I arrived at the Dancing the Parenting Space in February with little knowledge of the program. My interest was piqued by others in the field teaching parent-child dance classes, like Isabelle Rousseau in Edmonton. Although I’ve worked in dance spaces with young children, their families, and educators for many years, I felt drawn to think more intentionally about the dancing environment, how I welcome people into the space, and the ritual that dance and live music creates. Through my time with DTP and in my own project, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes to create an intentional space. Julie said it best while I was visiting the DTP class: it takes a lot of work to look like so little is happening. I needed some inspiration, and I found it in DTP.

Collaboration is an important part of my work with community organizations. I aim to respond to the structures already in place and recognize that I am entering a flow that already exists. My work in established early childhood spaces follows a three-part model I developed during my years working as an artist in residence in Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms in Northern Saskatchewan:

1. Listen and learn—spend time in the physical space, focus on building relationships (this is the hidden element of community practice and can take a lot of time).
2. Offer classes and movement experiences while collaborating with educators and therapists to design a responsive, unique program.
3. Model and problem-solve with educators to help them develop a movement-friendly space once I am gone, utilizing tools already available and encouraging child-led, movement-centered approaches.

This has been the foundation of my current Artist in Communities project at the Regina Early Years Family Resource Centre in Saskatchewan. They were familiar with my work in libraries and schools and approached me about running dance classes with their families. REYFRC is my dream organization. Built on a solid foundation of child and family support, care, and education, they see over 1,500 people each month. Along with a musician to provide live accompaniment, I ran a pilot program in fall 2025, with plans for a year-long project in 2026, pending SK Arts funding. Following a successful but chaotic pilot—with drop-in classes of over 30 babies—I felt the need to develop a practice with families rather than a traditional dance class. This drew me to the work of DTP.

As an artist-parent and somatic movement educator, I am interested in co-regulation and how we model and share these “big ideas” through the dancing experience. Through these interests, I have collaborated with an occupational therapist and literacy coordinator at REYFRC to develop co-led programs. During a prenatal meeting, the staff spoke about educating with a light-hearted approach, where families can choose their level of involvement. This idea, along with the DTP concepts of autonomy of attention and the gift of attention, has had a profound influence on my project.

Children and parents have the autonomy to offer attention while also attending to other needs. This includes entering and exiting the space for play in other areas of the centre, feeding, or simply participating at their own comfort level. These soft edges also bring challenges, especially in creating a safe and communal environment within a drop-in program serving a highly diverse population. I’m always aiming to strike a balance between creating a cozy, familiar group and the relaxed edges that a drop-in centre provides.

Drop-in programming reduces stress for parents by allowing them to arrive as they are. To connect with families who may attend for one session or many months, I spend a lot of time before and after class at the centre. I want people to become familiar with me and the musicians. Over time, I hope parents see the value of encouraging their children to remain in the shared space, even when they are not fully engaged. Often, this is where the learning happens.

Early childhood and community practice requires a lot of me as an artist, parent, and community member. I bring one of my own children to each class, which presents its own challenges, but having another adult in the room through the musician’s presence is essential. It allows me to better hold all of those roles at once.

Living and working in northern Saskatchewan taught me the power of taking things slowly—sitting together, chatting, and taking the time needed for everyone to feel comfortable before and after class. Inspired by Dancing the Parenting, I’ve embraced the soft edge of ending class over a 20-minute period. After the program finishes, I put out a book box, open the large garage door connecting the program space to the centre, and the musician plays two or three songs on an acoustic guitar. Families linger to chat, read books, and connect with visiting professionals, such as occupational or physical therapists. Relationships continue to grow long after the dancing ends.

I have begun offering tiny snippets of parent education throughout class: encouraging moments of boredom, inviting participation through physical modelling rather than words, and trusting that the ritual of the dancing space gradually shapes attention and supports connection. This is balanced with lightness, short movement sequences, intentional rest, and always welcoming families back into the experience. 

I am fortunate to work with  live musicians (Jeffrey Romanyk and Bryn Besse) who help model for families the role music plays in centering attention, drawing us together, and cultivating joy. I often describe rhythm as a net we cast for our children, and believing in that ritual gently gathers both their attention and our own. We always take a moment to notice the moment of quiet after the music stops.  I tell parents that our class is like a river: at any moment we can dip in a toe, watch from the bank, or dive in. Each choice has value, but the river keeps moving.  If we attend to it, it can offer a moment of rest from the demands of parenting and bring us into a moment of joy, calm, and  witness of ourselves and the small humans in our life.

Ashley Johnson is a dance artist and educator based on Treaty 4 in Regina SK. See her work at www.constantlyseekingsoftness.ca

Photos: Chelsea Lee Photography