Huuma – Future Skills for Young People through Dance

In the Huuma project, inclusive dance workshops are organised by three Finnish art organisations: Dance Theater Raatikko (Vantaa), ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival (Kuopio) and the Etelä-Savo Dance School (Mikkeli). The project is coordinated by The Children and Youth Foundation (Helsinki). XAMK University of Applied Sciences in Finland is responsible for the evaluation and research related to the project.

Through methods of dance, the project strengthens social inclusion and functional ability of young people at risk of exclusion. It will run in 2019-2022 in Vantaa, Mikkeli and Kuopio, Finland. The target group are young people with either immigrant or Finnish background who are out of work and education. The objective of the project is to increase intercultural interaction and support young people's physical, psychologicaland social skills and integration of immigrant youth into Finnish society. In addition, the project develops the know-how of the fields of dance and youth work.

The activities are planned and built as multidisciplinary collaboration between the art organisations, various youth organisations and municipal youth and cultural services. Workshops will focus on aim-specific themes through movement and dance. The way of working, ie. the applied use of art, strengthens young people's self-esteem, social skills, communality and courage to act. Its core is to create anexperience of ‘I can’.

The workshops culminate in presentations and/or community shows organised and implemented by young people, either in small scale or in connection with various events.