Image credits: Mia Habib "How to. A score. Bassano." - photo by Anna Kushnirenko 

Practices of Care and Wellbeing in Contemporary Dance

We are pleased to release the research publication Practices of Care and Wellbeing in Contemporary Dance: Evidence form the Field by EDN researcher, facilitator and dramaturg Monica Gillette.

This report highlights multiple ways dance contributes to societal wellbeing. It addresses tensions that respond to the strained working conditions in the dance sector and offers recommendations for maintaining a pluralistic and thriving contemporary dance culture.

Nearly 400 participants in EDN's activities throughout the year contributed to the mapping for this report. We are deeply grateful for their insights and contributions.

About the Author

Monica Gillette is a dance dramaturg and facilitator. After dancing professionally she now guides multiple projects with dance as a pathway for social engagement and multigenerational cultural exchange.

As a dramaturg she accompanied several EU-funded projects: Migrant Bodies - Moving Borders (2017-2019), Empowering Dance (2018-2023) and Dancing Museums - The Democracy of Beings (2020-2021) and continues to accompany Dance Well (2022-2025) and Moving Borders (2023-2025). For each of those projects she authors and edits digital publications for the dissemination of the knowledge and skills developed in the project. 

For the writing of this report, Monica Gillette draws from the experiences of facilitating embodied sessions and the transformation process with the team at Tanzhaus Zürich. Together with Gwen Hsin-Yi Chang she is newly appointed as the Artistic Direction team for the Tanztriennale, taking place in Hamburg in 2026.

EDN's 2024 programme, research and publication are brought to you with the support of the European Union's Creative Europe programme as part of the EU-funded project 101053456 EDNext.