Indigenous Pitch Dance Collective Inc

Indigenous Pitch Dance Collective is a coalition of Philadelphia-based dance companies that create and perform regularly across the region and around the world. This professional experience allows the team to provide dance, visual and literary arts to children in desperate need of engagement, inspiration and play. 2010 will be the 4th year of free arts education in New Orleans, LA and Philadelphia, PA by Indigenous Pitch Dance Collective. IPDC will provide 6 camps in the New Orleans area during the summer months. They will provide 3 camps in Philadelphia over school breaks. The organization is also expanding to Camden, NJ, Chester, PA, and internationally, to Haiti. IPDC has been invited to the devastated island nation for the first week of July by the Universite Chrientienne Du Nord d’Haiti The greatest success of IPDC is summed up in the words of Tylin, age 9, “They are always doing things to make me a good person.” At the first camp in New Orleans in 2007, Tiffany, age 8, said, “Sometimes I just need to play to get some stuff off my mind.” When prompted to journal about what makes them feel secure, a recent student said that his safe place is “here at camp”. IPDC arts camps provide a safe place for these students and others to play, create, and share their personal stories. Our campers learn self-expression through dance technique, visual and literary arts. More importantly, they are encouraged to be respectful, cooperative, imaginative learners eager to contribute to their communities. Each camp culminates in a final art show and performance. Children are encouraged to work together as a team to resolve artistic or relational problems that might hinder the experience of performing. The shared purpose of giving back to their damaged community through an original live performance inevitably brings out the best in the participants. The overwhelming response from family members is extreme gratitude. One teary-eyed mother said, “Thank you so much for coming to teach my daughter. All of our neighbors are gone and she doesn’t have anywhere safe to play.” Even anonymous cyberspace friends laud our “selfless giving of time and energy” for our cause. Our camps unite the community in support of their children. While working with IPDC, campers learn that their artistic voices deserve to be heard. Through this unique creative exchange they gain self-confidence; a major accomplishment given their adverse living situations. There is nothing like the joy of children who experience dance, visual and literary arts. Indigenous Pitch Dance Collective makes this unique education possible with your support. Please help us continue opening hearts, inspiring minds, and igniting imaginations by making a generous gift today. Choose a sponsorship level to send one child to one of our camps around the world this year.