Dance
Against
Violence
Dance Against Violence
Mission
To offer movement workshops to individuals made vulnerable by various types of violence, in order to help them reclaim their bodies, regain their confidence, and break their isolation.
To help us achieve our mission, we welcome your donations! They will be used to pay the facilitators’ fees, develop our partnerships with organizations, reach a large number of participants, and thus ensure the sustainability of our workshops.
About
Dance Against Violence (DAV) is a project spearheaded by Montréal Danse. Since DAV’s inception, we have been offering movement workshops in women’s shelters to assist victims of domestic violence.
Over the years, we have expanded our partnerships and activities, offering mother-child workshops as well as workshops to anyone vulnerable or marginalized by various forms of violence (social exclusion, mental health issues, homelessness, etc.).
Individuals who have survived violence or are dealing with psychological trauma often experience dissociation from their bodies. Words and speech are not always a feasible or sufficient path towards reconnecting with their bodies. We believe that offering a workshop to access the body opens up immense possibilities for expression.
With DAV, Montréal Danse extends its mission beyond the creation and dissemination of dance projects. The company offers partner organizations and their participants the benefit of expertise developed since 2010 through a practice of moving the body that promotes attention to oneself and others and increased confidence in oneself and in others.
Our workshops
Our hour-long workshops, driven by a feminist approach, provide a safe space for participants to get in contact with their bodies. DAV facilitators welcome participants with many backgrounds and histories, whether it’s for one or multiple workshops. They invite them to pay attention to their sensations and movements, without judgment. This moment of body attention has the potential to (re)build confidence in one’s abilities, to explore one’s own space, and to foster recognition of one’s limits and decision-making powers. It is also a time for connection that helps break the isolation experienced by many participants.
See the 2024-2025 workshop calendar
Objectives
Body
- Connect with the body and its sensations
- Recognize and respect one’s limits
- Reclaim one’s body as a safe space
Expression
- Develop the ability to choose and express oneself in a sensitive and creative way, through body and movement (empowerment process).
Community
- Develop a supportive community
- Break isolation
History
2010 – Dance Against Violence (DAV) was established in Montreal by Agora de la Danse, La Dauphinelle women’s shelter, Montreal Danse, and Amélie Dionne-Charest. DAV was inspired by the project of the same name created by choreographer Gina Gibney (Gibney Dance) in New York.
2014 – DAV merges with Montreal Danse to ensure its continuing development.
2018 – The DAV team adds a mother-child workshop to its activities.
2018 to present – DAV expands its partnerships to offer workshops to benefit a variety of individuals (women, men, adolescents, and young adults) with a range of experiences of violence.
Over nearly 15 years, DAV has a total of …
- 720 workshops
- 4100 participants
- 12 partner organizations
Team
The Dance Against Violence workshops are led by two experienced facilitators:
Board of Directors of Montréal Danse – DCV Funding Committee :
- Marc Bertossini – Desjardins Marketing Business Partner
- Charles-David Cardinal – Director of Coévol | Design and strategy for companies
- Mélanie Forcier – Professeure à L’École nationale d’administration publique (ENAP)
Coordination of Danse contre la Violence :
Collaborating organizations
Close collaboration with the following organizations is crucial to DAV’s operation:
- Assistance aux femmes
- Centre des femmes de Montréal-Est Pointe-aux-Trembles
- Centre de services de justice réparatrice
- Le Chaînon
- Refuge pour les femmes de l’Ouest de l’île
DCV is a project funded under the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal between the City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec.
Le projet est aussi soutenu par le Conseil des arts du Canada (CAC), le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), le Conseil des arts de Montréal (CAM) et par des donations privées.
Resources
RQCALACS
Quebec Coalition of Sexual Assault Help Centers
Le Centre d’apprentissage parallèle (CAP)
Rebâtir
Legal consultation free of charge for victimes of sexual abuse and domestic violence
References
Colloque Se mobiliser par l’art: Comment les pratiques artistiques, muséologiques et éducatives appellent-elles à l’action?, UQÀM, 2021
Reading list on rape culture, produced by Librairie L’Euguélionne
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel Van der Kolk, 2014
CONTACT
Catherine Duchesneau
Coordinator of Dance Against Violence
dcv@montrealdanse.com
SOCIAL NETWORKS
GALLERY