Dance Against Bullying (DAB) (2019-1-FR02-KA205-015856) – is a project that aims to combat bullying among youth by developing an innovative methodology focussing on dance and body expression.
Given the current situation with COVID-19 and the impossibility of safely carrying out in-person activities, the partners of DAB decided to carry out an online DAB session: Dance Against Bullying From Home.
DAB’s workshops aim first to help people self-empower through engagement with their bodydeveloping an understanding of emotions that are experienced bodily, and, by connecting with bodily sensations, help people free themselves from negative emotions in response to distressing situations.
Second, the workshops aim to develop a subconscious awareness of how we interact with each other and with ourselves, enabling better reflection of our behaviour and social interactions. This online workshop served as an introduction to the exercises that the project will carry out to achieve these aims.
Dancers, educators and youth workers Fabio Dolce and Antonino Ceresia of Cie Essevesse led the session which was live streamed on both Facebook and Instagram.
After an introduction to the partners, the project and the issue it aims to address, Fabio and Antonino completed 4 dance-body expression exercises. During these exercises,Fabio gave instructions and explained the situations the participants should think about while expressing their bodies, and during this, Antonino provided a visual example of his bodily interpretation of this.
Finally, after completing these exercises, there was a moment for debriefing in which participants were invited to comment or ask questions.
The session was open to the participation of anyone interested, and it was well attended. The videos of the session remain on the project’s Facebook and Instagram pages and can be watched again by anyone interested.
