Dancing to Connect
“American public diplomacy at its finest”
–The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The Program
Dancing to Connect (DtC), an awardwinning initiative created by Battery Dance
Company of New York City, engages youth
in creativity and team-building through the
art form of modern dance. Students of all
abilities work under the guidance of Battery
Dance Company’s teaching artists, who are
also world-class performers, creating and
performing choreography of their own
devising. DtC workshops open doors for
teens as they transition into the leaders and
engaged citizens of tomorrow.
The Mission
The term Dancing to Connect was coined
to refer to the leitmotif of the project, which
makes connections between:
• Communities in conflict
• Students of diverse economic brackets
• Boys and girls
• Student mentors with younger students
• Natives and immigrants
• Secondary schools of all types
• Spheres of education and culture
• Professional dancers and high school
students
• Cultures and languages of the host country
and the U.S.
Expertise
Battery Dance Company’s extensive overseas experience has equipped it with three
significant assets:
(1) Broad experience in cultural diplomacy
and cross-cultural communication;
The Approach
Dance takes the thinking and creative
processes into a physical space, providing
students with a non-verbal means of
expression. Through an intensive weeklong
series of five-hour workshops, students find
in dance a new and different way to realize
themselves, in stark contrast to the dominant
verbal mode normally employed in the
classroom. Oftentimes the student who has
failed to excel or has even checked out of
the academic process altogether, finds a
way back in through DtC.
(2) Programming methodology specifically
designed to connect with foreign cultures
and communities;
(3) A network of contacts within foreign
government agencies, NGOs as well as the
State Department’s Regional Bureaus,
Embassies and Posts.
Thus, more than most other American
performing arts organizations, Battery
Dance Company is uniquely positioned to
help nurture and promote international
cultural engagement worldwide.
“The new face of cultural diplomacy”
–The New York Times
Dancing to Connect
Countries
The Dancing to Connect program has been
implemented in 42 countries throughout the
world since 2006. Battery Dance Company
plans on expanding to 50 countries by 2015.
Algeria China
Georgia Greece
Indonesia Japan Lesotho
Malta
Nigeria
Russia
Spain
Taiwan
Trinidad/Tobago
United States
Brazil
DRC Germany Guinea
Iraq
Kenya Macedonia
Morocco
Palestinian Territories
Singapore
Suriname Tanzania Uganda
Uruguay
Cambodia
France
Ghana
India
Israel
Laos
Malaysia
Namibia
Romania
South Africa
Swaziland
Thailand
U.K.
Zambia
380 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 219-3910
Fax: (212) 219-3911
[email protected]
www.batterydance.org