Mary Bawden

Expert Topics:

  • Children’s dance is increasingly influenced by adult music, costuming, and choreography, often in ways parents don’t see until performance time.

  • Hypersexualized movement and themes are now normalized in many studios, even when there is no malicious intent.

  • Research links early sexualization to body image problems, anxiety, decreased self-esteem, and confusion about identity and worth.

  • Age-inappropriate performance expectations can undermine healthy physical, emotional, and social development in children.

  • Parents need practical tools to evaluate studios, spot red flags, and ask informed questions about choreography, costuming, and music.

  • Healthy, age-appropriate dance celebrates creativity and skill without asking children to move or act like adults.

  • DA:NCE Awareness offers free resources, a Healthy DA:NCE Directory, and a national coalition to support families and dance professionals.

  • The goal is not to shame studios, but to collaborate with them to restore child-centered, developmentally appropriate standards in dance.

Mary Bawden

Mary Bawden is the founder of DA:NCE Awareness (Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited): Advocacy | Education

  • Founder of DA:NCE Awareness (Dance Awareness: No Child Exploited), a national nonprofit based in Redlands, California.

  • Leads a national conversation on protecting children from hypersexualization in dance education.

  • Educates parents, educators, and communities on how adult music, costuming, and choreography have entered children’s dance spaces.

  • Advocates for healthy, age-appropriate dance that supports children’s physical, emotional, and social development.

  • Promotes solutions through free resources, national advocacy, and collaboration with dance professionals.

  • Emphasizes education and partnership with studios rather than blame, helping restore child-centered, age-appropriate standards in dance.

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Bio

Mary Margaret Bawden felt God call her into prayer-in-motion at fifteen years of age soon after she asked Jesus into her heart as her personal Savior. Although highly trained in ballet, she found herself attracted to the varied choreographic approaches found in modern dance. As a result, she received a B.A. in modern dance from UC Riverside in 1975; for a short time after graduation, she became the dance instructor for Crafton College as well as Mt. San Jacinto Jr. College in the Southern California area. The arrival of her 3 children in 1976, 1978 and 1981 followed and changed her priorities in movement until her children grew older.

Soul to Sole Choreography placed in the non-professional finalist category of the highly acclaimed ‘Festival of the Stars’ choreography festival held in Palm Springs at the McCallum Theatre in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Shea New, the founder/director of the festival, stated that the choice for the fall festival finalists was ‘difficult due to the overwhelming amount of quality talent submitted.’ Choreography finalists included entries from Argentina, Florida, Texas, New York, Arizona, Nevada, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. Alongside the educational movement foundation for worship ministry, Mary has taught choreography and/or DA:NCE materials for the National Sacred Dance Guild Conference, the CAHPERD(California health, physical education, recreation and dance) dance workshop, the Saddleback Worship Conference,  “Raise the Barre” as well as the State CDEA(California Dance Educator’s Association) Conference and the NDEO(National Dance Educator’s Organization) National Conference.

In Redlands, California, God has used Mary’s love of prayer-in-motion to design scripture for women’s Bible studies, church services and Children’s Christmas musicals at her home church. Since 1995, the much of Mary’s time has focused on a book entitled ‘Dance is Prayer in Motion: Soul to Sole Choreography for Church Dance Ministry.’ The chapters include information on dance movement foundation, leadership, choreography tools, the 6-step choreography method, the rehearsal process, and a chapter for pastors who want clear expectations for setting up a dance ministry in their own church. Part of the written material also shares how God has given her a vision to structure movement groups so that everyone can learn how to choreograph with or without a movement background. In 2006, Mary furthered her education when she received a Master of Arts in Worship with an emphasis in dance from Hope International University in Fullerton, California.

From Mary’s point of view, prayer-in-motion must be purposeful and conceptually clear. Of course, clarity also informs her passion to communicate the benefits of dance for children so that they are not hypersexualized with adult costumes, choreography and music. Her background includes a California secondary and junior college teaching credential as well as many years as an inductive Bible study leader. She has been involved with Bible Study Fellowship, Kay Arthur’s Precepts Bible Studies as well as women’s bible studies at Trinity Evangelical Church in Redlands, CA where Mary and her husband Richard attend.

Videos

Projects

NO CHILD EXPLOITED

During the last decade, there has been a cultural shift from healthy educational children’s dance to harmful hypersexualized children’s dance by using adult costumes, sexually suggestive choreography, and music with inappropriate sexual themes and/or lyrics. Our organization is dedicated to raising awareness and providing dance educators, parents, and concerned adults with the resources and education needed to take action and end this kind of exploitation occurring through hypersexualization of children in dance.

DA:NCE Goals

  1. To protect children from hypersexualization in adult costumes, choreography and music, and to protect the art of dance
  2. To create free research materials to give adults informed choices about the differences between healthy or harmful dance
  3. To engage in respectful conversations about hypersexualization without shaming/demonizing adults or dance studios so that there is a path for reflection and changed perspectives
  4. To communicate the hypersexualization of children in dance and its connection to the public health issue of pornography with bipartisan engagement

Free Resources for Parents and Concerned Adults

As awareness grows, dance educators, parents and concerned citizens are speaking out against this cultural shift toward normalizing the hypersexualization of children in dance. Free resources to educate and grow awareness are available at danceawareness.com, including:

• Video library highlighting the damaging effects of hypersexualized children’s dance

• Educational PowerPoints and in-depth videos for people to use in their outreach efforts

• Resources for parents to find and select healthy, age-appropriate dance studios

• An educational and actionable newsletter, sent only three times per year, as well as an engaging eBook that explains the problem and offers solutions

 

  • The DA:NCE – Freedom From Exploitation And Trafficking – Prosperity 101 podcast with Linda J. Hansen (Ep. 227, 2024): https://podcast.prosperity101.com/the-dance-freedom-from-exploitation-and-trafficking-with-mary-bawden-ep-227/

  • Protecting Healthy Children’s Dance from Hypersexualization – Unconventional Ministry podcast (S5, Ep. 162, 2024): https://sat7usa.podbean.com/e/protecting-healthy-childrens-dance-from-hypersexualization-with-mary-bawden-s5-ep-162/

  • Episode 26: Creating a World of Healthy Dance for Children – Music for the Soul podcast (YouTube video interview): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M79yjZ3RZcY

  • Safe Steps, Stronger Futures (Know what your kids are being exposed to) – Special Guests feature and interview: https://specialguests.com/know-your-kids-dance-instructors/

  • Advocating for Children’s Safety: A Conversation with Mary Bawden – Keys video interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMo9eS75qxE

  • DA:NCE Awareness “Who We Are” page listing additional conferences and media appearances: https://www.danceawareness.com/who-we-are/

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