Dance Horizons is an 8-day international training course for youth workers and educators to explore the opportunities of using contemporary dance as an innovative, learner-centered approach in activities involving youth.

Goals and objectives:

The purpose of the training is to explore contemporary dance as a tool in community and youth work by personal experience, practice and physical training. The training offers a practical, easy-to-follow process promoting social inclusion, healthy lifestyle and active European citizenship on individual and community levels. The main focus is the development of creativity and entrepreneurial skills.

The training is here for you to:

• develop personal skills
  • how to make your communication more powerful
  • how to maintain your focus for longer periods
  • how to put creativity into practice
  • self-affirmation through increased level of self-confidence and self-esteem
  • gaining motivation to build and maintain healthy habits through increased amount of daily exercise
• practice basic tricks & techniques of contemporary dance, building phrases and choreographies, safe physical exercises, body awareness and coordination
• experience team coaching in practice – group dynamics, asking questions, choosing your words, giving coaching assignments, using photos and videos for coaching
• learn how to work with a topic relevant to a group or community, the basics of creating a dance performance with a team, how to put a message into a performance, stage logistics and use photos and videos as a tool for feedback

Participant profile:

The training is for you, if you work with young people and want to integrate methods of sports, dance, and movement in your work, or if you are a dancer or sports instructor and want to use your skills for the benefit of young people and communities,

AND

• you want to dance
• you are over 18
• you are physically and mentally ready to take 9-10 hours of physical movement/day in the training (If you are not sure, please consult your doctor, and contact the trainers and/or the coordinator of the training)
• you are willing to live, learn, play, experiment and explore together in a multicultural and multigenerational group for 8 days

No previous experience in dance is needed to join the training course.

About the methodology:

It is a training course at the beginner level in contemporary dance and performance creation, combined with action-based coaching, video and team coaching to facilitate group work in performance creation.

For more information about the methodology, please read the Infopack.

About the program:

80-90% of the program is pure practising and improvement, 8-10 hours of physical movement/day. Professional instruction and coaching are provided by the trainers.

• GYM [every morning] : The techniques we work with come from the basics of contemporary dance and sports, practicing them brings along the opportunity to create a connection between your mind and your body
• WORKSHOPS FOR SELF-EXPLORATION:  You can discover new sources of inspiration within and around you, and access your creativity.
• LEARNING QUESTIONS & REFLECTION [every morning]: In the beginning, you will set a learning question for yourself, keeping your process focused throughout the 8 days.
• *WORKSHOPS BY PARTICIPANTS: There will be an opportunity for participants with relevant experience to run their workshops.

Trainers:

Alex Tsiamoglou from Greece works as a choreographer, dancer and teacher of contemporary dance.

Krisztina Győry from Hungary is a personal development trainer, youth worker and coach.

They both have many years of experience in working with multicultural groups, and community work, using a variety of non-formal educational methods. They have been developing the program and the methods of the so-called „synergy dance training” together with the participants of the program since 2007, having done the program 9 times so far.

A team of volunteers will assist the trainers, they are people who did one of the previous versions of the program and want to improve their skills further by supporting the participants, mainly in logistics and coaching.

Finances:

The project is co-financed by Erasmus+. Food and accommodation are fully covered by the organizers.

You can apply for a funded spot if you reside in of the Member States of the EU, or associated countries and partner countries, and we will support you with finding a partner organization.

Contribution of participants: 70 €

Travel reimbursement is possible up to the following limits: 

• 10-99 km: 23 €
• 100-499 km: 180 €
• 500-1999 km: 275 €
• 2000-2999 km: 360 €
• 3000-3999 km: 520 €

*For this training course, it’s possible to use Green Travel.

Please read the attached Infopack before applying.

Apply here until 1st March 2024: Dance Horizons – Application form