Building Confidence through ACDP Dance

The ACDP dance component encourages youths from all dance levels to engage in rhythmic urban dance. The aim is to build consistency, memory, discipline, courage and creativity through teamwork and body communication. 

In addition to learning dance genres such as jazz, salsa, contemporary, hip hop and others, the training also includes improvised activities where participants can safely express their emotions through movement. The overall result of a regular, ACDP dance participant is a more self-aware, confident individual who can use dance to become more peaceful and grounded.

The ACDP dance component encourages gender inclusion in the trainings. At the beginning of last year, many of the dancers were male. Now, a year later the attendance numbers have tripled and the majority of the dancers are female. 

Six elite dancers have emerged out of the regular dance attendees. The ACDP Elite dancers have additional rehearsal time and they are taught how to showcase performances and able to choreograph a themed performance. They continue to perform with the PNG Circus all around the city and the country.

Some of the performances showcased by the Elite dancers include the Tourism Promotional Authority’s PNG Contemporary Culture Music Dance Troupe Competition, created and performed The for World No Tobacco Day Flash Mob in 7 locations around the city, Unity Dance that was created specifically for Independence Day in 2022, celebrated the first International Dance Day at Ela beach, hosted the One Earth Dance Competition Semi-Finals where the finalists were invited to perform during the 2022 World Environment Day Celebrations amongst others. These elite dancers earn an income through these performances and they are able to help to support their families.