We’re on a mission to harness the benefits of dance and creative endeavours for healthy minds and brighter futures, starting right where you are today.

FIND YOUR FREEDOM is the name of our awareness campaign that puts movement and creativity centre stage in post-pandemic healing for children, youth, and yes, adults too!

FIND YOUR FREEDOM

A message from Artistic Director, Christena Hampson:

When I opened this dance studio in 2001, I knew it had to be different than where I grew up training. My own childhood dance experience often involved being yelled at, required “perfection”, and hurt my self-esteem. My own struggles led me into therapy and the realization that with a focus on physical movement, personal growth, and positive relationships with fellow dancers, dance became the cure.

Over the years, I’m proud to say that Freedom Studios has been awarded for its self-esteem program. While my commitment to improving the well-being of our students has never wavered, the positive environment our team creates has never been more critical than recently. 

For long periods of time during the pandemic, students danced over video calls from their bedrooms and garages. The challenge for staff was engaging with children and adults alike after spending their days schooling and working online, apart from friends, with little to no quality socialization.

A Sick Kids study recently revealed that children and youth reported worsening mental health during the lockdown. Over half of kids aged 8-12 and 70% of teens reported “clinically significant depressive symptoms during the second wave”.

I recognized that what students needed was for dance to come second to “being okay”. Zoom classes became just as much about connecting and sharing as dancing. 

Today, we are back dancing in person. Everyone has the space to move and the freedom to express themselves on the studio floor again - it’s beautiful. 

But emotionally, many are not back to their old selves. There continues to be concern for children’s mental health and well-being. Pediatric therapists have waiting lists as a new, unfamiliar way of life becomes seemingly more permanent and difficult to cope with for many.

And so the principles on which we have built the studio are becoming more emphasized today.

FIND YOUR FREEDOM is about empowering young people with a greater awareness of their own state of mind and providing tools for healthy habits around movement, creativity, and connection, and ultimately feeling good about themselves. 

Let’s create great humans who share a love of dance!

-Love, Christena Hampson

START HERE, START NOW

Shift your state of mind now, and start creating your brighter, more beautiful tomorrow.

We incorporate tons of techniques for healthy minds and bodies seamlessly into our daily dance and movement classes through our F.L.Y.™ Approach. But we also want to share a few key tips and techniques that anyone can do right now, right where you are, whether you’re a dancer or not. Make a positive shift:

1. BREATHE - Stop for 60 seconds and breathe deeply, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

2. MOVE - Now notice where you are, become aware of your surroundings and move your body freely for at least 60 seconds. Dance, hop, jump, walk, it doesn’t matter just move your body the way you want. Don’t forget to keep breathing.

3. P.O.P.™ - Find your Point of Positivity. No matter how low you might feel, there’s something in your day or this moment that can be seen as positive. For example, a great breakfast, a smile from a friend, a sunny day, your pet, even having taken this two minutes to breathe and move is something to acknowledge. Really, anything that makes you feel good. There’s always something.

4. CONNECT - Share your P.O.P. Tell a friend, help them to find their P.O.P. Reach out to one person.

5. CREATE - Turn your focus, even if just for a few minutes today, to expressing your creative side. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just let your creative juices flow. Write, dance, cook, paint, sing, anything that fills your soul. If you don’t feel creative, don’t worry, just start, the inspiration will follow.

I am strong. I am powerful. I am creative. I am artistic. I am a dancer.

This information is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Use at your own risk. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest hospital. If you need emotional support, help is available.