Dance tour to The Netherlands

Since the first dance tour for Japanese folk dance teachers to The Netherlands in 1997, the event has been repeated on a two-yearly basis and recently the 4th tour brought the total number of Japanese visitors to our country to over 150.

The purpose is to have folk dance teachers become acquainted with elements of the Dutch folk dance teacher training in order to improve the pedagogical techniques that can be used when teaching this dance form.
Twenty hours of training are offered in the 10 day tour, which also contains other components related to folklore.

One of the returning events is participation in the Doe Dans festival, where over 1000 folk dancers visit dance workshops, listen to numerous folk bands and watch performances of both Dutch and foreign dance groups. Other activities are an evening dance class at an international recreational folk dance group, a visit to a Dutch folkloristic group that still preserves age-old traditions, a visit to an ethnic museum, and to attend a rehearsal of the professional Dutch group ‘Het Internationaal Danstheater’. Last but not least, a weekend workshop with various guest teachers concludes this exciting tour.
The purpose of all these activities is to become familiar with folkloristic dance in every possible sense.
A visit to The Netherlands would not be complete without sightseeing, and thus participants have ample opportunity to see the tourist features of our country.