The Better Move

ongoing

The Better Move (TBM) project bridges the gap between dance education and nightlife to create new career opportunities for dance teachers and integrate movement-based, health-enhancing, and culturally rooted experiences into club programming. While club music genres like House and Techno thrive in European nightlife, their associated dance styles—rooted in BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities—remain largely excluded. Dance educators face limited career opportunities relying on studio-based teaching, while nightlife professionals overlook the potentials of dance/sports in club programming. TBM strives to triple dance educators' fees by integrating them into the nighttime economy, where event-based revenue models support higher fees than traditional dance studios. TBM maps stakeholders from dance and nightlife, assessing existing connections and gaps. The project hosts 8 roundtable discussions (4 per city) to analyse needs, motivations, and barriers for integrating dance education into nightlife. These insights inform a residency programme for 10 dance educators, who prototype dance workshops in clubs, testing concepts that encourage audience engagement and physical exercise. Findings from roundtables and residencies are compiled in the TBM Guide, a manual for dance educators and nightlife professionals outlining practical collaboration models. An online self-assessment tool will help club programmers evaluate and improve dance integration in their events. Dissemination takes place via local launch events and a free and internationally accessible webinar. TBM supports Erasmus+ priorities by expanding career pathways for dance educators, strengthening economic resilience, and promoting healthy nightlife experiences while prioritising the inclusion of BIPoC, LGBTQIA+, and youth. Through transnational cooperation, the project delivers a scalable framework with potential for further expansion across the EU.