The Roaring 2020’s: Dancing for Inclusion — Spain

On 19th of September 2022, the organizers of the project “The Roaring 2020’s: Dancing for Inclusion” – Anabel, Sandra and Anastasia from the organization La Vibria Intercultural – welcomed us with a smile on their faces at the threshold of the Inout Hostel in Barcelona. During the evening, the hostel began to fill up with participants from different corners of Europe. Our three-person Czech expedition was accompanied by Bulgarians, Croatians, Estonians, Frenchs, Greeks, Lithuanians, North Macedonians, Portuguese and Spanish. In total there were 27 participants in the project.

The main topics of this partnership building seminar were dance, kinesthetic learning, non-formal education and how to combine it all. Thanks to the sharing of our opinions and experiences, we had time to think more deeply not only about the problems, but especially thanks to various activities, to come up with a solution. Most activities required cooperation, organization, sharing and caring. But a large part of the program was up to us, the participants. In several blocks, we had space for Open Spaces, when we passed on our skills to each other through workshops.

The venue itself was also interesting. Inout Hostel, that belongs to Icaria Initiatives Socials, a non-profit organization whose mission is the social and employment inclusion of people with disabilities. In the hostel, the staff was made up of people with disabilities, who made up the most smiling and friendliest work team I have ever seen.

Of course, Barcelona itself, the capital of Catalonia and the paradise of the architect Gaudí, added to the attractiveness of the location. We were only a quarter of an hour away from the center by train.

So one day we visited the orgazination Tudanzas, which is located in the centre of the city. It is a reference art-social movement that facilitates the creation of collective art initiatives that support sustainable social development in the given territory. After that we explored the beauty of the city and had a dinner together.

The last day we spent in Terrassa, where we had a Linda Hop lesson at the Triplestep dance school, a couple dance popularized in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s with swing jazz music. Then we moved to the headquarters of La Vibria Intercultural, where tapas was prepared for us. We couldn’t have wished for a better ending to the project than with this typical Spanish dinner!

The following day – 25th of September, we set off for our homes with our heads full of ideas for various local projects.

I would like to thank the organizers for their positive energy, which they charged us with all the time and for creating such a great project.

Also, a big thanks to every single EYCB worker, through which teenagers can step out of their comfort zone, go abroad and broaden their horizons. Thank you for your time and execution throughout the project.

Nina Malá