REFLEX Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

REFLEX Europe

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Research and innovation

Project Summary

Dance education traditionally relies on oral transmission, knowledge often considered ephemeral and difficult to convey in cultures that emphasize the written word over physical experience for knowledge creation. At the same time, the demand for dance teachers is on the rise as the need for physical education and expression is more recognized. Ways of reaching a qualification to teach dance vary greatly, and in almost no European country is there a certification process necessary in order to teach dance. Many dance teachers are career changers and freelancers, so won’t receive further education opportunities through their employers. These factors contribute to a very diverse field in dance with varying qualifications.

In REFLEX Europe, eight European partners came together with the goal to offer tools to help dance teachers reflect their work at their own pace. It builds on two European projects: “IDOCDE“ (idocde.net), which created a network for dance teachers to discuss and share their work, and LEAP (Learn, Exchange, Apply, Practice), dedicated to joint skills development for dance teachers.

REFLEX Europe supports dance teachers in reflecting their work by documentary action. It develops the quality of dance teaching and creates documentary material for further use, such as for sharing the work among colleagues, students and other stakeholders, making dance education accessible for a wider audience.

To accomplish this objective, 14 researchers contributed to MINDTHEDANCE.com, a collection of varied approaches to documenting dance education. The online publication is accompanied by a printed workbook which combines parts of the online with individual material, to be adapted with experience and usage. The second outcome is the Master Class, directed at further in-depth distribution of the gained knowledge through “ambassadors”. Mind The Dance aims to inspire to documentary reflection by offering a variety of pathways. It ranges from artistic documentation, sensory-motor steps towards documentation, to manuals and coaching, and media/tech help.

Developed in a series of 5-10 day research meetings in Hungary, Turkey, The Netherlands and Austria, the project started with a detailed needs analysis and established the scope of the publication and areas of individual expertise. It finalized the publication with a multiple step editing process, moved on to create and host the Master Class, and set up several outreach and dissemination channels. The research meetings were combined with individual writing / research locally, and with local outreach („Mind the Dance labs“). IDOCDE.net became a vessel for additional related content. The Mind The Dance labs – co-hosted by two partners, introduced more than 142 regional and 44 international dance teachers to the project, so they would realize the benefit of Mind The Dance and start to use it for their own work. A Master Class emerged out of the Mind The Dance labs as a week-long residency: 30 stakeholders learned in-depth about Mind The Dance, gained the expertise to teach the material to other dance teachers beyond project duration and received a certificate to do so.

While all partners contributed to Mind The Dance, partners had also specific roles: Organizing partner Wiener Tanzwochen (AT) offered the infrastructure and high visibility through inclusion of REFLEX Europe within Europe’s biggest dance festival, ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival. Especially the symposia of REFLEX Europe, held each summer at the festival, created international acknowledgment of the project. ICK Amsterdam (NL) provided expertise in graphic design. The choreographic centers Le Pacifique (Grenoble, FR) and K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg (DE) were valuable partners for their experience with projects on a European scale as well as for their editing knowledge. Tanzplattform Rhein-Main (DE) offered media and digital expertise, while communication and people skills of Sín Budapest (HU) and Elim Sende (Istanbul, TR) sustained project development from the inside. North Karelia Municipal Education and training Consortium/ North Karelia College Outokumpu (FI), as the partner with a 3-year education program, offered unique perspectives onto the work, also from the Nordic point of view.

Outreach at dance schools and centers, festivals, conferences and other events informed further 940+ stakeholders in person about Mind The Dance, locally and internationally – with events as far as Berkeley (US) and Auckland (NZ), and at least 2500 more through IDOCDE.net and partners online. Impact that can be seen during the process is the rise in the quality of contributions on IDOCDE, as dance critics have noted. The freely accessible website, the continuous dissemination through the Master Class participants and creators of Mind The Dance, the stock of printed workbooks for further hand-out ensure the presence of the project beyond project duration.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 372120 Eur

Project Coordinator

WIENER TANZWOCHEN & Country: AT

Project Partners

• STICHTING INTERNATIONAL CHOREOGRAPHIC ARTS CENTRE (ICK)
• KAMPNAGEL INTERNATIONALE KULTURFABRIK GMBH
• Le Pied à Coulisse
• Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt am Main GmbH
• Pohjois-Karjalan koulutuskuntayhtymä
• Elim Sende Kultur Sanat ve Egitime Destek Dernegi
• Sín Arts and Culture Nonprofit Ltd.