Dance is for any age and without any restrictions. It is beneficial not only as a recreational activity, but also with regard to physical, psychological and social well-being. As an art form, it has expressive and artistic potentials that can be adapted to the general public, of different age groups. In the teaching-learning process and integral development of the future adult, artistic disciplines, and dance in particular, are considered by specialists as a important component and are included in basic education programs.

According to current European strategies, culture and physical and mental health are fundamenta rights and property in people's lives and must be supported by effective actions. Aware of this aspect, Companhia de Dança de Almada (Ca.DA) maintains, as a cultural association, the responsibility of contributing directly to the community development of the municipality that hosts it.

In this sense, it intends to intervene with the realization of a project aimed towards children, young people and seniors, groups of the population that it considers to require special attention in the current social and cultural context.

It also seeks to respond to the growing need of Ca.DA itself, to get involved in social intervention actions, implementing programs and strategies appropriate to the current community context, namely, social inclusion and healthy development not only of children and young people, but also of those belonging to older age groups.

In view of these challenges, the “Dança para todos” (Dance for all ) project is aimed at schools and cultural and social solidarity associations - supporting children, young people, families; social and community integration; protection in old age - associations of the sick or disabled, immigrant associations, etc. Its intervention strategy is to promote visits by CA.DA to the institutions and, conversely, to encourage visits by students or members of these institutions to its facilities and / or theatres where it operates.

At the institutions' facilities, according to their specific needs, dance classes are held (in workshop format), informal presentations of adaptations / excerpts from Companhia de Dança de Almada’s repetoire, or choreographic laboratories associated with the “Dentro do Abraço – Within the Embrace” project.

In turn, on the premises of Ca.DA or in theaters, according to the Company's activities calendar, students and members of the institutions can join in the creation process, rehearsals and engage in conversations with dancers and creators, or take part in classes of group dance.

In short, “Dance for all” aims to contribute to socio-cultural inclusion, education through art, rehabilitation and promotion of a healthy lifestyle, in the perspective of being able to collaborate to maintain an increasingly active community.

The "Dance for all" project has the following objectives:

• Provide the well-being and social integration of individuals, stimulating their development and self-worth;
• Contribute to physiological enhancement, rhythmic-musical coordination, spatial-temporal organization, segmental coordination, motor image, expressive and aesthetic sensitivity, through the development of activities related to the themes of Body, Space, Time and Relations;
• Contribute to the maintenance of a physically and intellectually active population;
• Promote healthy lifestyles and behaviour;
• Encourage multiculturalism, interculturality, equality and solidarity;
• Facilitate interpersonal relationships through the sharing of human values;
• Develop individual and collective culture while sharing common meanings;
• Eliminate barriers in relation to art, stimulating the attention of children, young people and adults in practical dance sessions;
• Implement creative imagination based on themes and stimuli;
• Respect individual and socio-cultural differences and, fighting processes of exclusion and discrimination, fight against social loneliness and marginalization.

Contact production at Companhia de Dança de Almada for more information:

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