DANCEVERSITY is an exciting multicultural dance education program boasting an innovative, integrated curriculum of dance, music, folk arts, costuming, and cultural studies; providing the youth with a positive experience of different cultures at a formative age. Danceversity students are artists and researchers in their own right; strengthening their bodies, learning about themselves and others, and broadening their understanding of dance, music, and culture. Founded in the summer of 2005, Danceversity World Dance is a multifaceted organization offering weekly classes, school programs, workshops, performances, and a comprehensive summer day camp. The Danceversity program offers youth access to alternative dance forms from around the world, creating an atmosphere where artistic expression is fostered, competitiveness discouraged, and diversity celebrated. By using dance as a platform for understanding culture and community, Danceversity teaches youth to respect different cultures and their unique ways of relating to the world. In an era of increasing global interdependence, it is essential that we provide opportunities for youth to develop cross-cultural competency. Danceversity World Dance is one such opportunity. The program serves as an important and unique resource for emerging Bay Area dancers, while providing appealing physical fitness alternatives to young people. One of the strongest elements of the Danceversity program is its inclusion of diverse forms of the greater Middle East, allowing young people a personal experience that honors the complexities and differences amongst a cultural group that is often narrowly defined. Rather than being limited to any particular area of the world however, the Danceversity program is inclusive. The curriculum encompasses regions as diverse as Southeast Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa,

and the Caribbean.