Kara Danas is a community artist, teacher, coach, dancer, and workshop facilitator from vibrant Lowell, MA. She has over a decade of experience as a local community artist. Kara’s love for the performing and visual arts was born from the electric Lowell community art scene, and she thrives from her ever-growing love and gratitude that she has for Lowell and its dynamic art. Kara has taught many community arts and dance based workshops in Lowell, and her teaching technique, and workshop structure, are both a direct reflection of her teaching philosophy: be as open and honest with yourself and others as you can be. Kara has a deep-rooted belief in that performing and visual art should allow for complete and unapologetic self-expression. She has seen so many of her peers around her, and in others in multiple facets of life, end up in this exact same pathway; not knowing and accepting their true identity, therefore, not having any inner calling or spark, not knowing what truly sparks their own sunshine, their own life’s purpose. From this, Kara’s arts-based small, woman-owned wonder business, Spark Your Sunshine™ (SYS), was born. Spark Your Sunshine™ is an original, arts-based workshop series experience, including an originally designed and hand-crafted merchandise and apparel line, created and designed by Kara Danas. The Spark Your Sunshine™ workshop series and brand are rooted in the themes of selfless inner identity and interpersonal identity work, self-love, self-expression, and self-empowerment. Individuals of all orientations and backgrounds can participate in Spark Your Sunshine™, where they will explore the origins of their own self-expression, self-love and personal identity through a succession of introspective and arts-based activities all in a safe and welcoming environment. Kara’s goal is that everyone involved in the Spark Your Sunshine™ movement will feel empowered with a new heightened appreciation for who they are as unique and inspired individuals in both their personal lives and amongst their teams, co-workers, and fellow colleagues. Art is the portal to humanness that Kara feels we can all encompass and love. Those that Kara is lucky enough to teach will leave her workshops with a new sense of self-empowerment and a new community to be a part of. Community Art brings people together, and that togetherness is what Kara champions, always.
KARA’S TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
I am from Lowell, Massachusetts, where the urban dance community is strong, vibrant, and flourishing daily. Artists from all modalities in the Lowell community support one another, and make this city a warm and accepting place that sparks the creativity in myself as a dancer. I feed off of the ever growing love and gratitude that I have for my city and the wonderful humans within it, and my love for dance and choreography comes from the electricity and drive that all of the dancers in Lowell and it’s surrounding areas have on a daily basis.
Dance to me is not only a form of self expression, but a form of self empowerment. Every move I create as a dancer has a strong intention behind it, and each of these individual moves of passion then turns into a sequence of moves, and eventually a whole routine. My routines truly encompass the spirit of life that dance ignites in me. The choreography I make is a direct reflection of myself, as it is high energy, sassy, and a unique choreographic style that is a fusion of urban dance, lyrical, hip hop, and contemporary with added elements of waack and vogue influence.
I have taught many dance workshops, and dance ignites a different spark in everyone’s soul. My workshop technique is a direct reflection of my teaching philosophy; to be as open and honest with yourself as you can be. We are humans first, and dancers second. Dance should allow complete freedom of expression and creativity in those using it as a form of art. Movement in itself is a gift, and every person moves differently, in their own unique way. Those that I am lucky enough to teach will leave my workshops with a new sense of self empowerment and a new community to be a part of. Dance brings people together, and community in dance and the arts is what I champion, always.
My goal is to inspire those that I dance with and teach to be unapologetically themselves and to walk away from a class or a rehearsal with a heightened sense of who they are in the world around them. Dance, movement, and expression, just like life, are all gifts that we as humans should be grateful for. Whether I am teaching my teens at Boys and Girls Club, or a room full of seasoned dancers, the first thing I always say before starting my classes is to have fun and let go of whatever expectation that you think I, or anyone else, has for you in this teaching space. I make sure a sense of safety, belonging, and community are established, and creating this atmosphere is the first step to everyone, including myself, being able to enjoy the process of dance, of sharing, of community, and of being a human that spreads understanding and love through movement.
Dance is art and art is love. At the end of every session or workshop I teach, if someone walks away feeling more alive, more understood, and more free from the fun they just had, it does not matter if they learned my choreography properly or not. It matters that they were able to be a non-judged and loved human that exchanged energy with other humans. Dance is that portal to humanness that I feel we can all encompass and love.
