This February we celebrated Valentine’s Day around a bouquet of dance organizations dedicated to protecting children. Their fragrance is a celebration of values.
I’ll start by describing the bouquet with a flower from Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited. Our mission is to bring international awareness and education to stop the exploitation through hypersexualization of children in dance(in adult costumes, choreography and music). Our vision is to promote the art of dance and its benefits to children by creating educational materials that advocate for their safety and protection in all dance environments.
As we continue to lift up healthy dance and its wonderful, researched outcomes for children, 2025 will be the year we’re going to drill down on the traumatic outcomes for children exposed to hypersexualized dance; that’s a connection that aligns with CSAM(child sexual abuse material). To help you get the connection, let’s remember how the APA (American Psychological Association) defines the meaning of hypersexualization for girls:
-She is valued only for her sexual appeal or behavior rather than other characteristics
-Her physical attractiveness is equated with being sexy
-She is treated as a sexual object — that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making
-Sexuality is inappropriately imposed on her
Hypersexualized children’s dance fulfills each one of the criteria for hypersexualization using the APA definition. Note that whether children are in the dance classroom or are watching hypersexualized dance outside an actual classroom, their psychological[see APA link above for psychological outcomes] and brain development is affected. The cultural result is a grooming process that normalizes what is not normal. That’s why we have developed the Healthy DA:NCE Directory, the DA:NCE Coalition, My DA:NCE Why, the DA:NCE Newsletter, and many other resources to educate and support YOU about what is going on. Friends, let’s get moving and take action(no pun intended). I’m often asked the question. How do we change the culture? I respond simply. Friends, we ARE the culture: the army of the ordinary; we are the calvary to protect children.
Trauma Expert Dan Allender says this: “Sexual abuse with children has the most return on evil.”
With joy, let me continue to fill your Valentine vase with flowers that protect kids in dance. These are dance organizations who want kids to flourish in healthy movement environments. They blend together to form a celebratory bouquet. Enjoy:
YPAD (Youth Protection Association in Dance) The mission of YPAD™ is to bring awareness to and provide resources for one essential priority: the safety and health of dance students. We believe dancer well-being is the cornerstone of the industry. YPAD certifies dance studios to ensure safety for all students.
IADMS (International Association for Dance and Movement Specialists) Mission: IADMS is an inclusive organization for professionals who care for those who dance by evolving best practices in dance science, education, research, and medical care to support optimal health, well-being, training, and performance. Their vision is to build a global community that provides accessible and applicable evidence-based research, resources, and programming that improves the health of dancers and the use of dance to improve health.
daCi (Dance for the Child International): Vision: Every child has the right to dance. They believe that all children and young people should be able to express themselves through dance. Their aim is to create possibilities for children and young people around the world to experience dance as creators, performers and spectators. Their mission is to promote the growth and development of dance for children and young people internationally, with respect for the ethnic, gender, physical, and cultural identities and all abilities of each young person within a spirit of international understanding.
DFL (Dance for Life): Their mission is to bring awareness to suicide and its root causes, implement preventive programs and events, eliminate the stigma of mental health and increase access to mental health resources through dance and the performing arts.
Bridge: The Bridge Dance Project vision is a grassroots network supporting the whole-person health and wellness of competition and commercial dancers and teachers by providing current dance medicine and science information. The Bridge Dance Project mission builds bridges between the competition and commercial dance community and the dance medicine and science community by providing easily accessible, readily applicable, and personally empowering information.
SiDi (Safe in Dance International): Their mission is to promote and endorse Healthy Dance Practice, ensuring that everyone who dances—whether professionally, competitively, or for pure enjoyment, can do so effectively, safely, and with a reduced risk of injury.
Safer Dance: The Dance School Safeguarding Working Group (DSSWG) aims to help protect children and adults at risk who attend dance teaching in out-of-school settings (“the sector”) in the UK by supporting and facilitating the implementation of high standards of safeguarding.
Don’t you love the cultural fragrance of adults standing up for healthy dance rather than harmful dance? This bouquet is beautiful and encourages me to keep sharing, keep creating, keep caring. That’s the minimum we need to consider as we implement protection for the kids we love.
By the way, feel free to email me about other organizations you think should be added to the bouquet: mary@danceawareness.com
