Author: Dr. Jeff Meiners
Pages: 32
Published: 2026

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Abstract

This paper provides a narrative account of the author’s lived experience from engaging with the organisation ‘Dance and the Child international’ (daCi). The organisation recognises the right of every child and young person to dance and the preservation of the cultural heritage of all forms of dance for children and young people.

Using a critical autoethnographical approach as a method for research and writing, the paper takes into account personal experience, social conditions and power arrangements. The author’s involvement with daCi provides a thread to present a genealogical tracing of the organisation, its organisers and their influences. DaCi’s structure, activities and features are explained with a focus on the organization’s triennial conferences that have been hosted by different countries since 1978. The paper includes a specific report on the most recent 2024 conference held in Slovenia and provides information about plans for the 2027 conference to be hosted by Malaysia. DaCi is identified as a unique organization that undertakes critical activism underpinned by research for and with young people. The paper concludes with a discussion of challenges for daCi as a voluntary organization, including communication, diversity and equity, followed by a conclusion.

Keywords: autoethnography, organization, education, activism, conferences