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Dance Day preparations
On the 29th of April, as every year since 1982, Dance Day will be celebrated all over the world by the
international community of dancers and dance enthusiasts.
The International Dance Council CID has prepared the following guidelines as a useful checklist for persons
institutionally involved in the wider field of dance: teachers, choreographers, group leaders, journalists,
researchers, associations, suppliers, organizations etc.
Object
The main purpose of Dance Day events is to attract the attention of the wider public to the art of dance. Special
emphasis should be given to addressing a “new” public, people who do not follow dance events during the course
of the year.
Events
Dance Day events may be special performances, open-door courses, public rehearsals, lectures, exhibitions,
articles in newspapers and magazines, dance evenings, radio and TV programs, visits, street shows etc.
Organizers
Events are primarily organized by dance companies, amateur groups, schools, associations and other
institutions active in dance. Wherever possible, it is better for events to be organized jointly with a non-dance
institution such as a government agency, a public school, a municipality, a business enterprise, a trade union.
Content
Organizers have full freedom to define the content of the event.
Make sure that you include general information on the art of dance, its history, its importance to society, its
universal character. This can be done in a short speech, a note in the program, a text distributed to those present.
By adding this dimension you make the event different from dance activities taking place any other day.
Read a message from a prominent personality, a poem, a passage from a text by a famous author.
Coordination
In order to achieve maximum success, it is important that preparations start early enough.
It is imperative to inform the press and generally the media about your event.
Notify an organization holding a central position at regional or national level, which should publish a list of events
planned for Dance Day.
Entrance to events should preferably be free, or by invitation. Invite persons who do not normally attend dance
events.
Location
At best, events should take place in “new” places, such as streets, parks, squares, shops, factories, villages,
discotheques, schools, stadiums etc.
By setting the event in original surroundings you stress the fact that this is an event dedicated to the universal
family of dancers.
Dr. Alkis Raftis
President of the CID
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1. Please translate the above official message for Dance Day to the language of your country (if applicable) and send it to the media and to dance organizations.
2. World Dance Day has been established in 1982 in view of attracting attention to the art of dance, every year on the 29th of April. On that day, dance companies, dance schools, organizations and individuals are asked to organize an activity addressing an audience larger than their usual one.
3. The International Dance Council CID is the official umbrella organization for all forms of dance in all countries of the world. - CID is recognized by UNESCO, national and local governments, international organizations and institutions. - Its members are the most prominent federations, associations, schools, companies and individuals in more than 150 countries. - CID was founded in 1973 within the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where it is based. - UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
International Dance Council - CID - Conseil International de la Danse UNESCO, Paris, France
The official message for
Dance Day
29 April 2009
The future of dance lies where there are persons who do not dance.
These belong to two categories: those who simply did not learn, and those who think that they are not able to
dance. They represent the greatest challenge for the dance teacher's profession.
In line with UNESCO's struggle against prejudice and discrimination, we are trying to expand the boundaries
of dance and to change the current perception of what a dancer is.
Dance performances are not necessarily exhibitions of extreme physicality, accurate precision, or bursting
emotion - they can be celebrations of interaction between performers. We can enrich dance concerts with
dancers, singers, actors, narrators, mimes, acrobats etc., of all ages and all degrees of ability.
Bringing the 'excluded' into dance is a moral duty, but also opens a great door in times of economic crisis and
unemployment. In every country there are millions of persons with physical or mental disabilities. We believe
they are ready to dance.
They will create jobs to thousands of dance teachers. They can be assisted by the Ministry of Health, whose
budget is many times bigger than that of the Ministry of Culture.
Integrating marginalized persons into the practice of dance is as important as integrating them into the
workforce.
CID holds to the philosophy that everyone can dance.
Dance Day 2009 is dedicated to inclusive dance. Let us include all members of society into our classes and
our performances.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
UNESCO, Paris
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2008
Governments, sponsors, and the media is our main concern this year.
