International Babywearing Dance Day – sharing babywearing dance with the world
Family togetherness, joy and dancing – what’s more wonderful than this? International Babywearing Dance Day (IBDD2016), on Wednesday 21 September 2016, is going to bring these things together to create a day of celebration around the world.
Babywearing movement leaders and families from 5 continents are going to share the beauty of babywearing dance, cuddling, loving and active babywearing good-practice to everyone who sees them. And the celebrations aren’t just for one day. Expect a full week of festivities with dancing, workshops and gatherings taking place around the world throughout the week of 18th-27th September.
IBDD is a great example of collaborative working. Back in May 2016, Armelia in Singapore (CoolmumzDancin), Selen in the UK (Joimove International) and Meeshi in the USA (Groovaroo Dance), got together online and started to plan for this amazing week.
It’s not easy collaborating internationally. With meetings often being in the early morning / late night (midnight in UK, very early morning in Singapore and 2am in USA), there’s no easy time to catch up. But despite this, the love of dancing and a firm belief in the benefits of babywearing dancing has inspired the founders to work through this time difference to create IBDD.
After deciding on the song “Love is in the air”, each IBDD founder choreographed and recorded part of the routine individually. The three parts were put together, and “Love is this” was born.
With successful trial runs of the dance in May 2016 in Turkey, USA, Singapore, Lithuania and Scotland, this beautiful gift of movement was set to be the anthem for IBDD, and ready to share with families around the world.
There’s plenty going on in the world today. With violence, hunger, selfishness, discrimination and hate at our doorstep, it can often be difficult to see the good in the world. And adversity isn’t just a larger social construct. If you follow Meeshi, Armelia or Selen, you’ll know that life, though continuing on, has its own difficulties and issues.
That’s why IBDD is such an important focal point of love, compassion, empathy and acceptance. IBDD celebrations are a positive way for the world to break from misery and a movement which the world needs.
We’re so amazed at the response to our call to dance. It’s wonderful to see how the idea of dancing for a common goal, sharing positivity and love with babies has reached thousands of people in the first week of promoting IBDD alone! Now, communities in 5 continents are getting ready to celebrate IBDD and more registering every day. It’s wonderful to see how our volunteer initiative is blooming.
Not yet registered your dance group to take part in IBDD? Visit the IBDD2016 webpage and register today so you can also take part in our Guinness World Record attempt of the most people participating in a babywearing routine in 24 hours. Be part of something big.
Remember, to always keep in mind the PEACE and SAFE babywearing guidelines to ensure both you and baby are safe and comfortable. Beware of narrow based carriers, loose wraps, carrier too big or too small for baby and unfitted straps. If in doubt, get in touch with your local sling library or consultant and find a carrier that’s suitable for you.
Keep safe, dance full of joy and love hard.
Happy babywearing and Happy dancing to all of us!
Visit www.joimove.com/safety to find more resources.