We were saddened to learn of the death of Joyce Boorman on Friday 23rd March 2024, aged 91.
Joyce was the initiator of the first ‘Dance and the Child’ conference in 1978 at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada with a program centring on the child as creator, performer and spectator. This resulted in an international gathering of concerned people from the world of children's dance and subsequently led to the formal establishment of the organisation dance and the Child international – daCi - at the Stockholm, Sweden conference in 1982. You can find more on Joyce's legacy to our conferenes by scrolling to the bottom of this conference history page.
We heard from Joyce’s friend, Jan Vallance that, two days before she died, Joyce went with the nurse to a musical entertainment where she sang, clapped and danced with everyone, encouraging the hesitant also to join in. She will be cremated and finally laid to rest on the white cliffs of Dover near her home at Folkestone, Kent, England.
Some daCi members knew Joyce personally, many know of her work with dance and children which inspired us all. Her important legacy lives on with us through daCi and our triennial conferences.
You can upload reminiscences of Joyce in the daCi Members Area Tribute Group or via our Facebook group in a comment.
A full obituary will follow soon.