Johannesburg, South Africa
Karabo Ramathe, DFK22 Group Leader
As a Group Leader I have managed to save our South African youths from the street life. I have taught them the most important thing to be kind to one another and also to teach others about kindness.
South African Friends of Israel held the 1st ever Dance for Kindness event in South Africa. The event took place in Vanderbijl Park, South of Johannesburg.
Young people from across Gauteng province gathered to celebrate and participate in this amazing event.
The Dance for Kindness initiative is centered in embracing Ubuntu, love and kindness as a panacea to our sadly troubled world.
Special Thanks
Words cannot express how grateful I am for your kindness and generosity. Thank you so much for participating in DFK 2022. As the South African Group Leader I appreciate my South African youths.
Mauritius
Vijay Raghavan, DFK22 Group Leader
Thank you! This was an amazing project, for us to unite so many people from different backgrounds towards one purpose: Kindness!. So much fun, joy and happiness were all throughout. It was so beautiful to see the dedication and commitment of everybody throughout the rehearsal sessions till the D-Day. We will definitely organize a Dance for Kindness for our country every year!
Special Thanks
Big Thanks to the entire back-end team without whom the project would not have been a success. Special thanks to Sangeeta, Nalinee, Neelam, Reshma, Keshavi, Jaya, Premah, Veelesh, Leena, Gavishtee, Ashwinee, Mrinal, Sanjana, Nirupama, Vidz, Manisha, Vanesha, Nilesh and Prakash.
Sponsors
Thank you to all our kindness partners: Betonix, Maritim Hotel, SBM, ABCD Dance Studio, Fusion Dance crew, MFDC
Tirana, Albania
Alyssa Mudd, DFK22 Group Leader
Everyone was so proud to take part in such an awesome event. We had many different schools represented, churches, and different Roma NGO Community Centers that taught the dance to their kiddos as well. It was such a special time. Honestly, the most privileged children of Albania standing next to the least privileged children – wearing the same shirt – dancing the same dance – with a passion for the same mission. It turned out that the day was about so much more than a choreographed dance. It was about bringing people together, community, and bridging the gap of differences. It was so awesome!
Special Thanks
Dance for Kindness-Tirana was a huge success because of the willingness of our small group leaders and other integral supporters to be involved.
Tamara Thurner (Tirana International School and IPA)
Kelly Remick (Tirana International School)
Daniela Cakuli (World Academy Tirana)
Ida Metaj (Albanian International School)
Lais Borges (GDQ School)
Albana Topalli (Kristaq Rama School)
Brianna Roberts (Albanian College Tirana)
Joli Gjovreku (National Ballet School Tirana)
Greta Koxhajo (Little Angels Community Center)
Marinela Sula and Alison Kemp (House of Hope Community Center)
Kristjana Bashaj (House of Color Community Center)
Xhesjana Ymaj (Eden Center)
Gledis Buxhuku (Raiffeisen Bank)
Barry Ogden (Event Speaker)
Marsela Bilani (Photography)
Juli Grori (Drone Video)
Valbona Karapici (Translator)
Ilir, Fredi, Adi, Sefer (Bus drivers transporting Community Center children)
Eva, Alba, Andriola, Mirselda, Jon, Valbona, Blerta, Elisa, Maksi, Juli, Ermal (integral support in all things)
Sponsors
Tirana International School (TIS)
Municipality of Tirana
KLAN TV
Perth, Australia
Emily Lockhart, DFK22 Group Leader
Our pre-kindy, kindy and year 10 dance classes loved being part of this. We had random people in the park stop and ask us what was happening so it created a bit of a buzz!
Belize
Rosemary Smith, DFK22 Group Leader
From the moment I watched the DFK2022 promo video, I knew that I wanted to be a group leader and introduce Belize to this incredible global kindness movement. The LVI training was thorough and group leaders are equipped with everything they need to bring their dance event to fruition. Orly’s help, support and encouragement were extraordinary. This experience took me far out of my comfort zone, but taught me the value of mindfulness and to trust in the process. I was able to improve my communication skills, learn the importance of delegating and I am grateful to now be better equipped to reach my own personal goals in the future. My favorite part was seeing the connection and joy develop between the dancers; our practices were a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the unity and support between the DFK group leaders around the world, all working under different circumstances towards the same goal: creating a culture of kindness. An amazing experience!
Special Thanks
The Rotary Club of Ambergris Caye Belize
The San Pedro Town Council
Zen Belize
Tacogirl.com
NateinBelize
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Joy Nichols, DFK22 Group Leader
What a wonderful event for Cincinnati. It has been two years since we could have an event outside of our classroom community due to COVID restrictions. It was wonderful to be able to meet at the park and enjoy the dance together as a larger community. We had a smaller group this year in terms of numbers but with BIG hearts. We were able to collect so many canned goods for our local freestore. When we delivered it the next day they were overjoyed by the beautiful contribution. I love Dance for Kindness because it reminds people to take a moment and celebrate the kindness that is all around us every moment of the day. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of the worldwide community.
Special Thanks
I would like to offer a special thank you to the following individuals:
Julie Swart from the Queen City Dance Academy. She is such an amazing individual and I would not be able to put this dance on without her. She always works diligently helping all of her dancers learn the dance and bring them to our dance.
All of the dancers from The Queen City Dance Academy. We would be lost without them.
Leslie Combs- principal from Blue Ash Elementary for helping to publicize our event.