Governments (national, regional or local), sponsors (private or public) and the media (newspapers,
magazines, radio, TV) are the three most important factors affecting the practice of our art. Dance professionals
struggle to approach them individually - with poor results. We propose a better way: through CID Sections
representing all forms of dance, all levels, all functions.
I invite all dancers to join the International Dance Council and to form CID Sections. These Sections will be
able to tackle general issues affecting dance. Through them, as officially recognized bodies, all dancers can
secure better conditions for the practice of their art. They will be able to obtain appropriate regulations from
governments, adequate support from sponsors, and satisfactory visibility from the media.
We propose to replace self-centered isolation with concern for the common good. Each one of us has been
trying to get some crumbs, by working together we will increase the size of the cake.
CID is certainly not a trade union, but CID Sections can act as pressure groups on the local and the national
level. They can persuade. Their force arises from the fact that they represent the entire spectrum of dance.
They can convince the environment where dancers evolve that their art is essential for the well-being of every
society.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
UNESCO, Paris
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1. The official Dance Day message is mailed to over 100,000 dance professionals in 200 countries. It is translated to dozens of languages. Please ask for a translation, or translate the message to the language of your country; send it to dance organizations and the media. You can find guidelines and previous messages at the CID web site.
2. Dance Day has been established in view of attracting attention to the art of dance, every year on the 29th of April. On that day, dance companies, dance schools, organizations and individuals, professionals as well as amateurs, are asked to organize an activity addressing an audience larger than their usual one.
3. The International Dance Council (Conseil International de la Danse - CID) is the official umbrella organization for all forms of dance in all countries of the world. - CID is recognized by UNESCO, national and local governments, international organizations and institutions. - Its members are the most prominent federations, associations, schools, companies and individuals in more than 150 countries. - It is the supreme forum bringing together international, national and local organizations, as well as prominent individuals active in dance. - It was founded in 1973 within the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where it is based. - UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Conseil International de la Danse - CID - International Dance Council UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, FR-75732 Paris 15, France www.unesco.org/ngo/cid www.cid-unesco.org
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2007
This year's Dance Day is dedicated to the children.
The International Dance Council CID UNESCO, together with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund,
fights for measures to give children the best start in life, because proper education forms the strongest foundation
for a person’s future.
We believe that caring for children is the cornerstone of human progress. Our primary goal is to overcome the
obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path. Thus we advance the cause
of humanity.
Dance is a basic component of personal and societal development. We recommend quality basic education in
dance for all children with an emphasis on gender equality and eliminating disparities of all kinds.
No child should be left without the opportunity to learn and to practice dance. Access to the art constitutes a
right for every person, and children in particular. This right should be protected, in order to help meet their basic
needs and reach their full potential.
CID upholds dance instruction by qualified teachers at all levels of formal education, because dance constitutes
a strong foundation for a person’s well being.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
UNESCO, Paris
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2006
Dancers are notoriously reluctant to join collective organizations.
They are probably afraid that organizing will restrict their freedom to express themselves.
Or they think that the time spent and the membership fee are not worth the benefits gained.
Many associations or federations have only a few dozen members: a small fraction of the total in their area or
field.
Lacking in representativity they lack credibility, thus they cannot act as interlocutors of governments and other
high-level bodies. They cannot inspire confidence in non-members.
This explains why the art of dance lacking in legislation, in visibility, in financing, when compared to other arts.
Belonging to a wider structure does not limit the way one performs, or teaches, or researches, or makes
choreographies. Without influencing one's everyday work, it improves the framework, the environment of one's
action.
Collective bodies provide a wider spectrum of services to their members. Deprived of such services by acting
in isolation, schools, companies, clubs, festivals will remain handicapped.
CID encourages the strengthening of regional, national or branch associations by enlarging their membership.
Let us combine our actions, let us orchestrate our music by escaping the cacophony of isolated sounds.
