'(un)usual dance' a workshop by Anne-Lore Baeckeland

By choosing this workshop, you step into the world of our artistic and educational projects empolyee Anne-Lore Baeckeland. For over 25 years, Anne-Lore has been on an exciting journey, continuously seeking ways to engage children in dance. She explores what they need, how to stimulate their creativity, and how dance education can develop essential basic skills, such as collaboration.

In her work, she combines structured dance forms with experimental workshops. She believes that both are essential to give children and young people the space to develop as dancers and as individuals.

During the workshop, Anne-Lore shares the findings from a dance-educational research project she conducts on Saturday, March 1 with Justine Reeve, dance teachers and children. You will also learn about a project she is currently working on for Danspunt: Bal Sucré – a festive moment where parents and children can dance together. Additionally, she brings valuable insights from her training as a Feldenkrais teacher, which she is currently undertaking, and explains how she applies these to children.

Why does Anne-Lore program herself? 🙂

As a child, I had the opportunity to come home from school every day, do my homework, put on my play clothes, and go play outside with the neighbors on a vacant lot behind the gardens. Every day anew. That was “our” place, “our” freedom, without parents or teachers watching us. It was a place where we could completely immerse ourselves in our game of imagination and creation, where we could feel life to our smallest cell. That is “my” reference for every dance workshop I create and give. For me, a workshop with imagination, creation, research, and play is the best humus for learning. I’m happy to pass on my experience to anyone interested. Dancing together in a circle, in pairs, or facing each other gives a boost to spatial awareness and coordination skills. With “Gewoon een dansje” (“just a dance”) we dance simple dances together that you can use as a warm-up, atmosphere creator, or at your dance camp.

Who is Anne-Lore Baeckeland?

Anne-Lore Baeckeland is an artistic-educational employee at Danspunt. After her studies in socio-cultural work, she went to Africa and then to the Fontys Dance Academy in Tilburg to continue her path in the dance world. After her studies, she started working in the art education sector and worked as a freelancer in numerous projects for De Kopergietery, hetpaleis, De Veerman, etc. She taught dance in DKO for 10 years. With the company Cacao Bleu vzw, she created performances, short films, and installations. In Liège, she has her own dance workshop for children from 4 to 8 years old, with dance workshops that focus on developing dance creativity and with which she creates performances with children and young people. Anne-Lore has had a varied career in which she studied different styles during various periods; from Afro to contemporary to more somatic work. She is currently following the Feldenkrais teacher training in Brussels.