MOVEMENT OF LIFE
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Gamechangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport competition.
Dance movement as alternative approach to recovery, healing, selfexpression for empowerment & psychosocial rehabilitation for vulnerable women & girls
About You
Contact Information
Title
Ms
First name
Sohini
Last name
Chakraborty
Your job title
Founder & Director
Name of your organization
Kolkata Sanved
Organization type
NGO
Annual budget/currency
INR 1200000
Mailing address
60 Dasnagar, Ground Floor, Lake Gardens, Kolkata 700 045, India
Telephone number
033-6415 9281
F-a-x number
NIL
Country
India
Website
Email address
Alternative email address
Location
Project Street Address
60 Dasnagar, Ground Floor, Lake Gardens
Project City
Kolkata
Project Province/State
West Bengal
Project Postal/Zip Code
700 045
Project Country
India
Your idea
Choose your sport: (check all that apply)
Dance
If you chose "other" for Sport, please define in 1-2 words below
What approach does your initiative incorporate?
Capacity Building
Year the initiative began (yyyy)
2004
Paste your video code here:
If your project has a website, paste the web address here:
Plot your innovation within the discovery framework:
Barrier
Social stigmas and prohibitions
Insight
Let girls lead
This field has not been completed.
Name Your Project
MOVEMENT OF LIFE
Describe Your Idea
Dance movement as alternative approach to recovery, healing, selfexpression for empowerment & psychosocial rehabilitation for vulnerable women & girls
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Dance movement as alternative approach to recovery, healing, selfexpression for empowerment & psychosocial rehabilitation for vulnerable women & girls
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?
Through our 54 classes per month, we have 2500 participants per year from populations in redlight areas, slums, domestic workers, trafficking victims, platform children, populations at-risk of trafficking, mentally-challenged populations. Indirect Reach: Thousands through advocacy, performances, seminars, and government/corporate/NGO outreach.
Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.
We are partnering with 30 organizations in South Asia, to whom we provide dance therapy: Apne Aap Women Worldwide (Kolkata and Bihar); All Bengal Women's Union; Ananda; Ashurali Gram Unnayan Parishad-CBO; Bengal Service Society; Bhumika Vihar; Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of West Bengal; DonBosco Ashalayam; Diksha; Education Media Research Center; Grouppe Development SARO; Health Vision; Newlight; Pathabhavan School; Praajak; Parichiti; Sanchar; Sanlaap; Stree (Andhra Pradesh); Nirman- CBO; Samadhan- CBO; Sambhana. - CBO; The Goethe Institute –Kolkata; Vital Voices; World Dance Alliance-West Bengal Chapter; West Bengal Dance Group Federation.
International Partners: Association for community development, Bangladesh; American Dance Therapy Association; Antarang, Nepal; APC- Nepal; CWIN, Nepal; DEPDC, Thailand
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Our curriculum has evolved into a method of therapy and a voice of expression for vulnerable populations and victims. Specifically, the method focuses on using dance as a vehicle for learning selected life-skills, renewing a healthy mind-body relationship, addressing psychosocial handicaps and developing new community bonds. Our therapy has yielded results, proving that body movements, when used sensitively, can become a powerful tool for confidence building, rehabilitation, reintegration and advocacy. From being labelisation/stigmatization, our clients tranformed to being “proactive advocates”: individuals who've made peace within their violated souls and are now ready to voice their concerns.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact
From being cowed down and killed by a sense of hopelessness and societal rejection, our clients are now proactive advocates for change.
What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation
Victims and vulnerable populations report that initially they were victims of violence and abuse. They considered that to be part of THEIR normal life. But after our workshops, they report gaining social and legal awareness about their rights which have encouraged them to protest against such abusive behavior at home and in the workplace and establish their own social identity in the social strata. The mind and body, which so far have been abused, exploited, and violated, are now transformed into creative agents of expression. This makes a huge positive impact on the survivor’s self image and how she will lead her life from now on. In the words of three survivors: “I gain a sense of freedom through dance.” ; "DMT has helped me change my own life and how I deal with the world. I feel that I am human too, with rights like everone else." ; “When I dance, I feel a release from all that worries me. For me dance is an achievement."
Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?
We are already impacting policy. West Bengal Govt's Deptt of Social Welfare is using DMT therapy as a form of psychosocial intervention. There are talks with the Education minister to incorporate DMT in state-run schools as part of life-skills training. The NGO sector is partnering with us in incorporating DMT in their psychotherapy in government-run mental hospitals.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?
The field of Dance Movement Therapy is very new in South Asia. Kolkata Sanved aims to evolve as a Centre of Excellence in South Asia first, and globally later, advocating the practice of its pioneering, powerful rehabilitation method that has shown almost 'magical success.' In many cases DMT has worked better for our clients and proved more effective than traditional counselling and therapy.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
We receive support funding from UNIFEM; Global Fund for Children; Global Fund for Women; local consultancy fees for classes, workshops; fundraising performances.
Financing source
Annual budget
INR 12,00,000
Annual revenue generated
INR 14,30,000 from support funding, consultancies, fundraisers.
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
15 full-timers; 2 full-time volunteers; 11 occasional volunteers including national and international dancers, therapists, academics.
What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?
Two funding proposals are currently stuck as we're in the process of getting FCRA clearance from the government. DMT being a non-traditional therapy, it doesn't gain immediate currency with funders and requires a lot more effort to get funding.
What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?
Our partners are our strength. However, as all DMT trainers are past survivors initially, the challenge was to get some of our partners to accept these women as trainers. Another example: in a school setting, when students learned the trainers were formerly from shelter homes, they reacted adversely. With news of our reputation having spread, this is no longer really a challenge.
The Story
What stage is your project?
Ongoing project .
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.
As a dancer trained in numerous dance forms, Sohini Chakraborty began the search for a synthesis of art and activism for social change as an MA student of sociology at Calcutta University.
It was during her work with Sanlaap, a human rights and anti-trafficking organization, that her view on dance began to find a new meaning. While working at Sanlaap, she introduced dance movement to the rescued victims of trafficking and sexual abuse; the process included self inquiry, confidence building, and empowerment. As she began researching about trafficking and the prostitution in Kolkata through field experience as well as literature, Sohini experimented with breaking the barriers of traditional dance. She evolved Dance Movement Therapy as a tool for rehabilitation and empowerment for vulnerable populations after 9 years of experimentation and learning
Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative
Emerging from a rich background in the performing arts, Sohini Chakraborty fused her years of training in Navanritya, Bharatnatyam, Contemporary Dance, Dance Therapy, and theatre with her academic career to create Kolkata Sanved, and pioneered the use of dance movement as an alternative approach to recovery and healing, and for the psychosocial rehabilitation of vulnerable people. “What I fight for is not just to teach them dance, but make them strong, dignified citizens."
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Comments
Hi Sohinidance,
What a great program! By looking at your website it looks like your organization has a pretty detailed program. It is great that you partner the sport of dance with counseling and raising awareness for HIV/AIDS.
What are some of the daily challenges that your organization face, how would you use the grant money to fix these challenges?
Thanks for your submission and great community work!
Courtney
Nike
Thank you for your questions and your interest in our programme. I am listing the challanges we face -
1. In the past two years there has been an increased interest in our programme. As a result we would like to train more Dance Movement Therapy trainers from survivors of trafficking and violence, for which we need more grants. If we do receive the award we would use part of the money for our Training of the Trainer programme which is our one-year programme formulated to train prospective trainers.
2. Another challenge we are still facing is lack of space. Owing to increase in number of new trainers, we face problems in accommodating them. They face difficulty in practicing for their sessions, performances and trainings. We have to rent separate spaces even for conducting small workshops/training programs. If we are awarded a grant we would also use it to rent a larger permanent office space that would take care of all our needs.
