RESEO members Clare Guss-West (RESEO Dance coordinator), Lin van Ellinckhuijsen and Mechteld van Gestel of the Education department of the National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam are coming together in March to launch the first Forum for ‘Dance & Creative Wellness’, a Forum hosted by and for professional artists.
Clare Guss-West initiated the idea based on her specialist dance for health work (Holistic Ballet, Dancing Longevity & Danse Senior at the Université Côte d’Azur) along with Teaching Artist, Andrew Peter Greenwood (Dance for Health Foundation, NL) to provide a united and inclusive ‘voice’ for individuals, researchers and companies developing ground-breaking work with dance & creative wellness, often in isolation. Whether Dance for Dementia, Alzheimers, with Seniors, M.S., or simply Dance for Wellness the Forum will provide an inclusive platform. The Dutch National Ballet, Amsterdam and the Education department of the National Opera & Ballet with their longstanding commitment to dance for health and pioneer Dance for M.S. research and programme, enthusiastically embraced the initiative and offered to Host the international event.
The 23rd March will be a day of brainstorming, cross sharing, physical activity and discussion/debate with other sector stakeholders from the health sector and the EU health ministry. Participating companies and institutions thus far in addition to the National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam are: RESEO member The Royal Ballet, The Berlin Staatsballet, English National Ballet (Dance for Parkinsons’), Roehampton University (Dance for Parkinson’s), The Royal Academy of Dance ‘Dance for Life Long Wellbeing’ programme, One Dance UK, Dance for Parkinson’s UK, IADMS, International Organization for the Transition of Professional Dancers, University Côte d’Azur, France, L’Ecole Superieure de Danse Cannes & Marseille . .
RESEO Ambassador Ingrid Lorenzten, Artistic Director of Norway National Ballet believes that dance has an essential role to play in individual and community health and wellbeing in the next decades and that we will see increasing evidence of such pioneering work amongst RESEO member companies.
The Forum will attempt to capture an overview of some of the most outstanding dance and health programmes across Europe and beyond and to consolidate the sector, promoting the dissemination of new findings and acting as a multiplier for the sharing of approaches and methodologies through a framework of open dialogue. The Dance & Creative Wellbeing Forum will act as an advocate, facilitating the effective partnership of the health, wellness and dance sectors, identifying new projects and potential partners to serve the needs of local government, EU strategies, the health and wellness sectors in the commitment to further public health and quality of life.
‘Dance & Creative Wellness’ Forum – Clare Guss-West & Andrew Greenwood