News

Farewelling Branka Petričević
by Jasmina Zagrajski Vukelić on behalf of all daci Croatia members

Our respected member and daCi Croatia co-founder Branka Petričević, passed away on December 7th.She was the Croatia representative (and ex Jugoslavia) in daCi International since its foundation in Canada.Branka spent her entire working life as a dance teacher at the Zagreb Youth Theatre.She also actively participated in daCi Conferences in Edmonton, London, Dartford, Worchester, Leuven, Stockholm, Salt Lake City, Bedford, Eindhoven, Kuopio, Lisabon, Regina, San Salvador, Den Haag.She remained daCi Croatia honorary president until her death.We all will remember her for her great enthusiasm in promoting daCi goals, kindness and nobility.

Farewelling Marion Goughby
by Jeff Meiners

Sadly, British dance educator Marion Gough passed away on September 6th 2021, leaving husband Bob, daughters Amanda, Vicky and their families.Marion was an early member of daCi UK and spent her life dedicated to dance as an inspirational educator teaching at Laban London and in Europe, publishing two books In touch with dance and Knowing Dance: A Guide to Creative Teaching.She left her position at Laban aged 60 and was sought after for freelance opportunities, working with dance companies, leading a professional development course for community dance practitioners alongside teaching and examining courses overseas.In 2018 Marion received the Dance UK Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance Education and Learning.I remember Marion fondly as a profoundly kind colleague, friend and humanist. She will be remembered by those whose lives she touched and changed with a philosophy deeply grounded in a rigorous teaching practice that empowered learners through dance. daCi sends sincere condolences to Marion’s family

daCi members Alba Pedreira Vieira, dance professor at Federal University of Viçosa, Brasil and Valéria Maria Chaves de Figueiredo, dance professor at Federal University of Goiás, Brasil pay tribute to Paulo Freire in our latest newslettter.

This year we celebrate the centenary of Paulo Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997), a philosopher and educator whose thoughts and proposals in education, in general, have changed our approach to dance through emancipatory pedagogy. His ideas, discussed in many books and papers, on freedom, collaborative and community oriented curriculum, critical awareness, democratization of access to quality education and social justice have contributed to his progressive perspective, a point of view that favors the autonomy of the students (1998). For him, a praxis oriented by ethics and aesthetics favors decency and affectivity to walk hand in hand in the educational journey. As dancers, we may also want to build on Freire’s notion of cognitive critical thinking to one of ‘entire being thinking’ or ‘thought-full being’ (Vieira, 2007).

As Brazilians, dance artists and educators, we invite our daCi colleagues around the world to also celebrate Dance as a great possibility to promote embodied dialogues that foster children and young peoples’ imagination and trust to building together a better world. Expanding his ideas on the need for a pedagogy of deep listening, let´s celebrate Freire’s important legacy by improvising together an anticolonial dance performance, oriented by our “responsibility of recreating ourselves in society” (Shor & Freire, 1987, p. 77)

Let´s create together new movements and gestures embodying the challenge of understanding and respecting each other, human and non human bodies, as well as living together in this so diverse and complex dancing planet called Earth.

At this moment of joy for Freire´s centenary, we also face a big challenge: the COVID-19 and its variants. His words from the book Pedagogy of Hope, encourage us at these difficult moments: Cultivate your own and your students’ dreams and curiosity in the educational process; embrace movement, change and the unpredicability inherent to life (and to dance). From Freire´s dialogical pedagogy, we hope “embodied dance education may continuously come to life as a transformative experience of being, making and doing […] of being aware of our incompleteness. Transformative dance is embodiment of one’s conscious inter-subjective intentionality, which embraces inner and outer life with love, joy and hope” (Vieira, 2007, p. 236).

Referências

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: The Seabury Press.Freire, P. (1973). Education for critical consciousness. New York: The Seabury Press.Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy and civic courage. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.Freire, P. (2002). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum.Shor, I., & Freire, P. (1987). What is the “Dialogical Method” of Teaching? Journal of Education,169(3), 11–31.Vieira, A. P. (2007). The nature of pedagogical quality in higher dance education. Tese (PhD. em Dança). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Philadelphia. Recuperado em 05 de dezembro de 2021 de https://www.academia.edu/28287828/The_Nature_of_Pedagogical_Quality_in_Higher_Dance_Education

We are excited to share that three of our daCi colleagues are presenting at the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) 'Mapping Dance and Dance Teaching: Past(s), Present and Future(s)' online conference this Friday 3 and Saturday 4 September.

