Meet Our First Team of DAM Dance Ambassadors!
We are excited to introduce our first team of DAM Dance Ambassadors to our community! A Dance Ambassador is a senior dancer who has been with the Dance Ability Movement for multiple years and has shown a strong interest in gaining leadership experience within the dance community. They participate in a year-long leadership training program led by Miss Emma, while also taking on various roles within dance classes and the greater DAM community. As an Occupational Therapist, Miss Emma works with the team to set both group and individual goals that reflect how our Ambassadors hope to have an impact [...]
Congratulations Emily Goodson on being October’s Volunteer of the Month!
Emily has been a long-time member of our Alliston FAMILY at The Dance Workshop. She has developed so much as a leader and has taken on so many different roles within our team that has made our FUTURE even more representative of our inclusive community. Emily works closely with the dancers in the class and develops FRIENDSHIPS that extend out into the community. She also has been one of our team leads and has supported our outreach to bring in more volunteers to our team. Emily understands how to use a strengths-based approach with our dancers both in-person and virtually. [...]
Congratulations Annie Yang on being September’s Volunteer of the Month!
Annie joined the Dance Ability Movement this year and has been such a great addition to our volunteer team. Annie makes Friends with all the Dancers she works with and learns everyone's names and interests on day one. She then works hard to incorporate this information into class to make dance more Fun! Wherever Annie ends up, we know she has a Future in leadership. Annie is exploring Social Work and OT and her ability to creatively adapt on the fly to make inclusion personalized will make her such a strong change maker. She understands that we all Function differently, [...]
The Dynamic OT Role at the DAM: Supporting the Instructors and the Community
We have invited Raven Brooks, student Occupational Therapist at the University of Toronto, to share some reflections about the dynamic roles the Dance Ability Movement OTs have based on her experience during her 10-week placement with us. Since Raven’s impressions covered diverse topics, we’ve decided to publish them in a series of blog posts. In her last blog post, Raven will share with you how our OTs support our instructors and help us build an inclusive and bright community. If you haven’t read her previous blog posts, click on the links below: Supporting New Dancers through an individualized approach Supporting [...]
The Dynamic OT Role at the DAM: Building the Capacity of Volunteers
We have invited Raven Brooks, student Occupational Therapist at the University of Toronto, to share some reflections about the dynamic roles the Dance Ability Movement OTs have based on her experience during her 10-week placement with us. Since Raven’s impressions covered diverse topics, we’ve decided to publish them in a series of blog posts. In this week’s blog post, Raven will share with you how our OTs build the capacity of volunteers so they can help us create an inclusive and safe environment. If you haven’t read her previous blog posts, click on the links below: Supporting New Dancers through [...]
Congratulations Saba Malik on being the July Volunteer of the Month!
Saba began volunteering with us at our Mississauga location, June Lawrence School of Dance, in-person and has continued to be a part of the larger DAM team for our online classes! She brings a great understanding and appreciation of differences and uses her calm and patient nature to connect with each dance buddy, allowing them the time and space to be heard and feel that sense of connection, even over the screen! Further, Saba is able to build rapport with her dance friends and values the families' role in supporting dancers, especially in a virtual setting! She goes above and [...]