On June 10, the Canada Council for the Arts shared the results from last year’s Survey of Social Impacts of Dance Organizations in Canada.
The survey was an investigation into the way that dance affects society in Canada, the last phase of research in the Dance Across Canada project. The initiative, launched by Canada Council in collaboration with the Ontario Arts Council sought to establish whether or not dance positively influences communities physically, psychologically and emotionally. The large-scale project is the first of its kind in Canada and aimed to enrich understanding of the social impact of the arts.
The survey was open between November and December last year and results were originally published in March as an interactive data visualization available on the Canada Council for the Arts website. Nearly 3000 Canadian dance organizations participated in the survey, including not only professional dance organizations but also a large range of dance activities in the non-professional sector. The summarized results of the survey from the website are listed below.
- About two-thirds of respondents have offered a dance activity or program during the last three years with the aim of achieving an impact on the health and well-being of individuals and the community
- Social programming is designed to achieve a wide range of impacts: from improved health and sense of well-being of individuals, to greater engagement in and attachment to the community, as well as to personal pride in oneself, in one’s culture and in one’s community;
- Just over half of respondent organizations with programming designed to have a social impact offer activities to enhance community vitality, energy and civic engagement or fostering physical and psychological well-being of individuals;
- Most organizations involved in programming designed to have a social impact have associated or worked with other organizations (predominantly other arts organizations or community/recreation centres) over the past three years, emphasizing the strong collaborative nature of this type of programming in the dance field in Canada.
Full results of the study can be found at canadacouncil.ca.
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