Conferences

daCi USA offers a National Gathering every three years and days of dance across the country each year as well as online!

National Gatherings

Participants explore, create and observe through daily classes which will include technique (western and nonwestern) and collaborative multigenerational choreography.

Participants create dance works in collaborative multigenerational classes, learning new dances in cultural and world classes as well as viewing or performing dances in a professional theatre each evening. Classes are taught by dance educators and instructors from across the country. They share their expertise and passion for dance and provide enriching, age-appropriate, creative, and culturally-authentic experiences.

The daCi USA national gathering allows children, young people and adults to come together in a collaborative, culturally, and artistically rich dance environment for three action-filled days. The national gathering occurs every three years and rotates locations.

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7th National Gathering

Anchored in Hope: Expanding Horizons - Holland, Michigan (2023) - Learn more

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6th National Gathering

Open Space - Salt Lake City, Utah (2017)

 

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5th National Gathering

Forms Unfolding: Dancing in the Emerald City - Seattle, Washington (2014) - Learn more

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4th National Gathering

Breaking Boundaries, Creating Connections - Denton, Texas (2011) - Learn more

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3rd National Gathering

Creating Landscapes - Provo, Utah (2008) - Learn more

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2nd National Gathering

Out of Many - We are One - Philadelphia, PA (2005) - Learn more.

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1st National Gathering

Connecting, Collaborating, Creating: Best Practices in Dance Education! - Amherst, MA (2001) - Learn more

Days of Dance

To promote dance for children and best practices in the teaching of dance to children across the United States, daCi USA encourages members to conduct a regional or statewide Day of Dance, for teaching and professional development.

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International Conferences

International conferences aim to bring together a broad international community of artists, scholars, professors, teachers, educators, young dancers, students and other academic citizens to exchange and develop new creative ideas, present scientific and artistic projects, share knowledge about new approaches and innovations in the fields of dance arts and education, and build collaborations.

July 2022 - 15th International Conference - Dancing into Communities, hosted online by Toronto, Canada

July 2018 - 14th conference: 2nd Joint World Dance Congress - Panpapanpalya: dance gathering generations learning, hosted in Adelaide, Australia

2015 - 13th conference - Twist and Twin: Dancing Identities, hosted in Kopenhagen, Denmark

July 2012 - 12th International Conference: 1st Joint World Dance Congress - Dance, Young People and Change, hosted in Taipei, Taiwan

July 2009 -11th International Conference Cultures Flex: Unearthing Expressions
of the Dancing Child, hosted in Kingstown, Jamaica

Summer 2006 - 10th international conference -  Colouring Senses, Moving, Creating, Observing Three Dimensions of the Dancing Child, hosted in The Hague, Netherlands

Summer 2003 - 9th International Conference - Breaking Boundaries: Dances, Bodies and Multiculturalism, hosted in Salvador, Brazil

1985 -  3rd conference - Dance -  The New Zealand Experience, Auckland, New Zealand

1982 - 2nd conference Children and Youth Dancing, Stockholm, Sweden

1978 - A beginning through a conference
July 25 - 27 University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Take my Kids Where?!

While traveling with children may seem daunting, the benefits of travel to a daCi event are myriad.

  • Children have an important role in the proceedings. They learn new things from exciting, expert teachers.
  • Cultural dance forms, new techniques, and creative process sessions make for engaging learning experiences.
  • Children meet many other children who dance seriously, which can be an eye opener, and enhance their effort and commitment to your program.
  • Attending a conference builds bonds of friendship across geographic boundaries and within their own group.

An excerpt from the article "Take my Kids Where?!" by Jeanne Traxler (2004)

Testimonials

The community. The classes and variety of classes. Seeing my 3-year-old create and perform. Seeing the connections my middle kiddos (and everyone else) made with others. Witnessing the independence of my oldest children. Meeting/dancing with people in person. Seeing my oldest child heal her relationship with dance. The organization of it was also stellar.

National Gathering
Adult Participant

The convention helped me realize my love for dance, and I truly had a wonderful time.

National Gathering
Youth Participant

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