At CSHD our philosophy is dedication, perseverance, excellence and positivity; we foster these skills through dance development, performance opportunities and competition. CSHD dancers learn integral skills to become capable, committed, and accountable individuals.
Our philosophy fosters an inclusive and focused learning environment and expect our dancers to embody those values. We proudly encourage every dancer to be themselves and to feel comfortable no matter their gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or any other defining factor. Disrespectful, exclusive, or negative behaviour will not be tolerated. Dancers are encouraged to have fun and make friends, while remembering they are here to improve, and develop their technique.
“I wanted somewhere my kids would learn how to work hard at something but also connect to their Scottish roots. We love how the CSHD instructors can make the hard work seem fun. My kids never complain about practicing or doing the work outs in class!”
– CSHD parent
CSHD Body Talk
All bodies are dancer bodies! At CSHD we have strict policies about the conversations around body shape, size, and look. Because of the diverse ages, genders, sexual orientations and body types of our dancers, we follow these beliefs:
Exercise is way to build ability, not a punishment for your body
When talking about bodies, we focus language on getting stronger, more muscular, more flexible, more powerful etc., and never on getting thinner, to lose weight, or be more desirable.
Body neutral language is encouraged! For example “My arms are stronger because of the push ups I have done, now I can hold them better during my dances” while negative body talk or body shaming language (for dancers, parents or others) is absolutely not tolerated and WILL be interrupted if overheard.
All attendees of CSHD classes and events are required to comply with these rules, including parents and caregivers. We also ask that you follow these guidelines at home. Absolutely NO comments on a body’s appearance, positive or otherwise. Do not comment on someone’s weight gain or loss (even to compliment – you do not know how or why they’re changing and it might not be pleasant circumstances), growth, change in shape or differences between bodies.
We know this can be difficult to remember, and we happily redirect conversations when needed. Our hope is that body neutrality and a focus on what your body can do rather than how it looks makes its way into the homes of all our dancers. There is plenty of negative body messaging in our society but CSHD strives to be a safe haven from those pressures.