Before starting to work with the kids we deemed it important for the dance teachers who are to teach the choreography of the DancingOnTheSquare performance to have an opportunity to meet each other, to discuss and debate the experiences, difficulties and joys of the previous season, and to equip them with sufficient tools to handle the challenges of this year. Those who came were fully committed.

It is also very important that thanks to the team of the Foundation for Democratic Youth the dance teachers had the chance to rethink processes from the perspective of the children too.

Everybody agreed that the DancingOnTheSquare project is an excellent opportunity for the children from different backgrounds: they can meet each other, create exciting artistic performances together, and all this accompanied by one of the most distinguished orchestras in the world. However, the circumstances are far from ideal: children come to the rehearsals tired and drained, if indeed they are released from their other obligations at all; in many places there are no appropriate rooms or equipment, or the parents don’t really understand what the children are preparing for.

Be that as it may, the dance teachers meet the participating kids the most, they are the ones who can best convey the core values of the project: acceptance, dialogue, the importance of human dignity and quality.

The work is only just beginning, but there’s a good basis to start with. It is a pleasure to work with such broad-minded professionals open to collaboration!