The Active Rainbow stories continue with reflections from participants of our latest project, sharing moments, emotions, and learning from their journey together. Scroll down to reconnect with the heart of the programme and discover what this experience meant for them.
To Move is a 10-day youth experiential learning programme that brought together young queer people from Greece, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Spain, and Italy in a safer and braver space to explore dance, movement, and embodiment as tools for self-expression, healing, and community-building. Rooted in Active Rainbow’s approaches to embodied learning and inspired by personal journeys of dance and connection, the project aimed to nurture empowerment through movement rather than technique.
The programme welcomed participants with diverse backgrounds and experiences in dance, focusing not on performance or skill-building, but on self-exploration, presence, and authentic connection with ourselves and others. Each day was filled with movement-based activities, reflection, and shared experiences — always guided by care, consent, and respect for personal boundaries.
Living together as a community was an essential part of the journey. Participants supported one another through daily tasks, collective care, and smaller group processes, creating a space where self-organization, compassion, and mutual responsibility could flourish alongside structured learning moments.
At its core, To Move sought to foster a supportive queer community grounded in acceptance and authenticity, strengthen self-awareness and confidence, and inspire collective action — including local initiatives in Riga and in each partner country. Through interactive and experiential learning, participants learned by doing, by sharing, and by moving together.
Enjoy the reflections and insights from this powerful journey of embodiment, connection, and collective growth!
This was my second time ever being on a project, and for the second time gladly with Active Rainbow. When I discovered the To Move project I was intrigued by the topic of movement and self expression through the body, even though I felt some anxiety towards it too. One’s relationship with the body and the way that moving it can feel is not always the easiest, for queer identities even more so.
Before going to Latvia I don’t think I ever tried listening to what my body was communicating that much, it felt unnecessary or rather uncomfortable. I felt like movement had to always have a purpose for the others to see, it always had to perform in some kind of way. It started to feel easier and easier to move freely as the days were passing, and the other people there with me made a community possible, a community in which I felt safe enough to let go, be focused on my journey there while cocreating with others and enjoy the slow pace of the beautiful nature around us, connecting with it.
This project showed me that there is movement to pay attention to everywhere, around and within us, and if paying close enough attention and care, I felt able to really breathe deeper and easier.
Before going to the project I was feeling excited but also a bit concerned because I am not used to do movement activities in my everyday life.
When I arrived in Latvia I realized that the activities were very accessible and progressive from the easiest tasks to the more articulated ones. The needs of everybody were taken into account by the fantastic facilitators and I felt very comfortable. Moreover, the other participants contributed to create a safer and non judgmental space to connect and explore ourselves.
Thanks to the project I found out another way to express myself. Normally I draw or play music, now I realized that movement and dancing is an amazing way to release emotions directly through the body.
Thinking back, it has already been a month or so and it still feels like a dream: an incredible experience where the care for details, the passion and the drive to spread a message were evidently there.
And I can’t even recall when was the last time I really felt free to be myself, accepted and appreciated for who I am, without fear nor judgement, in a safe space while surrounded by well selected and motivated people that made the community alive.
I was able to rediscover my Queerness, for too long suffocated and repressed, and the freedom to move and dance at every beat and chance, just for the sake of it. Luckily, having friendly people from my city was a bliss, a spark that won’t be extinguished that easily.
The days were intense: mapping the inside and outside world and our interactions through movement and team work, relying on ourselves and the others around.. A life changing experience, definitely a Must Do in Life!