sPERANTO is a social artistic initiative with its main focus on education through dance (hip hop), especially in the personal development, for "at-risk" youth people in Germany, in South America (Ecuador) and in the world. The initiative was founded by Alica Paeske in 2014. Besides, sPERANTO supports various social projects such as a donation campaign for indigenous community Huaorani in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador or the planned report on social discrimination to achieve a better mutual understanding in society.
The innovative idea of sPERANTO is to enable the students to develop creative choreographies by themselves. In addition to the pedagogic-instructing work there will also take place a creative exchange. The initiative is designed to finish off with a final performance and/ or a dance video of the participants. The students learn to use social media in a new way by focusing on their hard work, talent and their personality.
„Dancing is the most beautiful way to provide room for the soul. In 2014 Alica Paeske led the sPERANTO project in the youth club of the Halle child protection association. She used authenticity and empathy to show young people how to use dance to express their personality.“
Nancy Wirth, Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Bezirksverband Halle (S.) e.V.„Alica Paeske taught Hip Hop with great commitment and with a lot of success to young people in the Jugendkulturschule of the Kreisvolkshochschule Peine. Her enthusiasm and her way of teaching is captivating. I think sPERANTO is an outstanding project and I always supported it. Alica is a very talented young lady with great charisma and strong commitment.“
Elke Ostelmann-Janssen, Kreisvolkshochschule Peine„sPERANTO taught me to be more confident and not concerned what others think about me. We learned a lot in three months, about dancing and ourselves.“
Selen, Participant sPERANTOApart from dancing, the improvement of the motor skills and the physical fitness, the main purpose of the initiative is the individual personal development of the participants through cooperation and teamwork. In this way, they are being taught values like respect, solidarity, endurance and discipline. Hence, the dancing class is characterized by the principles of fun, mutual respect and patience.
The initiative sPERANTO can offer new perspectives to young people. It can influence the participants on positive things such as being hopeful, aiming for a goal and believing in oneself due to the fact that they have reached a positive outcome through teamwork. So the adolescents have the chance to share their positive experiences in a community. Therefore, the participants need courage, self-confidence, honesty and self-esteem. In this process, dancers get confronted with their own weaknesses which might have not been aware to them before. To follow up with the project and to face these weaknesses is the main issue. Dancing can be helpful to handle strong feelings and experiences. As soon as the participants accept themselves and are not afraid to turn their inside out, they are able to express their feelings through dancing. In this way, the dancers can achieve inner freedom and peace. By continuously working towards an aim within a group the participants learn how to stick to an ongoing project. As a consequence, they improve their learning receptivity and increase their learning ability.
These values and standards, the personal development and the education which can be achieved through the instrument of dance can be transferred to all areas of life such as school, work or society. Thus sPERANTO has way more positive effects on the adolescents’ personal development than just the ability to dance.
