The World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific will be meeting in Taiwan this week to plan two major events. We'll be there, leading plans for the first meeting of international dance support organisations in November, and helping to plan the second – the WDA Global Summit in Taipei in July 2012 in partnership with dance and the Child international (daCi).
We've been involved in sharing ideas, opportunities and information with our international colleagues for many years, most recently with dance support organisations in the UK and Europe, but also with the World Dance Alliance in the Asia Pacific region. With the Europeans meeting in Paris in November, we thought it was important to try to get both groups together, especially as they have similar aims and activities.
So the first meeting in Taiwan this week will be about planning the WDA agenda for the Paris meeting, and helping with advice about the groups who will be there in November. We're hoping that this meeting will set up more dialogue between our various dance organisations, and open up new opportunities for Australian dance artists.
The second meeting this week will involve representatives from daCi in a first for both WDA and daCi – planning for a joint conference and festival in Taipei in July 2012. The event – 'Dance, Young People and Change' – is taking a lot of planning, especially as so many groups of young people from around the world are wanting to perform, give papers and be part of panel discussions and presentations. We know of several Australian youth dance companies and groups who are wanting to perform at the festival next year.
We're looking forward to joining our colleagues in Taipei as they prepare to host this enormous festival, and will bring back news of both meetings for our members next week.