Dancers of the world, unite!
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council
CID, UNESCO, Paris
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2005
Dear colleagues
World Dance Day is among the most important projects of the International Dance Council CID.
This year's focus is on primary education.
I would like to ask you to contact the Ministry of Education on behalf of the CID, asking them to issue a circular
to all schools in your country. You can urge state or private agencies to issue similar guidelines on a regional
scale.
In every class, pupils can write an essay about dance, draw a dance scene, sing dance songs, read relative
passages from books, collect pictures (photos, postage stamps, postcards etc.). They can dance in the yard or -
better - out in the streets.
It is extremely important that Dance Day becomes as well known and as widely followed as Mother's Day. And
this begins at the youngest ages, who represent the future of our art.
I count on your cooperation in this matter and look forward to your remarks.
Cordially
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of CID
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2004
Dance is the architecture of human movements
The architect uses technical materials to create a construction in a particular place. The choreographer uses
intangible forms, to create an impression in place and time.
An architect has two dimensions: he is an engineer and an artist at the same time. An engineer because he
thinks rationally (in contrast to the sculptor, who also creates works in a particular place), inasmuch as he his work
must have a usable value. His creations are based on an understanding of the behaviour of his materials - he is a
technician. But he is also an artist, because he seeks to achieve an aesthetically pleasing result.
The choreographer, as an architect of movements, is, first of all, a technician. He knows the possibilities of the
body (anatomy, physiology, pathology). His knowledge is based on experience, since he has sweated on the
dance floor, as the good architect has paced for years on the scaffolding of his building-sites. And of course he
must delight the spectator and/or make him think.
The making of both choreographers and architects requires:
(a) extensive practical training, "taking the clay in their hands", dancing and teaching dance.
(b) extensive study, research, reading and reflection, to gain the necessary theoretical equipment.
How then can one explain the great paradox: Whereas there are university schools for architects in every
country, there are no equivalents for choreographers and dance teachers?
One can count on one's fingers the countries where young people can continue their studies - practical and
theoretical at the same time - beyond the age of eighteen. And even there such schools are under-supported and
under-resourced.
One of the lines of action of the International Dance Council CID is to persuade governments to create high
level dance departments in universities. It is to this objective that this year's World Dance Day is dedicated.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of CID
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2003
On this special day I would ask all fellow dancers to stop for a second, in order to ponder on global issues
concerning dance. There are quite a number of such issues. Here are only some of them.
There are several countries in the world where dance does not even exist in the eyes of the state. Its practise is
barely tolerated. Professional dancers are outcasts of society, amateur dancing is to be seen within the family
circle only.
In more than half of the 200 countries in the world, dance does not appear in legal texts (for better or for
worse!). There are no funds allocated in the state budget to support this art form. There is no such thing as dance
education, private or public.
In most cities of the world there is an acute shortage of dance spaces. Unlike music, dance needs
considerable room to evolve (on the other hand, dancers do not have to buy instruments - they use their bodies!).
Municipal authorities admit that city people need to dance too, but do nothing to provide the spaces required by
amateurs or professionals to practice or to perform.
There are many more issues concerning dance as a whole, whether on a national or international scale. I would
not advise choreographers, instructors, performers, students, or one-evening-a-week amateurs to think about
these issues too often - and spoil the deep joy that dance provides!
But on the 29th of April, for a few seconds only, a thought should be given to the unfortunate ones in faraway
places whose access to dance is barred or hampered.
And for the rest of the day, we can look around us and do something to bring dance to those who do not benefit
from its charms during the other days of the year.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
UNESCO, Paris
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2002
Yo puedo bailar en un templo sin profanarlo (I can dance in a temple without profaning it).
Vicente Escudero (1892-1980), Spanish flamenco dancer
These eight words give the essence of good dance. They should be our compass in cases when
commercialized dance in the rich countries deviates towards a meaningless sequence of movements.
Choreography is corrupted by the frantic quest for innovation.