Mallory Bonbright from Sycamore community schools for helping publicize our event.
Matthew Nichols- Photographer and videographer for our event
Paula Ansatedt- For the Beautiful kindness posters made by the Sycamore High School Community
Emily Kremp, music teacher from Blue Ash Elementary, for sharing the beautiful ribbons for our dance
My amazing family, Steve, Michael, Matthew, and Joseph, for always supporting everything I do!
Montevideo, Uruguay
Carolina Horta, DFK22 Group Leader
This was my first time as DFK leader and was a fantastic experience. First of all, got to know Orly, her ideas, and her wonderful spirit to change the world. This has been so inspiring and to have the chance to invite her to give a talk to our students was incredible. Children were really enthusiastic and interested to be part of this event, having the opportunity to know the person in charge, and giving her time and dedication to talk to us via zoom and share her experiences. Getting involved children, teachers, and families in this event was part of giving a powerful message on the importance of being kind. This also gave us the chance to be in touch with other countries and exchange letters and communication around the world. I would like to thank our head dance teacher Rodrigo Garmendia who helped us to accomplish this dream. We will continue spreading kindness. Kindness is contagious!
Special Thanks
Thanks to all participants; students, teachers, art teachers, and music teachers from Saint George’s School, and special thanks to our head dance teacher Rodrigo Garmendia.
Dongguan, China
Dr. Kymmberli Stowe, DFK22 Group Leader
You know when I think of Kindness I think of actions and gestures without contingencies, People who are open minded and generous, with great big hearts, who place others’ needs above their own. And I feel this event in itself was the ultimate platform for KINDNESS. Bringing a vastly large population of People from around the globe together. Covering backgrounds of an abundance of different cultures, young, old, wise, male, female, despite religious background to join forces engaging in the universal language of DANCE in the efforts to promote, encourage, spread, display and engage in KINDNESS! Taking small groups from city to city, state to state, country to country to fill and lead our WORLD by example in the name of KINDNESS. It doesn’t get any better than that. I am already excited for next year. Since this was my first year and I was learning as I went. I have so many ideas for next year.!! Way to go guys, I am ecstatic to have joined this journey with you all and accomplished such a wonderful goal. I will see you all next year and hope this will not be the end of our communication for now that we have built links amongst us all we need to expand and continue building and teaching through examples of first hand interactions. Great job everyone!
Esbjerg, Denmark
Andrea Guerron Araque, DFK22 Group Leader
To be part of the Dance for Kindness event has been an amazing learning opportunity for me as a school counselor. I was able to work with my students to reach a goal that has a strong cause, kindness. As a group leader, and also because we were short of time when we enrolled, I helped my students to group together in different committees: The organization team, the dance leaders and the production team. Looking at all of them develop different skills while working together was my favorite part. Apart from being aligned with our school values, being part of the event and organizing it helped us develop a warm and comfortable sense of community. We had fun, we enjoyed, we worked together and at the end we reached the goal: Dance for kindness!
We are excited about the coming years and all the amazing things that are left to do in the future.
Special Thanks
Calina Bech Lauritsen
Valentina Salinas
Laura Mørup Holdt
Victoria Himmelstrup
Sebastian Diaz
Anders Albrandt Julius
Ida Sottrup-Jensen
Maja Sottrup-Jensen
Karoline Skibelund
Merle Boesen
Lærke Pedersen
Kamile Jasinskaite
Anahita Ahsan
Dana Larez García
Ana Do Amaral
Tinne Kusiani Laue
Laura Windt Lockett
Maren Skovsborg
Fiona Lim
Daniel Bjerregaard
Luka Dumas
Lukas Holte Henman
Bogdan Pislo
Parsa Salehi
Silje Boesen
Leyan Alazzawi
Finally, huge thanks to:
The head of school, Jason Lusby and the admin team
Our EIS students, teachers and teacher’s assistants.
New Delhi, India
Testimonials
“The Dance for Kindness event is a great way to showcase the relationship between people, animals, and the planet. It was an amazing experience for us to see participation coming together from all walks of life to spread the message of love and kindness toward all living and sentient beings. World Animal Protection is very happy to continue this association with Life Vest Inside and Those in Need to move the world to protect animals.” – Mr. Gajender Kumar Sharma, Country Director of World Animal Protection – India
“Dance For Kindness is not only an event but a journey full of emotions and experiences. From uniting people irrespective of differences to spreading peace and joy, it resides in the heart as a precious memory. It’s a lifetime experience.” – Gunjan Gupta, Dancer

























































































































































































































































































































































































