Independence Unity Dance

“When we move together, we are suddenly not separate anymore. We share our consciousness. We call it communities, which means elevating everybody beyond the individual to a collective sensibility.” – Janet Reineck, Executive Director of World Dance for Humanity (WDH) in Santa Barbara California USA.

According to WDH – Thrive Global research, dancing has the power to heal and unite. This finding coincides with the purpose of the Unity Dance, a classical dance choreographed by ACDP for this year’s Independence.

Unity dance steps consists of simple body movements repeatedly done in sequence. The dance moves are also a mixture of cultural dance steps from 22 different PNG provinces including dance from Islands region,the hips sway from Southern region, Waipa from the Highlands region and a variety of hand and feet movements from the Momase region.

The dance itself is inclusive and can be learnt and performed by anyone regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, and body type.

This year the dance was taught and performed on stage by ACDP youths and followed by more than 2,000 people with communities, schools and youth groups taking the lead. The special dance was also featured in the SME Markets at Ela Beach.

ACDP dance teachers continue to teach the Unity dance in schools and communities. Organizations have also shown interest for their staff to be taught, as a way of stress relief and exercise.