The Heart Dance Source Program
Our Idea is to offer a free after school dance program to elementary schools or community centers on the eastside.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Field of Work
health/sports
If Field of Work is “other” please define in 1-2 words below
Year project started (or projected start date) (yyyy)
2008
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Project URL (or link to any media coverage)
What is the primary problem your venture is trying to address and how are you addressing it (or planning to address it)?
In the schools and communities we are wanting to impact in East Vancouver, the kids that we are going to be working with, typically will be coming from a family who struggle to make ends meet. Most of these parents have a hard time keeping a roof over head and food on the table, let alone being able to pay for extra-curricular activities for their kids. Growing up in a household struggling to meet basic needs is tough enough, but when a kid in a tough financial family situation and not having any where to fully express yourself your day to day becomes much harder.
Name Your Project
The Heart Dance Source Program
Describe Your Idea
Our Idea is to offer a free after school dance program to elementary schools or community centers on the eastside.
Innovation
Project Description
Our Idea is to offer a free after school dance program to elementary schools or community centers on the eastside.
Unique and different
We are unique because we are teaching kids primarily from "their source". "Their source you say?" A source is where every individual comes alive, where they tap their creativity and release everything inside. It’s the place that starts your feet tapping and your head bopping, and if you are open to let it, it takes you on to the dance floor. This is the source, everyone has it but not everyone knows who to tap it. In comparison to other dance lessons, you learn the steps first. In this situation a lot of the time, students get embarrassed right from the start, intimidated by what’s in front of them. With us, we get kids comfortable with their own funk, grace, and movement, then the steps follow. Their source comes right from the kids, it’s not the steps that we teach them but it’s what they teach us.
Project plan
Currently we have a crew of six dancer teachers, a proposal, weekly meetings and a starting list of contacts who work in elementary schools on the eastside.
Our next step is picking up the phone and offering our program to the schools and community centers. We will be making arrangements for meetings and or interviews and discuss what situations will work best for the schools and/or community centers. Primarily once we have a set up, we want to really get to know the kids and create a regular schedule where they can rely on us. We will have a buddy system in our program so that at least 2 of us are teaching a class at a time to really get the kids comfortable and give them the one on one time that they need. We hope to enrich our classes with guest teachers (from our old dance studios), guest musicians (many of which are friends to us), field trips to different dance shows (many companies have extra discount tickets for schools). We also w ant to supply T- Shirts so that they do not have worry about what they are wearing, as well as have different props to really engage their creativity.
Partnerships
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Impact
Impact
The impact that we hope to make is to give these kids a sense of empowerment, creativity, freedom, expression, and hope. Allowing them to get comfortable with their own movement and knowing that they look awesome doing it. We will not be able to change their life situation, but we do hope that they will be able to find their own stability, courage, and creative self. To be honest the most important thing really is just to have fun!
Effectiveness
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How do you engage and impact the community?
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How do you measure this impact?
We will know that we are successful when these kids can out dance us. When the kids come and the door with a smile on their face and are ready to move, that is all we could ask for.
Obstacles
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This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Financing source
(or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)
This field has not been completed. (166 words or less)
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow and sustain your project?
This field has not been completed. (200 words or less)
Finance details
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Creative funding
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Other non finance needs
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The Story
Motivation
This idea was primarily able to exist because of my six years of dance training. Moreover, since I had stopped my dance training, I knew I wanted more for my life than a dance career. I was able to see out of the box and see that I could still nourish my passion for dance as well as to give to those in need.
Where it specifically took form, though was, when Charles Tsai, from Ashoka Youth Venture, gave a presentation to my class at Capilano University. Through his presentation, I realized that I did not need to go to India to volunteer at this point in my life in order to help people in need. Instead, it hit me that there are people right in my own city that I could help and a passion I have that can help.
Awards
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Broader context
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Ongoing
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What is your age?
Please select one
How did you hear about this competition?
Ashoka email
