Dreams Can Be Foundation, Johnstown, United Stateshttp://www.dreamscanbe.org/
Target: £509.00
Raised so far: £509.00
Great news - this project has reached its funding target. Thank you to everyone who donated. Search for another cause to support
Dreams Can Be Foundation, Johnstown, United Stateshttp://www.dreamscanbe.org/
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Since 1996 the Compania Étnica has been giving professional artistic training to youth in a dangerous favela (slum) in Rio. Dance, theater and citizenship classes provide an alternative.
Brazilian favelas are characterized by economic and social inequality, perpetuated by the difficult access to education and to different cultural activities and the racial prejudice. Compania Étnica provides an alternative through artistic and citizenship education. Scholarships are given to participants to provide support for their families and incentives to increase their breadth of knowledge. The project enriches the lives of those in the community through its various activities.
Dance, theater, art, and literature classes provide students with an outlet to receive scholarships and enter the job market. They also give performances for the community and work on self-esteem building, citizenship education and personal hygiene.
Since students receive training from seasoned professionals, they have the potential to become professionals themselves. These youths become role models in their community, increasing the quality of life of those involved.
Joshua Reed
The project Cia Étnica has been continually growing and becoming stronger over the last 10 years. Their growing reputation has currently enabled them to expand the influence of the project to other areas such as the countryside of Rio de Janeiro and ²Baixada Fluminense.² This has enable them to help nearly 40% more people than they previously had. They now have begun to develop more opportunities for people of all ages through their partnerships with people in both private and public institutions. This has also allowed the staff to gain a better and more useful training.
Cia Étnica recently received the award ²Griot De Cultura Negra² and was also recognized by ²Camara de Vereadores do Municipio Rio de Janeiro². In 2005 they received the prize ²Top Social² with an Honorable mention from the Rio de Janeiro government. In 2006 they received ²Premio de Urbanidade Pelo IAB²
Cia Étnica is hoping to expand into new areas of education and is currently planning on beginning a film and photography course. However, they are in need of many resources in order to see this dream fulfilled. Video cameras, photograph cameras, software for video editing, Tapes, CDs etc. are all necessary requirement that they will need to successfully establish this course. The goal of this is to amplify the opportunities, skills and artistic abilities of the youths involved and ideally enable them to pursue careers in these areas.
Many youths that are participating in the project or that have participated in the past are now working directly within the cultural markets through dance, theater, carnival, lighting, direction, sound, and workshops both in the state of Rio de Janeiro and abroad. CIA Étnica has becaome a influential name in the area of professional dance within Rio. The Project enables the youths to learn and become professionals within these areas. They are continually being invited to produce and perform shows abroad created by Carmen Luz (choreographer).
The main focus of Cia Étnica is to provide access to arts and cultural diversity as an avenue toward human development. They ideally aim toward creating methodologies which produce the opportunity for those involved to increase their knowledge gain and build their self-esteem while also earning an honest income for themselves. The newest area of interest involves the environment which integrates ideals of living for a better world.