Ballet dans les bidonvilles

Dear all,

Time for party!

We don’t want to make the party too far from the trip so that the emotions are still deep in us to share. We thought about the 30st of August. How does this look for you all?

I leave you all my private mail and you be happy to hear from you!

catherinehabasque@hotmail.com

Looking forward to talk to you

Catherine H.

Dear all,

We have not been giving news for a while, hoping that you could follow us on FB or instagram. Unfortunately you can’t share here videos, and those videos are the ones which would make you share with us the emotions that the children brought us those last 3 weeks. They have been wonderful, working hard and concentrated, discovering new qualities in themselves and increasing their confidence.

We created a 8 minutes choreography on the Ravel Bolero that the school will be able to use to raise funds and we will start supporting an 12 year old, Eugene, who is particularly talented and wants to become a dancer.

It has been an amazingly moving trip… we have seen a young boy cutting his lollipop in 7 pieces to share it with his 6 friends. We have seen a 10 year old breaking in two the small biscuit she had received for her work and look for the baby sister she his responsible of to give her the other half, we have seen their home where 7 people live in 6 sq meters with no water and the very basic school place they are so proud of… and those kids were here everyday doing pliés and tendus, cleaning the dirt of the studio before, singing and smiling. Of course we will come back to our bad European habits of not-needing-anything-people and needing it all, and much faster than we would wish, but we can promise you we know what feeling ashamed is and I hope we will carry this feeling with us as long as possible because this shame, the shame of the lucky in front of proud misery, can move wonders.

I wanted to thank you all again for your support and as promised, I will find a date for us to meet at my place, watch pictures, party and talk. Looking very much forward.

All the best in the meantime

Catherine Habasque

Dear all,

Last week, dance shoes and leotards where sent from three different places in Europe to the Kibera Ballet school.

The ladies of the Ballet de l’Opera de Lyon collected their «end of the season shoes» for the kids, the Ecole de danse Isadora in Montluçon (FR) through its fantastic director Alexandra Martin sent a whole bunch of shoes and clothes and the legendary muse of Maurice Béjart Schonah Mirk sent from Zürich dance wear as well.

It looks short when written but getting there was not that easy even when people are willing to support. So I am more than happy to see things move and we hope the material will come at the same time than us.

As for us… we are seriously starting to prepare.

More news soon and a beautiful week to all of you.

Catherine H.

Dear all,

We just wanted to give a few news…

So first, tickets are booked and we even have a place to stay in a secure area… everything is prepared, not talking about vaccinations that seem worse than anywhere else. They are expecting us there with impatience and we are talking very regularly to keep organizing.

And then… remember I talked about a party at home? Well it still will happen but we thought it would be better to do it afterwards. We will have a lot to tell and it’s so much better live than in a mail! I am very much looking forward to this.

But for the moment I will wish you all a very nice day and hope you are enjoying the sun!

Warm regards

Catherine H.

Thanks a thousand times to you all who made this success possible!

We will stay in touch and apart from your rewards, we will give you news of our trip and the progress of the kids.

I will as well contact everyone for an invitation at my place and hope to meet you all!

I wish you a wonderful week ahead

Catherine Habasque Founder and president of DFW

Thank you so much to the people who already supported the project!

I am very happy to announce that the Isadora dance school from Montluçon (France), which has been preparing wonderful young professional dancers over the last years, is supporting the project by collecting point shoes and leotards for the children in Kibera.

Its creative and dynamic director Alexandra Martin Volcovici and the parents students have been doing a fantastic work by bringing good wills together. Thanks a thousand! A big suitcase is now expecting us to be brought there.

The link created with the kids in Kibera through those priceless shoes and clothes will stay alive for all.

Have a great day,

Catherine Founder DFW