Kathleen Stansell

Kathleen Stansell Kathleen Stansell has been dancing since the age of three and continues to pursue her passion of dance as a teaching artist, performer, and choreographer. She teaches a variety of movement skills including gymnastics, ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and creative movement. Kathleen graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with Honors and a Bachelor's degree in Performance and Choreography. She is currently using her performance skills with Upaya, Catey Ott Dance Collective, and her own company, Move for Change. Along with her friend and colleague, Dan Kinch, Kathleen is the Co-Artistic Director of Move for Change and the Brooklyn Culture Jammers, an artistic collective in support of Occupy Wall Street used to bring awareness to issues such as food justice and a myriad of other social issues. For Kathleen, dance comes secondary to aiding the advancement of character of both her students and her audiences.

"It is important to me to be as socially responsible as possible in my daily life so I may contribute to the happiness and peace of others. This means restraining the use of any animal products, reducing the output of wasteful materials, and doing work that is for the benefit of other people's health and well-being. Dance and acting are the creative outlets of which I am most talented and passionate about; therefore, I use those talents as a gentle approach to communicating issues surrounding food waste, the monopolization of food products, excess, and human rights. I move for change." -Kathleen Stansell

Dancers As A Force For Change

Please Don't Touch, Enforced Arch

James Koroni of Enforced Arch was interviewed by Dance Advantage. Here's a spotlight from that interview and a link to where you can read the rest:

Dance Advantage: Why did you create the Enforced Arch community?

James Koroni, Enforced ArchJames Koroni: All my life I have had a strong desire to sing, dance and entertain everyone. All of which was an attempt to brighten someones day.

As an adult I went through two devastating losses – each breathing new life into my love of performance art – - the death of my brother and later the loss of my father who both died of cancer.

It wasn’t until I felt the severity of my fathers illness that I knew I needed to change my own life. After he died I sought the truth behind the causes for cancer and I found an abundance of resources, including The China Study, linking many causes of cancer to our diets. This sent me on a a course of research that changed my life forever. The first step I took was adopting a vegan lifestyle, not only for my brother & father, but also for my health, the environment, and all of the animals suffering for our dinners. This discovery has filled my life with great intention.

Every moment following that day has contained yet another opportunity to inspire change through my lifestyle and as a dancer/choreographer. Dancers have a unique ability to speak to others and I value those who use this talent to create awareness.

READ MORE HERE!

PURPLE

Thursday, October 20, 2011Spirit Day LGBT, Enforced Arch

In honor of “Spirit Day” IT GETS BETTER is  encouraging their hundreds of thousands of supporters online—like you—to join the millions wearing purple in support of LGBT youth. (source)

Stand with LGBT youth by wearing purple for Spirit Day on Thursday, October 20, 2011 then spread the word by emailing your friends, tweeting about #SpiritDay and posting to facebook.

What is Spirit Day? (via GLAAD)

Millions of Americans wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives. Observed annually on October 20, individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Getting involved is easy -- participants are asked to simply "go purple" on October 20.

For more information about Spirit Day and what you can do online, visit http://www.glaad.org/spiritday.

Life Skills Through Dance, Part 1: Intro

Samantha YuSamantha Yu embodies the power and beauty of dance. She sees beyond social boundaries and creates opportunities to inspire others. This past summer she spent her time teaching in a rural village south of Chennai as a volunteer for Promethean Spark. Promethean Spark, in conjunction with Rising Star Outreach, helps individuals who have, and are affected by, leprosy by providing opportunities for education and offering medical treatment. As a temporary faculty member of the Perry School for Rising Stars, she lead leprosy affected children through a series of dance warm-ups and exercises in order to teach them important life lessons. She gives an example, A lesson in spotting quickly turns into a lesson in keeping your eye on your goal. Stretching every day translates into working on big projects a little bit at a time.

Samantha Yu

In addition to teaching these important lessons she entered two leprosy colonies in order to introduce movement therapy programs to those who have been shunned and neglected for most of their lives.

More to come...

Follow her experiences here: SammDances.tumblr