About Us

Mission: The Canadian Dance Standards society is committed to raising the quality of dance instruction offered throughout Canada, by raising the standards for dance training, teacher education and dance research.

The Canadian Dance Standards society serves the dance community in the following ways:

1. Hosting dance conventions and education workshops designed for dancers in training and dance parents. The purpose of Canadian Dance Standards conventions/workshops is to fuse together all elements of dance education. Nutritionists, sport psychologists, kinesiologists, personal trainers and related fitness experts, lower extremity based doctors, eating disorder specialists, professional dance artists and a wide variety of other imperatively related dance health professionals come together to give dancers the information, tools and resources they need to maintain physically, socially, financially, emotionally and psychologically healthy lifestyles in dance.
   
   
2. Hosting dance teacher conferences, workshops and continuing education courses designated to bring educators of dance together to share information and knowledge in many areas of dance education including: pedagogy, choreography, classroom management and injury prevention.
   
   
3. Raising awareness and support for dance research by providing scholarship funds for post secondary dance education and dance research.
   
   
4. Through being an activist for standards of dance educators in Canada by hosting a dance teacher certification program that is not syllabus based but instead focuses on the development and refinement of teaching and coaching abilities.

The Canadian Dance Standards society values the importance of developing all elements of young dancers, having educated instructors and the importance of quality research. Quality dance research provides the framework for all teaching and coaching knowledge.

Helping each other and Funding the process: Each year the Canadian Dance Standards hosts an annual Dance Research Showcase that features local dance companies and performing troupes. Proceeds from the ticket sales of this event directly fund our Scholarship bank. Dance and movement researchers then submit research proposals for scholarship approval. Examples of areas in dance research include; Biomechanics, movement analysis, dance pedagogy related topics, dance kinesiology related topics, choreography and composition. The Canadian Dance Standards also provides scholarship funds for students currently studying dance, students continuing dance education at the post secondary level and graduate research in all areas of dance. In turn graduate students, university faculty, area experts and doctors share their knowledge and expertise in particular dance health related topics at our conventions and teacher workshops.