Founded in New York, the Dance Against Violence project was established in Montreal in 2010 thanks to the initiative of Amélie Dionne-Charest, daughter of the former Premier of Quebec Jean Charest. Interested in this type of approach in Quebec, she developed a partnership with dancer, choreographer and artistic director Kathy Casey and other actors in the community.
In 2018, the workshops offered to women victims of domestic violence were opened to their children. The objective is to regain a form of security through play and dance. “It evolved a lot the following year, we set them up with two partners [des maisons d’hébergement]. In 2019-2020, there was the pandemic and that stopped our take-off in relation to this project,” says Christine Charles, production coordinator at Mont-réal Danse and head of the Dance against violence program.
Through dance and relaxation, the project revolves around four objectives: to redefine the body as a place of comfort and safety, to give back to women the possibility of making their own decisions, to give back to women confidence in others and finally offer them the opportunity to imagine a better future through creativity. The initiative is also intended for women who are victims of other forms of violence such as sexual, gender-based or racial violence, or who are struggling with homelessness, mental health or addiction problems.
Child’s Play and Pandemic Adaptations
Mother-child dance workshops are built through play, entertainment and listening. “We start by warming up, meeting, as we do for the workshops with the women, we are going to use a lot more images to get moving and activate the body. Then we move on to exercises that require more creativity and invention,” explains dancer-moderator Rachel Harris. For a moment, a bond is created, an atmosphere of relaxation and joy gradually emerges. “It’s special because they are in a situation of acute crisis and they have a lot of things to sort out. Before leaving their problematic home, they were often stressed and also in a protective mechanism, not in a state of playing with their child,” notes Rachel Harris.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the two Dance Against Violence projects manage to survive, but they have had to deal with health constraints in often limited spaces and maintain contact with the residents of certain shelters, adds Christine Charles. To remedy the situation, virtual workshops have been created to bring women out of their isolation.
“The virtual workshops have been like a lifeline for a lot of them. On the one hand, it allowed them to continue the journey towards their recovery through a regular moment of well-being and in addition to breaking their isolation, ”says Christine Charles.
It feeds us a lot to be able to share our knowledge of the body and the imagination, in a very concrete way with people who really need it.
Despite the adaptations, the participation rate has still dropped since 2020. The Dance Against Violence team is not only counting on the complete resumption of face-to-face activities with former partners who are essentially shelters, centers communities, but also women’s centers such as the women’s center of Montreal-East–Pointe-aux-Trembles. The organization also wants to develop new collaborations. Montréal Danse now has seven regular partners, shelters, but also community centers and school groups.
Dancer for 30 years and moderator for the organization, Rachel Harris continues to give some online classes even if those in person are gradually resuming. For her, the new arrangements put in place during the pandemic have offered another option for mother-child dance workshops. “We did workshops via Zoom, which meant that the children participated a little with their mother. The dynamic was very different because they were at home, they came back, they left the room, went to play and came back to the workshop”, says, amused, Rachel Harris.
regain control
Following a situation of conjugal violence, the body and the spirit are often wounded, the women are afraid and are badly in their body. The workshops try to bring a little security and relaxation for these women and their children who are the collateral victims. “Often what you hear is that you find your body as a place of safety and not as a place of battle,” says Ms. Harris.
Rachel Harris teaches with passion within Dance Against Violence and is delighted to be able to offer these women tools to relax, relearn how to listen to themselves, but also have fun and connect to their creative power. “It feeds us a lot to be able to share our knowledge of the body and the imagination, in a very concrete way, with people who really need it. Dance Against Violence would benefit everyone, not just people in crisis,” says Rachel Harris.