The Oportunidance Project aims at improving adults’ competences in foreign languages and intercultural communication in a creative and re-creative manner, through dance lessons and transnational social dance events, reinforcing linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe. It is proposed in the context where more and more adults feel the need to involve in social, relaxing activities via which they can also develop valuable transferable skills. The Oportunidance specific objectives are to get more adults from different European countries to: 1. improve skills in 1 to 6 languages at A1 to B1 levels, via participatory approaches and ICT-based methodologies; 2. involve more in dance activities, with all their benefits; 3. learn about other cultures by socialising with dance fans from different countries; 4. consolidate important skills, easily transferable to different professional and personal contexts, such as lead & follow, pay highly active attention to possibilities, rapid-fire decision making, using creativity and flexibility in different situations, expressing their personalities in an original way etc. The project involves a minimum of 600 participants from at least 5 countries, adults interested in improving their foreign language skills in an innovative and motivating way, adult dance fans who want to share their hobby at European level. We focus on 6 foreign languages (2 of which are less-widely spoken): French, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Romanian and Catalan, taught through OER, CLIL and the action-oriented approach. Our methodology is based on Blended Mobility – virtual mobility (use of ICT, social media, video dance tutorials for modules of 40 hours of learning), followed by 6 face-to-face local workshops and then by short periods of physical mobility - for the 3 international multiplier events, which complement and test the learning outcomes. During the face-to-face and physical mobility activities, participants work together in multinational teams using the languages of the project in order to carry out different tasks, such as creating dance choreographies, shows, etc. These tasks are meant to consolidate dance and intercultural skills (eg. reacting in an appropriate manner when dealing with someone from a different cultural background; better understanding culturally determined values; raising awareness about the influence of one’s own language and cultural references on grasping reality and the others; having multiple perspectives; mediating intercultural exchange, etc.). The results of the Oportunidance Project are 1. an online Platform containing learning modules focusing on foreign languages, intercultural communication and dance; 2. 7 transnational dance events aiming at consolidating & testing the skills and disseminating the Project (3 Multiplier Events and 6 local workshops, in the languages of the project); 3. minimum 7 research publications with international visibility on topics related to the project; 4. A transnational e-network of fans of dance, languages & intercultural communication, aiming at greater understanding of cultural diversity and sharing European values. The added value of our project is related to its long-term benefits with the participants, with impact at community level - national, regional and European: healthy lifestyle, personal development and artistic expression, self-confidence, body consciousness, involvement in creative cultural activities. One of the long-term impacts of our project will be a greater cohesion among multinational dance communities, a good exercise for intercultural communication, as dance keeps mind and body active, it develops social interaction competences, it forms valuable transferable skills that can be applied to any career path and it offers insight into other cultures.
The Oportunidance Project aims at improving adults’ competences in foreign languages and intercultural communication in a creative and recreational manner, through dance lessons and transnational social dance events. It is proposed in the context where more and more adults feel the need to involve in socializing and relaxation activities, but continue to be engaged in a diversity of task-oriented activities, via which they can also learn useful transferable skills. Participant organisations: 3 public universities, one public language school and one dance school - from 4 countries. The project has involved so far more than 1000 participants from more than 15 countries, dance fans, adults interested in improving their foreign language skills in an innovative and motivating way. Our main activities: designing online interactive language lessons (www.oportunidance.ase.ro ), dance lessons (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd4CSdT_Y2VIErCUKeSW-GQ/playlists) and synergies between these 2 activities; designing the project’s website (www.oportunidance.eu) and multi media tools (FaceBook Page, FaceBook Group, GooglePlus, Twitter, Pinterest, Dailymotion) and continuously updating them; three Multiplier Events, similar to learning events, involving the participants in interactive workshops; dissemination activities (research papers on project topics, workshops, presentations); 5 TPMs. We focused on 6 foreign languages: French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan and Romanian, taught through blended learning approaches. Participants followed online language, intercultural and dance learning modules via OER. Then some of them participated in action-oriented activities (dance choreographies, intercultural group activities, etc.), using the language content learnt in the online modules, focusing on reinforcing language, dance and intercultural skills (reacting in an appropriate manner when dealing with someone with a different cultural background; better understanding culturally determined values; developing multiple perspectives, etc.). The results of the Oportunidance Project are 1. an online Platform containing a. Modules to enhance skills in up to 6 foreign languages on specific purposes; b. Modules to improve intercultural skills; c. Dance lessons based on video tutorials; 2. Three Multiplier events; 3. Dissemination events, including dance workshops aiming at consolidating and testing the skills; 4. A transnational network of dance fans, languages & cultural diversity, aiming at sharing their interests on these topics, while practising skills related to them, via our website, platform and social media. The added value of our project is represented by the task-based learning exercises in multinational teams, by the research we have carried out in the domain of foreign languages for dance and the related terminology and speech acts, by the highly motivating activities we put into practice and by reinforcing participants’ self-confidence and artistic expression. Involvement in our project was conducive to participants’ self-development through innovative activities, leading to better communication between individuals at local, national and international levels, with constructive consequences on their personal and professional life. Impact can be translated in: improved language skills, intercultural and dance competence; improved transferable competences (lead & follow, using humour in problem-solving situations); more availability to participate in transnational events; better online skills, enhanced disposition to involve in online learning; more interest in self-development, healthy lifestyle and better life-work balance; new creative ideas related to specific areas of their lives, inspired by the Oportunidance activities. Teachers involved in the IO and PMI activities of the project have said that their professional skills related to designing and using online and non-formal teaching content and skills related to organising international learning activities have improved. We have also reinforced institutional networking, which is conducive to designing further common projects. Adults involved in our project will continue to find a more efficient way of combining learning new skills with leisure and will be attracted to practising social dance, with its long term benefits and important impact at communities’ level: dance keeps both the mind and the body active, it develops social interaction competences, it forms valuable transferable skills that can be applied to any career path and it offers insight into other cultures. Another long-term impact of our project: a greater cohesion among multinational dance communities, transferable to different other contexts. We consider that our project is innovative and manages to translate into practice creative ways to achieve the above mentioned results, with long-term benefits. For all these reasons, our project was awarded The ELL in November 2016.