2023 – Together We Sing & Dance

The 2023 theme – Together We Sing and Dance – was chosen to reach the widest possible range of clients. Special emphasis was placed on rural areas where older people and children are often socially neglected and insufficiently involved in social life.

Each country, region, city, and village nurtures its own culture, reflected in music. Dances, chants and traditional instruments can have a great effect on the elderly population and give them the opportunity to actively participate in the social life of their region, and at the same time, they pose a challenge to the music therapist. The meaning and goal of music therapy is, apart from everything else, the inclusion and acceptance of neglected members of society to whom music can provide emotional satisfaction and social inclusion.

Each EMTC association had the opportunity to introduce its country with a traditional song and/or dance. In this way, we returned to the roots and place of music therapy as a profession in an ancient context.

Starting from the theme Together we Sing and Dance and presenting Music Therapy in the Community, we encouraged member countries to take a look into their national heritage and think about traditional songs and dances and how they are applied to music therapy using traditional folk instruments.