About Dance For Change and Its Sponsor

Dance For Change is an initiative of The Center for Contemporary Dance that uses the arts to foster our community’s conscious imagination, a powerful and limitless resource for inspiring great change. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is home to six professional dance companies and a center for dance education, The Center for Contemporary Dance is a leader in the evolution of contemporary dance and a catalyst for creative efforts in social justice. For the past 7 years, The Center has been initiating social change through meaningful productions, innovative programs and outreach endeavors that:

● Inspire community consciousness about social equality and the value of diversity

● Support women and minority artists in their efforts to create and showcase new work

● Provide arts education and increase access to the arts for underserved youth and public school children

● Meet the expressive and creative needs of marginalized populations, including the elderly and disabled

● Entertain and inspire the community-at-large with contemporary perspectives in dance

To learn more about The Center for Contemporary Dance, please contact us. 

How Dance For Change Works:  Program Initiatives

Through the Dance for Change initiative, The Center develops and implements innovative programs that meet the creative and expressive needs of our community, reaching thousands of people of all ages, races and economic backgrounds each year. With inspiring productions and customized outreach programs, The Center is actively increasing the number of citizens who understand their potential to act as imaginative agents of change. Below is a small sampling of arts and social justice programs made possible through Dance For Change.

New Works Tour: The Center’s arts-education program, Colours of Courage: A Celebration of Black History in America, uses the dance arts as a creative platform to foster community consciousness about issues related to race, tolerance and social equality. Blending contemporary dance, period-specific music and poignant words, including slave narratives and excerpts from great African-American speeches, Colours of Courage explores the triumphs and challenges of the African-American experience and relates them to more global perspectives in social justice. Featuring an entirely African-American cast, each performance of Colours of Courage is followed by an interactive, age-appropriate discussion about race, ethnicity and peace-building. Colours of Courage will be performed in five counties of Central Florida during February 2009.

Arts in Community Programs: SEE(k)ING is a multi-dimensional arts enrichment program developed and led by The Center’s academic, arts and healing professionals. The program is brought to community organizations serving underprivileged youth and spans a five-month period, integrating five disciplines in the arts: language, theater, dance, visual/multi-media and music. With tailor-made lesson plans written by experienced, socially-aware educators, SEE(k)ING is designed to teach participants conceptual, critical and integrative thinking skills. Ultimately, participants learn how to take control of challenging circumstances (both artistic and personal) to create positive outcomes, and they walk away from the program with greater self-confidence and knowledge of their power to make a difference.  Currently, The Center is bringing SEE(k)ING to children of immigrant farm workers and low-income families.

Youth Dance Ensemble: U-Turn Dance Company is The Center’s professional youth company, featuring highly talented, hand-selected dancers ages 9-17. The company is dedicated to meeting the artistic and social needs of talented youth from underserved communities. U-Turn Dance Company is Central Florida’s first professional youth dance company and serves as a platform for young dancers to gain professional experience and guidance, including mentoring by seasoned professionals, academic tutoring and assistance with college application. All U-Turn Dance Company members receive funding that allows them to expand their artistic training at The Center while learning other important skills for future success.

Florida Contemporary Dance Festival (coming soon!):  Each year, The Florida Contemporary Dance Festival (FCDF) features breathtaking performances and educational workshops from more than 16 professional Florida-based contemporary dance companies and individual contemporary dance artists.  All FCDF performances explore aspects of the Festival’s theme: Perspectives in Creating Global Peace. Performances are interspersed with commentary from scholars, artists and peace experts who share their thoughts about developing a more imaginative approach to initiating peace, using featured dance works as inspiration for open dialogue with audiences. The FCDF is an important tool in fostering the traditions of contemporary dance in Central to realize its full potential as an important resource that actively contributes to the creative, social, physical, and economic health of a community.

'Dance for Change' Essay Contest:  Central Florida students in grades K-12 may enter the ‘Dance for Change’ Essay Contest, intended to inspire imaginative thinking about new approaches to positively impacting the world, by writing an essay of 200 words or less in response to the question: How can dance change the world?  Younger students in grades K-2 may submit shorter statements and artwork in response to the question, rather than a full essay.  Three winners receive a $100 cash prize and will be featured along with their essay or artwork in promotional campaigns for the ‘Dance for Change initiative.  Submissions must be received by Wednesday, October 1, 2008.  For complete contest rules click HERE or call (407) 695-8366.