Dance teaching is degraded by the blind concentration on steps.
Dance research is impoverished by the idealization of structure analysis.
Too often we forget to ask ourselves if this or that dance is really beautiful, if it carries values, if it will resist the
ultimate test of time.
Dance in itself is not sacred, but it can stand beside the sacred, as a means to transcend reality, a tool for
liberation, a way of acquiring another self.
Not all creations can be fit to dance in a temple - just as we cannot always wear Sunday clothes. We therefore
need to educate the public in developing qualitative criteria: how to tell "Sunday dances" from "everyday dances".
Our dances should at least be good enough to dance outside a temple.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2001
The International Dance Council - CID - dedicates the first year of the century to the introduction of dance in
public education.
Learning dance in traditional societies was done without teachers. Children learned by themselves, copying
adults at home, in the neighbourhood, at village feasts and other ceremonies. Most important: children saw that
dance matters, that adult dancers were saying something with their dance, something important. When the time
came, they entered the public scene officially, demonstrating their ability to express rhythm and song by
movements, to evolve in unison with their fellow dancers and to be creative in space with their body.
Today, very few are the lucky children that have that fortune. In most villages time-honoured celebrations do not
take place any more, while at homes parents watch television rather than dance to singing with their children.
Most children in the world grow up in towns or near towns, and acquire most of their knowledge in school rather
than in the family or the village.
Dance should not be absent from basic education. Among all arts, it is the most appropriate for today's
children, because it forms body and soul concurrently. No wonder it was an integral part of the cultured man in
Ancient Greece. It is not enough just having dance in the curriculum; it must be taught as a meaningful activity, a
vital means of communication - not as a dead language.
We urge the Ministries of Education of all countries to elaborate programs taking into account the views of
specialists. I would like to ask every member of the C.I.D. world-wide, every dance person, every educator, to
contribute to the introduction of dance in primary and secondary education.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President
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Official message for Dance Day
29 April 2000
In this last year of the 20th century, it is imperative to look back and attempt a bird’s eye view of the course of
events regarding dance in the last hundred years.
Two major events will distinguish this past century’s state of the dance on a world-wide perspective. Two new
dance genres emerged at its outset, grew consistently throughout its span, and had created a new space for their
respective forms by the end of the twentieth century: folk and modern dance.
Folk dance appeared when amateur dancers in the cities discovered they could practice traditional, that is
peasant, dances for recreation and for stage presentation. These same dances were being abandoned steadily
by their original practitioners, the rural populations in traditional cultures.
Modern dance was born when professional dancers rejected the constraints of classical ballet and presented
performances based on individual expression and their concepts of what constituted free movement.
During this century, classical ballet gained in variety, depth and refinement, in perfecting its incomparable
technique, and in spreading to many countries who had not known it before.
Ballroom dance acquired new friends and new methods, and expanded into the novel field of competition
dance. Its “closed couple” dances found a counterpart in popular dance fashions that swept the youth of the world,
like rock ‘n’ roll and discothèques.
It was a century of renaissance and “naissance” in dance.
Turning now to the next century, we would like to see:
- More communication between families of dance, though not abolishing the borderlines between them.
- Return to the ancestral global vision of dance, as part of an event incorporating music, movement, theater, song.
Arts have shown a marked tendency to isolate themselves; they lose their poetic content in the process.
- More knowledge of the past, more consciousness of belonging to a line of evolution. There has been a rampant
idolization of innovation. Even the wildest revolutionaries should know well what they revolt against. Even the most
inspired creators cannot do without the study of their predecessors.
- More visibility for dance. In the past centuries dance used to be omnipresent in private and public life, while
during this century its practice has retracted. Now sports have audiences ten times larger than dance.
The recent boom of the last two decades is evidence supporting an optimistic view of the future, for amateur as
well as for professional dancers.
Prof. Alkis Raftis
President
International Dance Council CID
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