companies, had no regulation or accountability to keep kids safe from traumatic outcomes.

As the shadows in children’s dance got bigger and darker, and the evidence-based outcomes became clearer and clearer, the innocence in children’s dance came to a halt. The dance world was concerned but they were Isolated with a lack of resources & education. Few people understood the big picture. A toxic tornado took over society rendering children unsafe inside and outside the dance classroom.  What do we need to understand? This is not a horizontal problem just affecting children inside the dance industry. All children are exposed to harmful dance because all children have access to phones, endless internet platforms and a tsunami of age-inappropriate adult sexuality. It’s a public health issue that affects every child in the world because of its connection to pornography. It’s big, vertical and ugly.

That’s why Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited went to work on the creation of the DA:NCE Coalition with specific requirements welcoming a broad range of adults who do not support the hypersexualization of children inside and outside the dance classroom.

** DA:NCE is a non-partisan, unifying organization that welcomes input from any individual that values protecting children from hypersexualization in adult costumes, choreography and music inside and outside dance environments.

What is a coalition and why have a coalition?

1. Coalitions allow people and organizations to work together to achieve goals that are beyond the capacity of any one individual or organization.
2. The DA:NCE Coalition is an advisory and advocacy arm of DA:NCE Awareness—made up of dance teachers, studio owners, artists, enthusiasts, and caring adults who want to help Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited to:

• Bring international awareness and education to stop the exploitation through the hypersexualization of children in dance
• Promote the art of dance and its benefits to children by creating educational materials that advocate for their safety and protection in all dance environment

-The DA:NCE Coalition will raise the alarm that this is a problem and empower parents and adults to take action.
-The DA:NCE Coalition will provide free resources, research, and information for those who want to learn about the harms of hypersexualizing children.
-The DA:NCE Coalition will create coalitions, partnerships, and initiatives to support and empower others who want to address this problem.

Join the DA:NCE Coalition. Help us to prevent harmful dance exposure for children. Membership is free. And relax. You can engage with us as little or as much as you like.  As Coalition members, you will play a vital role in helping us accomplish our mission by offering advice and recommendations for current and potential DA:NCE initiatives and programs, and by helping us connect with and inform people of our work:

Advocate

• Nominate dance studios and organizations for the Healthy DA:NCE Directory
• Help inform fellow dance parents and dance community members about the Healthy DA:NCE Directory
• Talk about DA:NCE Awareness’ work with people and organizations you are connected with.
• Recruit other good candidates to join the DA:NCE Coalition

Participate

• Follow DA:NCE social platforms and share our content on FB, IG, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube
• Share your project and action ideas for DA:NCE to consider.
• Join a Coalition committee

Empower

• Connect us with anyone who seeks to protect children in dance
• Invite anyone with a harmful dance story to share their personal story

Contribute

• Share your ‘My Dance Why’
• Share your harmful dance story (if applicable)

Ways to Use Our Resources

• Sign up for the DA:NCE Newsletter featuring articles from dance professionals and community members dedicated to protecting children in dance. We release 3 issues/year.
• Search our Healthy Dance Directory for studios that commit to healthy dance practices for children
• Search our Parent Resources and  Research Articles to learn more about the issue of hypersexualization and its effects on children
• Read Our Free Ebook, “Healthy or Harmful Children’s Dance”
• Watch/Share our evidence-based Video Interviews and Documentaries to hear testimonies of the harms of hypersexualization

Ways for Others to Get Involved

• Join the DA:NCE Coalition
• Nominate a studio or organization for our Healthy Dance Directory
• Share a ‘My Dance Why’ story or (if applicable) their Harmful Dance Story
• Join the DA:NCE newsletter

The DA:NCE Coalition provides the unified voice of many adults who recognize this cultural pattern to engage with community discussions and most importantly, community action. With education and resources, informed choices can lead to cultural transformation.

Let’s get to work!