Syzygy Dance Project started in 2010 with one class at the San Francisco County Jail. SDP now has ten ongoing projects with diverse populations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The inspiration for Syzygy Dance Project comes from the heart of Sylvie Minot, Syzygy Dance Project’s Executive Director. 

​Twenty years ago, while assisting a dance class at an AIDS conference, Sylvie became aware of her calling to bring movement to those unlikely to access it. She was inspired by the participants, many of whom were dancing in wheelchairs and with oxygen masks. 

One of the participants remarked, “The entire conference was about my illness and how sick I was, yet I felt more alive when I was dancing, free from the narrative of my disease.”
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As Sylvie continued dancing and studied to be a movement teacher, she was struck by how many people exist as virtual prisoners in the circumstances of their lives. She felt to bring freedom and a sense of possibility through movement to those who are in incarceration would be a tremendous gift. 

Sylvie now brings dance not only to those in prison but to anyone who can benefit from it. Since 2010, SDP programs have expanded to include a variety of facilities around the San Francisco Bay Area.

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