On Friday 3 September at 13.30-15.00 BST in Panel 3, Toronto conference organiser and former daCi Treasurer, Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt will be presenting 'The Power and impact of the dance studio experience' followed by daCi Chair Dr Susan Koff presenting 'Dance competitions as colonialism'.

Then on Saturday 4 September at 9.45 -11.15 BST daCi Chair Elect Dr Jeff Meiners will be presenting 'The impact of ballet and Indigenous dance upon learning in Australian schools'.

Explore the full conference programme here https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/teacher-training/conference-2020-london-mapping-dance-and-dance-teaching-pasts-present-and-futures/ . One and two day tickets are available and you can contact the RAD on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

We are pleased to announce that the deadline for the submission of proposals to the daCi 2022 conference has been extended to August 30, 2021. We want to encourage the sharing of the rich variety of quality work that has been ongoing throughout Covid-19, and we understand that the previous deadline might have posed a challenge as we all experience disruptions to our usual schedules and sense of time. To submit a proposal, go to www.daciconference2022.yorku.ca

Indigenous choreographer, activist, researcher and Artistic Director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Santee Smith has been announced as one of the Keynote Speakers for our next international conference Dancing into Communities which will be hosted online by daCi Canada from 10-15 July 2022 I

Tekaronhiáhkhwa Santee Smith is an internationally recognized leader in the performing arts. A multidisciplinary artist and producer from the Kahnyen’kehàka (Mohawk) Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, she is one of Canada’s leading dance artists and an accomplished pottery designer. In addition to an MA in Dance from York University, she holds degrees in Physical Education and Psychology from McMaster University where she holds the position of Chancellor.

Santee will be joined by dancer, choreographer and motivational entertainer Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli. Luca has been dancing (B-boying) since he was 15-years-old. He has developed a unique dance style incorporating his crutches and the strength in his arms, that has gotten him worldwide recognition. Lazylegz has been featured on Ellen, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, America’s got Talent, plus others. Luca was the segment director and lead performer for the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Opening Ceremonies. Luca is the founder and creator of the ILL-Abilities™ Crew, an international B-boy crew comprised of the world’s best “ILL-Abled” dancers. Luca also co-founded Projet RAD which was Canada’s first inclusive urban dance program offering people of all ages, all abilities the possibility to participate in accessible dance studios. Luca has been recognized as the Canadian Ambassador for Dance and received a Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada for his dance outreach programs.

​Luca speaks 4 languages (English, French, Italian, and Spanish) and travels the world teaching/sharing his passion for dance to people of all ages and all abilities. Luca is now combining what he has learned with ILL-Abilities and Projet RAD to take his career to the next level while constantly sharing his message to the world that “It’s about taking the bad and making it good” and there are “No Excuses, No Limits”!

Images ©Jerick Colantes

Keynote Classes have also been announced with Alfdaniels Mabingo, Ugandan dance researcher, performer, and educator.

Dr Alfdaniels Mabingo is a Ugandan dance researcher, scholar, performer, educator, Afro-optimist and co-founder of AFRIKA SPEAKS. Born and raised in his ancestral village, Mbuukiro, on the shores of Lake Victoria in central Uganda, East Africa, he holds a PhD in Dance Studies from the University of Auckland. A recipient of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship, Mabingo also holds an MA in Dance Education from New York University; as well as an MA in Performing Arts and a BA in Dance, both from Makerere University in Uganda. He has taught dance courses at Makerere University in Uganda, New York University in the US, the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica. His research sits at the intersection of decolonization, interculturalism, postcolonialism, dance pedagogy, creative economies and African philosophy. Mabingo has published more than 20 peer-reviewed scholarly articles and book chapters. His book ‘Ubuntu as Dance Pedagogy: Individuality, Community, and Inclusion in Teaching and Learning of Indigenous Dances in Uganda’ was published by Palgrave McMillan in 2020. Mabingo’s academic writings have been recognized and recommended by NDEO and DSA as essential readings on anti-racist pedagogy.​Mabingo has received numerous, prestigious scholarships and awards for outstanding academic leadership and excellence. He has taught dance in schools, presented research, and staged and performed choreography throughout the world.

Keynote Panel: Traveling back and moving forward - daCi Dance Scholars

Dr Ann Kipling Brown has been a daCi member since 1982. At the Dancing into Communities conference, she will present a retrospective on daCi exploring the history and evolution of the organisation led by volunteer Executives and Advisory Board members, a number of conference organising committees and attendees of all ages.

NEW DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CONFERENCE:   July 10-15, 2022.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: July 26 2021