![](https://montrealdanse.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/logo-dcv-cadre.png)
![](https://montrealdanse.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/logo-dcv-cadre.png)
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 accomplish our mission, thank you for your donations!
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
Accessing the body
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, both with oneself and with others. It is also a time for connection that helps break the isolation experienced by many participants.
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:
For more information about our workshops, please contact
Catherine Duchesneau, Coordinator of Dance Against Violence
dcv@montrealdanse.com
Collaborating organizations
Close collaboration with the following organizations is crucial to DAV’s operation:
- Assistance aux femmes
- Centre des femmes Montréal-Est Pointe-aux-Trembles
- Centre de services de justice réparatrice
- La Dauphinelle
- Le Chaînon
- L’envol des femmes / Women on the rise
DAV receives funding from the City of Montreal, the Canada Council for the Arts (CAC), the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), as well as private donations.
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