Songs and Dance

GEMs songs and dances inspire with visions of change, subvert existing cultural stereotypes, and celebrate different, new ways of doing things in future. Songs and dances reinforce the new life rhythm based on visions, justice, inclusion and respect.

GAMEChange champions develop their own new participatory songs and dances. The aim is to directly engage ALL participants in identifying and celebrating changes. There are no professional singers, no one voice leads alone and everyone participates. Even if the performance is not ‘polished’, everyone is part of the experience and learns new ways of expressing themselves.

Songs and dances are a fun way of strengthening inclusive leadership for sharing GEMs. The aim is that men and women champions should go away humming a song like a Gender Balance Song, singing it in everyday activities like washing, walking or working. In Tanzania some champions registered their song tunes as mobile phone ring tones so that they knew when another champion was contacting them.

Most GEMs learning workshops use songs and dances as a unifying fun activity. Many sessions sessions start and/or end with a song or a dance which reinforces the basic GAMEChange philosophy and gender justice principles of the particular tool or issue that is the subject of that particular session. There are often competitions where groups work on their own song and everyone learns a number of different songs.

Groups of participants work together as a participatory exercise to produce a series of songs, often with dance, and ‘song competitions’ are held to decide the best songs for each process. These songs and dances then become an integral part of group meetings and dissemination. The aim is not a polished karaoke-style individual performance to raise awareness, but to directly engage ALL participants in identifying and rehearsing changes. There are no professional actors or singers, no one leads and everyone participates. people will take back home and sing in the shower to reinforce change.