The project "Dance Through Europe" is a strategic partnership for the exchange of knowledge, students and teachers between 5 partners in secondary education in Dance: Havo/vwo voor Muziek en Dans in Rotterdam The Netherlands (HMD), Escola De Dança Do Conservatório Nacional in Lisbon Portugal (EDCN), IIS NICCOLINI PALLI in Livorno Italy, Škola za balet i ritmiku in Zagreb Croatia and Sukromne Konzervatorium in Košice Slovakia. In total 156 students (aged 15-18) in Dance will be on an exchange during the project. The project is artistically supported by Codarts, University of the Arts, Rotterdam. Dance communicates without words being spoken and is a true universal language. This means that the future professional perspective of the students in dance is international by default. The international work field of professional dance is highly competitive. Most of the talented dancers entering the top dance companies have followed an education at only a few top Bachelor programmes in the world. A qualification as a student to one of those excellent Bachelor programmes is therefore essential. For each school it has been challenging to secure acceptance of their students during the auditions. Next to pure dance skills on a high technical level, the possession of a strongly developed personal artistic profile/artistry is of fundamental importance to the dance student who wants to succeed in the auditions, besides skills like a professional attitude towards the work and the work environment, an open mind, ability to cooperate, communication skills, curiosity, ability to adapt, self-reflection, self-regulation, emotional awareness. To maximize the essential personal growth and development of skills needed to succeed in the auditions during secondary education we believe that international exchanges will enhance this process. The funding by the Erasmus+ programme will enable the partnering schools to research this, and to assess the value to embed international exchanges in their future curricula. This will be the main objective of the Project. By following dance lessons and master classes in various styles (classical ballet, diverse contemporary styles, improvisation, composition, repertoire study), the students come into contact with unknown areas of dance and the associated different methodologies. It will enhance team work and individual development. Artistic coaching by the team of teachers before and after the classes, will help guiding and stimulating the process to a beneficial artistic development and a personal signature as a dancer. Activities such as visiting professional dance organizations and performances will be part of the program. Together with assignments and workshops that focus on orientation on the professional practice, these activities will built on gaining insight in the country specific situation and broaden the students world perspective. It gives a view on the future dance work field and network. The mutual contacts between the students during presentations, reflections and peer feedback sessions, will contribute to the language and communication skills of the students. They will be able to beneficially use communication as a mean to stay connected to their environment and the people within this environment. Discussions on cultural heritage and social inclusion will be organized; they will stimulate critical thinking and articulation. The students will use digital ways to connect and built networks. The co-organization of the program and the side program, makes the students partly responsible for the success. Students will have the ability to relate to 21th Century skills like self regulation, critical thinking and problem solving ability. Assignments including reflection essays, peer assessment, logbook notes, and visual recordings will help the student analyse and reflect. The students will develop skills that enhance their professional attitude, and will gain an improved understanding on how to put this into practise in all required situations within their daily practise (classes, rehearsals, presentations, school repertoire, auditions). A shared performance would be a desired outcome after the two years. Connected to the performance a symposium will be organized based on the findings, with focus on the dissemination of the results. The international elements and the anticipated observed benefits and personal growth for dance students, will create a drive to maintain exchanges as part of the schools curriculum. Furthermore, the project helps to professionalize the accompanying teachers and through their experience anchor the international dimension of dance education within the schools. The international experience, learning from peers, perspective on other school systems and associated results, will create an incentive to ensure continuous improvement and development.
The project "Dance Through Europe" was a strategic partnership for the exchange of knowledge, students and teachers between five partners in secondary education in Dance: Havo/vwo voor Muziek en Dans in Rotterdam The Netherlands (HMD), Escola De Dança Do Conservatório Nacional in Lisbon Portugal (EDCN), IIS NICCOLINI PALLI in Livorno Italy, Umjetnička plesna škola Silvije Hercigonje (previously Škola za balet i ritmiku) in Zagreb Croatia and Sukromne Konzervatorium in Košice Slovakia. In total 120 participants were on exchange during the project. About 500 local people were involved in the different activities. An online symposium between all partners in May 2021 concluded the project, which is artistically supported by Codarts, University of the Arts, Rotterdam. Dance communicates without words being spoken and is a true universal language. This means that the future professional perspective of the students in dance is international by default. The international work field of professional dance is highly competitive. The dance students and teachers have seen and experienced this from up close during the exchanges. It opened the students' eyes, as most of them otherwise never met their fellow international dancers before the auditions. Most of the talented dancers entering the top dance companies have followed an education at only a few top Bachelor programmes in the world. A qualification as a student to one of those excellent Bachelor programmes is therefore essential. For each school it has been challenging to secure acceptance of their students during the auditions. Next to pure dance skills on a high technical level, the possession of a strongly developed personal artistic profile/artistry is of fundamental importance to the dance student who wants to succeed in the auditions; besides skills like a professional attitude towards the work and the work environment, an open mind, ability to cooperate, communication skills, curiosity, ability to adapt, self-reflection, self-regulation, emotional awareness. To maximize the essential personal growth and development of skills needed to succeed in the auditions during secondary education, we believed that international exchanges enhance this process. This belief was indeed confirmed. By following dance lessons and master classes in various styles (classical ballet, diverse contemporary styles, improvisation, composition, repertoire study, folk dance, and more), the students came into contact with unknown areas of dance and the associated different methodologies. It enhanced team work and individual development in both the dance and social field. Artistic coaching by the team of teachers during and after the exchange week, helped guiding and stimulating the process to a beneficial artistic development and a personal signature as a dancer. Activities such as visiting professional dance organizations, performances and other cultural venues were part of the programme. Together with assignments and workshops that focus on orientation on the professional practice, these activities built on gaining insight in the country specific situation and broadened the students world perspective. It contributed to the students’ view on the future dance work field and network. The mutual contacts between the students during reflections and feedback sessions contributed to the language and communication skills of the students. Discussions about the different activities during the exchange week took place, which stimulated their critical thinking and articulation. The students used digital ways to connect and built networks. The students improved the ability to relate to 21th Century skills like self-regulation, self-assurance, critical thinking and problem solving ability. Assignments included working points, reflection essays, reflection talks, visual recordings and filling in a survey. These assignments helped the student think, analyze and reflect and let us understand the contribution of this project. The students developed skills that enhanced their professional attitude, and gained an improved understanding on how to put this into practice in all required situations within their daily practice (classes, rehearsals, presentations, repertoire, auditions). With the funding of the Erasmus+ programme we enabled the possibility, together with our partners, to research and assess the value of an international exchange. The international elements and the confirmed benefits and personal growth for dance students, created a drive to maintain exchanges as part of the school’s curriculum. Furthermore, the project professionalized the accompanying teachers and through their experience anchor the international dimension of dance education within the schools. The international experience, learning from peers, perspective on other school systems and associated results, created an incentive to ensure continuous improvement and development through an in-depth 2nd Erasmus+ project.