We are Marilena, Georgina, Iro, Fani, Costas and Christos and we started from different parts of Greece to Olde Vecte, Ommen in the Netherlands with our common motivation, our love for dancing. It was for the first time at Athens Airport that we got to know each other, we shared our old experiences from other Erasmus + programs and by the time we arrived at Ommen we had already become a good company. When we arrived, the atmosphere there was very friendly with many new people, music, curiosity about new experiences and excitement for what was to come.
The next day we got to know the hosts, the organizers, and got a first taste of how the program would work for the following days. The organizers told us that they wanted from us to act as a community that will be called upon to solve anything that may happen. And so we took care of our activities, keeping the space clean, and decided on how we would manage our free time. There was mutual respect and appreciation and a willingness to help collectively with anything we needed.
But besides these, many of us have tried new types of dances and movement. We did workshops about hip hop, breakdance, popping, trampoline, sensual dance, commercial dance, martial arts, acrobatics, forest dances, swimming in the river, muscle training and improving our technique by specialized dancers, swing, rock n ‘roll, Charleston , vogue and much more. But apart from that we tried painting and body painting, theatrical exercises and role playing that made us connect with the rest of the members.Many of us organised our own activities with the goal to learn from each other, which requires a good theoretical and practical background, but also a lot of appetite and contagion to succeed.
But the most important thing about this kind of Erasmus + program is the fact that we made new friends, we met new cultures, tasted Italian food, danced Bulgarian and Estonian dances, we presented some traditional Greek dances, communicated with many people, improved our English, etc. The “cozy room” was a place designed just for that. A room full of joy, sweets, music, guitar, lots of chatting and people with a great appetite for almost 24 hours a day.
This experience is an incentive to come even more close with the idea of exchange as a way of personal development that help us broaden our horizons.
Marilena, Georgina, Iro, Fani, Costas, Christos.
