Home – „YOU DANCE” – YOUngsters social inclusion & refugees integration through DANCE based interventions

Welcome to the official page of You Dance Project!

YOU DANCE is an Erasmus + (Small case) project that aims to promote the individual (emotional & bodily) and collective (social & relational) wellbeing of young people aged between 16 and 20 years old, a very narrow age range that encompasses that transition phase between the status of a minor and that of an adult, a phase of life that implies important changes in civil and social status.

Specifically, the project intends to engage those young people who live in the suburbs, who live in conditions of socio-educational poverty, migrants and war refugees with socio-relational difficulties that hinder their inclusion and integration.

This project aim is pursued by using dance as a metalanguage, emotional and corporeal, capable of connecting people, allowing them to get to know each other, to express themselves and their emotions, to use their imagination, to stimulate reflection on themes and events, dialogue and confrontation, through the creation of movements and choreographies.

The specific objectives of the project are:

First objective:

Improvement of the individual’s sense of self-efficacy to be understood as a greater ability to recognize one’s own emotions, express them correctly and manage them adequately with emphatic ability & emotional solidity.

Second objective:

Acquisition of social and relational skills expressed through the strengthening of interpersonal communication skills & the recognition of differences and diversity as a value to be shared.

Third objective:

Inclusion of marginalized and refugees’ youngsters through dance experience.

About the project

The results to be achieved with YOU DANCE are:

First result:

To promote individual, emotional & bodily well-being, through the realization of dance experiences aimed at enhancing the sense of self-efficacy in terms of the expression of positive emotions & the correct management of negative ones.

Second result:

To promote collective, social & relational well-being, through the realization of dance experiences aimed at enhancing emphatic and relational abilities.

Third result:

Development of proactive & prosocial behaviors for better civic & democratic participation.

Why You Dance?

The achievement of the project results will be ascertained through a quantitative & qualitative evaluation conducted with educational research methods validated in the literature.

The objectives set by our project are consistent with the Erasmus+ themes chosen, because they respond to the need to create spaces of creative expression for youngsters in which they can negotiate values, feel important in expressing their thoughts, become “activists” of their own community. Dance, in this sense, as suggested by the scientific literature, is an excellent tool to promote healthy behavioural development by stimulating empathy, communication & social cohesion, indispensable skills for the promotion of social equality and the fight against discrimination, especially with a view to the inclusion & integration of fragile young people, migrants or war refugees, who live in or arrive in EU in conditions of physical, emotional, social and relational malaise.

Borderlinedanza Cultural Association ETS (Italy)

Psychiatrist-Choreographer and dancer-researcher

It stands out for the presence of a choreographer-psychiatrist and a dancer-researcher in Experimental Pedagogy. These skills allow the partner to contribute to the project by relating the artistic-creative aspect of dance with attention to mental health and emotional, social and relational well-being. This is fundamental to respond to the specific needs of the target group also through an educational and pedagogical approach that promotes the development of the emotional, social and relational skills of the participants within a measurable and evaluable methodological design, as envisaged by the project.

The company has in its curriculum several scientific publications of dance-based projects carried out in difficult educational contexts and with vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.

Ipazia Production SRL (Romania)

Management and coordination of european project

It stands out for its commitment in the artistic and cultural field aimed at raising awareness among young audiences on the issues of inclusion and integration, in the fight against discrimination and inequalities. Furthermore, Ipazia has a background in the management and coordination of European projects which makes this organization fundamental for the success of the project, as it is able to be of support and help to the leader and other organizations involved regarding its implementation as proposed. Ipazia is also known for the collaborations it maintains at a local and national level with schools and institutions, a direct channel to reach young people and local communities, especially in those areas identified as peculiar for the recruitment of the target group.

ECEM Dance School (Turkey)

Ballet and Dance School

Of the three partners, ECEM is the one who specifically deals with the drafting of high-quality training courses in dance, know-how certified by successful participation in numerous national and international competitions. What makes it important for the YOU DANCE project is that this organization deals with dance training for disadvantaged young people, who live in conditions of economic, educational and social disadvantage. The school is committed, every year, to recruiting vulnerable young people, victims of traumatic events such as earthquakes and wars and through dance it promotes in them the development of emotional, social and relational skills essential to feeling included and accepted in the reference community.

Our Partners

News:

Multiplier Event organized also in Turkey, before the end of the “YouDance” project

March 2, 2025