The Dance Project - a joint effort between students and parents to promote fun dancing, self-respect, leadership
...for purity, freedom and glory.
In all honesty, there are two sides to the Dance Project. The Dance Project is a group of students who get together to dance and have fun. We are interested in new types of dancing, and that's what sets us apart. We are willing and able to learn and grow through dancing in our community.
The student group organizes monthly dances in the community and provides a safe environment for teens to dance and have fun. However, most of the students don't realize the real work that's going on inside the Dance Project. While the Dance Project is a student run dance group, it is also a project. In providing a safe environment for students to dance, we also provide a contact for parents and administrators who feel dancing at school dances or elsewhere is out of control.
The Dance Project's members have reached out to schools and provided dance instruction and alternatives, and it is our goal to provide ideas and alternatives to any parent, any administrator, and anyone who is concerned.
That's the work behind the Dance Project --
because, we believe, the world needs it.
Dance Project Formula for Fun Dances :
Student & Parent Planning, Dance Instruction, Great Variety of Clean Music, $5 Admission, Chaperones, Snacks & Beverages, Safety, Prayer, Community Donations
For a look at our student contract which contains the parameters we expect attenders of our dance to abide by please click on the link below:
Student Contract
Changes in the culture in and around the Livingston County Area: updated 1/2/12
We are now supported by over 500 individuals and families participating in our email distribution list (see link at the bottom of the page for more information). After 24 community dances, we have now served nearly 2000 students in more than 75 schools.
Because of the prayers and support of many area individuals and families, and the hard work
of many dedicated volunteers in The Dance Project, positive changes are taking place at our school dances.
At the College level:
Students have taken their enjoyment of swing dancing from Dance Project supported clubs & dances to colleges throughout the tri-state area. Hope College, Michigan Tech, Spring Arbor, Saginaw Valley, and Cedarville University are places where our students have carried on the mission of changing the culture by promoting positive dancing. From swing club leadership to administration counsel, and changes in university policy, students are influencing the groups around them in powerful ways.
At the High School level:
1. Administrators in Hartland High School have agreed to allow The Dance Project to host the 2012 BlackLight Dance in the high school gym. Thanks to Mrs. Laurie Cothran and Principal Chuck Hughes for making the arrangements.
2. The Dance Project has begun a new chapter in the Grand Haven area. Student leaders, Kimberly Braybrook, Patrick Asdell and Benjamin Terpstra recently organized a New Year's dance for charity, and have been running weekly club meetings to teach area students swing dancing.
3. Brighton High School students, Lindsey Disler and Tommy Binkley run a swing dance club after school with support from The Dance Project.
At the Middle School level:
1. Hartland Middle School at Ore Creek has been running a swing dance club on Thursdays after school from 2:30 - 4pm under the direction of Laurie & Connor Cothran with help from Miss Hannah Enderle. Attendance and interest continues to increase.
*A point of clarification needs to be made in that "coupling up" is not encouraged at either the intermediate or middle school levels. Swing dancing is an activity that promotes exercise, and engages students in activity that interests them musically.
Thank you for your interest in what The Dance Project is doing in Michigan. If you are interested in getting more details on how to bring positive dancing choices to your area, please email The Dance Project at: thedanceproject@live.com