Remember what happened at the 2019 NCOSE (National Conference on Sexual Exploitation) Conference in Washington DC? DA:NCE was privileged to film numerous amazing interviews from leaders in the field about why hypersexualization in dance harms children. As I write this blog, the DA:NCE Team is working diligently to release a new video resource using NCOSE experts that will expose the difference between healthy and harmful children’s dance; hopefully, it will empower adults to speak up and protect children. You can look forward to reading more about that topic in August.
What about July 2019? Well, it’s Westar Media. I’ve just completed 5 public service announcements (PSA) for Christian radio that are scheduled to go out in August with 5 additional secular media spots for PSA that will air soon. Introducing my newfound friends: Curt Morse from Westar Media and D Leone from Millennial Sound in Riverside, California. They “held my hand” in a new experience for me as we recorded radio spots educating the public about the harms of hypersexualizing children in dance. Curt and D were professional, kind, and knowledgeable. I recommend them highly. Of course, behind the scenes were David Koch, President of Westar (no relation to the Koch brothers) and others on the Westar team who collaborated with me to write the scripts for the radio spots. A big thank you to them. Naturally, since DA:NCE relates to a bipartisan audience, the end result will be broadcast nationally to a wide audience of adults who want to protect children and the art form of dance. Take a minute to listen and see what you think.
I hope that you like what you heard. It’s information to share with those around you. As well, just so you are up to speed, I’d like to keep you current on DA:NCE educational goals. The five secular and Christian radio spots were written with these goals in mind. Look below to educate yourself on why DA:NCE exists:
A. To protect children from hypersexualization in adult costumes, choreography and music, and to protect the art of dance
B. To create free research materials to give adults informed choices about the differences between healthy or harmful dance
C. To engage in respectful conversations about hypersexualization without shaming/demonizing adults or dance studios so that there is a path for reflection and changed perspectives
D. To communicate the hypersexualization of children in dance and its connection to the public health issue of pornography with bipartisan engagement
Healthy goals, like age-appropriate dance for children, serve as motivators to communicate with you. Along with the good news of these goals, radio spots and the new video resource that we are creating, let me share a wonderful email resource that I received last week. It introduced me to a healthy dance studio at Scripps Performing Arts Academy in San Diego California. Do you know that I read all the emails that I receive? That should motivate you to encourage your friends to submit the names of healthy dance studios on the DA:NCE website (To do that, click on this link at danceawareness.com). Note that Scripps has dance educators with a philosophy that does not focus on competitive dance. Although some competitions provide an age-appropriate atmosphere, I like the reflection that these dance educators articulate in reference to that issue. Of course, I also like the emphasis they have on age-appropriate costumes, choreography and music. Take a peek at this excerpt on their philosophy page:
“This is why the performing arts was never meant to be a sport. Art is subjective. In sports, you do not lose points because you didn’t smile enough while you scored that goal. Nor did you “lose points” if your uniform was wrinkled or didn’t have the right sparkle. When you attend the Symphony, Ballet or a Broadway Show, the entire audience leaves smiling or singing a tune. Consider when you leave a sporting event, 50% of the fans leave disappointed. We still love sports and the thrill of the game but there is a big difference between objective and subjective competition, especially when the pressure is on a young child.“ The arts were meant to inspire balance- physically, mentally and emotionally- offering integration with the right and left hemispheres of the brain for higher learning. Simply, at Scripps Performing Arts Academy we inspire learning from the inside out, rather than trying to motivate students from the outside in. We utilize age appropriate costumes and choreography.”
I’m inspired. How about you?
