“There is nothing more beautiful than helping children feel that they are loved. Helping them love who they are”.
Angeliki, Dance Therapist at The Home Project
In the courtyard of one of our shelters, music begins to play. Some children immediately start moving, while others hang back, observing. Gradually, a circle forms. For Angeliki, who is watching carefully from the side, the body speaks before words do. As a dance and yoga teacher and a practitioner of dance therapy, she has spent the past seven years helping children navigate the invisible weight of trauma through movement.
“The body carries so much information”, she explains. “I can see anxiety, emotional burden, or insecurity in children’s posture, eye contact, blocked movement, tension in their breath, or the intensity of their motion. When the body starts to feel freer, the mind and soul can express themselves easier. Connections form and healing can begin”.
Some days, children choose to dance to their own music. Other days, they might draw or create graffiti. “My approach is like an umbrella”, she says. “Inside it, there is dance, body expression, yoga, music, and sometimes drawing or playing games. It all depends on what the children need that day”.
She has seen the transformative power of her work first-hand. Children who initially observed from the sidelines gradually found their own way into the circle. A withdrawn child might start by tapping the rhythm with their fingers, and eventually dance freely. “It’s never forced. You have to respect their time, their pace”, Angeliki emphasizes. “And when they dance in their own way, it’s magical. The trust builds slowly, and with it, a sense of belonging.”
Her sessions do more than teach movement, they foster community. “The children gradually become a team. They connect through the group and bring it outward. Through laughter, music, and play, they start to believe in themselves”, she highlights.
Collaboration is also central. Angeliki works closely with the psychologists, social workers, and educators, exchanging feedback to better understand each child and support them accordingly. “If a child resists, we adjust. Every child has their own personality and pace”.
Even in difficult moments, she remains committed. “There are times I leave crying, thinking ‘I can’t help this child as much as I want’. But I believe in the process. I have accepted that building trust takes time”.
For Angeliki, the reward is in the subtle, profound shifts she witnesses: a child’s first step onto the dance floor, a smile breaking through, laughter filling a room. “Success isn’t a single word for me. It’s the connection, the calmness I feel afterward. The look in the eyes of the children, how the embrace the different ways to express themselves. There is nothing more beautiful than helping children feel that they are loved. Helping them love who they are”, she concludes.