Proposal Title
Dance and Performance: Bridging Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation, Shriners, and Team Brave
Abstract
Since 2002, LCAL graduate, Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) student, and Artistic Director, Pamela Caira, has bi-annually hosted a Winter Benefit Performance to help local people in need of assistance. This year, her Waltham based dance studio, Step by Step, raised $28,000 to support the Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation (BFBF), a 501c3 non-profit organization. A longtime supporter of Shriner's Hospital, serving burn victims/survivors and families, BFBF is a generous funder of Team Brave, a patient centered community reintegration program. Assisted by firefighters from BFBF, Team Brave takes small groups of patients on recreational outings throughout the city. Inspired, Caira saw an opportunity to forge a connection between her dance studio and Team Brave: she recruited firefighters to perform in her Winter Benefit and set out to create a dance/movement class partnering burn survivors with firefighters. Collaborating with Nancy Jo Cardillo, Lesley faculty and DMT, Caira piloted a therapeutic dance class incorporating DMT and expressive arts with traditional dance technique. Interested in the relationship of dance/movement and the arts on wellness and body/self image for burn victims/survivors, many living with trauma and a disabling condition in constant identification with societal and media norms, their aim is to create more dance related programming, study performative healing, and contribute to the worldview of DMT and burn treatment. This presentation will describe the set-up, goals, design, and implementation of the group and the unique needs of its participants. You will see footage from the firefighters performance, while hearing about Caira’s innovative fundraising strategies over the years
Start Date
27-3-2019 5:40 PM
End Date
27-3-2019 6:30 PM
Room Number
U-Hall 3-101
Presentation Type
Workshop
Disciplines
Art Therapy | Other Mental and Social Health
Dance and Performance: Bridging Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation, Shriners, and Team Brave
Since 2002, LCAL graduate, Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) student, and Artistic Director, Pamela Caira, has bi-annually hosted a Winter Benefit Performance to help local people in need of assistance. This year, her Waltham based dance studio, Step by Step, raised $28,000 to support the Boston Firefighters Burn Foundation (BFBF), a 501c3 non-profit organization. A longtime supporter of Shriner's Hospital, serving burn victims/survivors and families, BFBF is a generous funder of Team Brave, a patient centered community reintegration program. Assisted by firefighters from BFBF, Team Brave takes small groups of patients on recreational outings throughout the city. Inspired, Caira saw an opportunity to forge a connection between her dance studio and Team Brave: she recruited firefighters to perform in her Winter Benefit and set out to create a dance/movement class partnering burn survivors with firefighters. Collaborating with Nancy Jo Cardillo, Lesley faculty and DMT, Caira piloted a therapeutic dance class incorporating DMT and expressive arts with traditional dance technique. Interested in the relationship of dance/movement and the arts on wellness and body/self image for burn victims/survivors, many living with trauma and a disabling condition in constant identification with societal and media norms, their aim is to create more dance related programming, study performative healing, and contribute to the worldview of DMT and burn treatment. This presentation will describe the set-up, goals, design, and implementation of the group and the unique needs of its participants. You will see footage from the firefighters performance, while hearing about Caira’s innovative fundraising strategies over the years
