Statement on Racism
June 2020

 
​​Healthy Dancer Canada is an organization dedicated to the health and well-being of all dancers. We acknowledge that we have a lot of work to do to create a more just, equitable, accessible, and anti-racist institution. We are committed to change and to supporting and celebrating the Black dance community, in addition to marginalized dance communities.

The current news events have reinforced the need for both immediate and long-term changes within the organization. Currently, as our board is made up primarily of white women, we recognize that we must actively work to be a more diverse and inclusive board. We are committed to seeking out the perspectives and input of marginalized peoples as we persist in addressing systemic racism, colonialism, and all forms of injustices in our organization.

These are the specific actions we are taking for this vital work:

• We will actively seek members to join our board that have a lived experience that is different from our own, specifically members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities.
• We will provide annual racial equity training to our board members.
• We will share with our board and membership anti-racism resources.
• We will establish an equity, diversity and inclusion working group.
• We will strengthen our outreach initiatives and educational resource development by
  • ensuring the inclusion of contributions from Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour researchers in the field of dance health and wellness
  • increasing our efforts to make our membership and resources accessible to an increasing number of cultural dance genres
  • ensuring the inclusion of a diversity of voices at conferences and workshops
• We will establish an annual scholarship for dancers of colour to support their dance training and education.

See HDC's resource Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Resources.
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