One key program that fulfills the Pieces of a Dream, Inc. (POAD) mission to support the holistic well-being of artists is our “Holistic Wellness” workshop series, specifically designed to support dance professionals and enable them to survive and thrive within their profession.  The majority of working dancers and dance instructors in Delaware tend to be young adults between the ages of 17 and 35.  Dancers are artists who work in an industry with few permanent jobs.  Dance companies and studios hire dancers as independent contractors, offer part-time hours, and normally do not offer benefits such as health insurance or retirement plans.  Therefore, members of the dance community need to have greater competency and self-reliance in areas such as tax preparation, retirement investment, and medical insurance than non-dancers in permanent full-time jobs with full benefits, Human Resources departments, and other support systems. 

POAD’s Holistic Wellness workshop series addresses several of the information needs of Delaware’s working dance community.  Through this project, POAD provides dance professionals access to individuals and organizations that specialize in one of the Holistic Wellness targeted areas through a series of workshops.  Workshop topics include tax preparation, retirement investment, medical insurance, savings, home-buying, college planning, and audition training.

The Holistic Wellness project is a series of workshops, conducted over the course of POAD’s annual calendar.  Each workshop is focused on one topic that has relevance to Delaware’s dance community.  While these workshops are geared towards addressing the needs of professional dancers, they are relevant to all performing and visual artists; therefore, all the workshops are open to the public.  Holistic Wellness topics are organized into the following categories:  Financial Wellness, Professional Wellness, and Personal Wellness.