3. Another major challenge is that after being employed as DMT trainers most of the survivors opined that they wanted to stay away from the shelter home set-up or their own homes in red-light areas (which are not quite safe).
Under these circumstances, as Kolkata Sanved has no funds for renting or providing them with accommodation, finding a safe shelter for them has become a major concern. Hence the practice of community living has been taken up as a possible option. On giving our best efforts, Kolkata Sanved has temporarily managed accommodation for only 4 trainers (female), while more are waiting in the queue. We need money to resolve this concern.
Regards,
Sohini
Hi Sohini,
What a compelling program to engage and change lives thru dance! Keep up the great work and good luck in this competition!
Kathy
Nike
Thank you very much for your inspiring comments.
With Regards
Sohini
Hi Sohini,
There is another entry from Brasil that also uses the power of dance connected with the empowerment of black women and girls in the state of Goiania.
Here it is the entry. It is in Portuguese but you can contact the project leader. She writes in English.
http://sportforchange.changemakers.com/en-us/node/16066
I would like to congratulate your work and invite you to join the Women Win group.
Women Win is the first ever international women’s fund that supports sport and physical activities as instruments for social change and women’s empowerment.
Women Win will use the competition to find a fellow between the ages of 15 and 65 years old that positively change the lives of women and girls in their community through sports.
Please go to this link http://sportforchange.changemakers.com/en-us/group/womenwin and click in join the group. After becoming a member, leave your coments and participate in our topics debate by clicking in topics being discussed.
Good Luck!
Thank you very much for your information. I will visit the website and also will join the Women Wing group.
Regards
Sohini
Hello Sohini, It is great to see your entry in the competition! Could you please share with us a story or two of the women that you work with and the way that Kolkata Sanved has transformed their lives? Thank you! Best, Dana Frasz
Ashoka's Changemakers
Thanks for showing your interest.
Here are the story of change:
“Inspite of having immense pressure of household work, I dislike missing any opportunity to attend this class”, opined one 12 years old participant of a DMT session at Apne Aap centre in Khidderpore red-light area.
MONIKA (name changed) is a 15 year old victim of trafficking staying at the All Bengal Women’s Union Shelter Home for the past 5 years. When we started our Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) class, we found that she was doing nothing in the shelter home and suffered from depression, often sitting alone and disturbing other girls in the home.
We took her in our DMT class. Initially she only disturbed the other participants, but gradually through the process she started to progress. It took two months to bring her into the process. The problems were as follows: no concentration and coordination, negative feelings, low self esteem, trauma, anger, violent behavior (self destructive). She started to come regularly to our classes. The first indicator was that she came to class on time and took the responsibility to call others for this class.
Finally she was very keen on joining TOT (our Training of the Trainers programme). Since last December she has been joining our TOT classes and also other regular classes for training. A girl who was suffering from depression and feeling as if she had no purpose in life is now dreaming to become a DMT trainer and to use this future career option to bring changes in other people's lives.
With regards
Sohini
Hi Sohini-
I was really moved after reading your initiative! Can you provide examples of how you specifically use DMT to help counsel those in need?
All the best,
Hoda
Thanks for your interest in our programme.
Kolkata Sanved uses Dance Movement Therapy as an alternative approach to counselling. i am answering your question through a case study below-
In one of our sessions in a partner organization, a vulnerable as well as physically challenged participant Munni (name changed) felt very much isolated from the others due to her inability to perform all the activities with her peers in the center and in community. Initially she refused to participate but only observed the class. However when our DMT therapist introduced new DMT techniques according to her need, like functional techniques and ritual based movements learnt during their regular classes & TOT workshops, remarkable change was noticed in the client. These techniques emphasized on doing movements initiated by the client and this gave the client a feeling of being elated and being a part of the group. Munni expressed much eagerness now to participate in the activities and wanted her therapist to give her more activities to be done which helps in leading her day to day life. She started loving herself and felt happy that she was able to contribute in some way.
With Regards
Sohini
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