The origins of Dora Andrade's current work can be readily traced to her early childhood years. Born and raised in Fortaleza, she grew up in surroundings in which artistic expression was highly valued and concern for the wellbeing of less fortunate neighbors was the norm. Dora's mother, a history teacher and artist, viewed art both as an integral element of everyday life and as an important instrument for education, and she routinely brought her own and other artists' work to Fortaleza's poorest communities. As a teenager, manifesting similar concerns, Dora worked as a volunteer in homes for the elderly. Dora discovered her vocation for dance at an early age and knew, even then, that dance would be her lifelong passion. After seven years of study, which included specialized courses in Brasília and at the School of the Minnesota Dance Theater in the United States, she returned to Ceará, where she opened dance classes in Fortaleza and neighboring rural communities, often working with lepers' children and the daughters of poor, drought-affected farm workers.

In the early 1980s, with the explicit aim of integrating her artistic expression and social concerns, Dora formed the Dora Andrade Dance Group and created a series of productions in which themes of injustice and social inequality permeated her choreography. But during that same period she became increasingly concerned with the desperate plight of poor children, and she realized that occasional workshops for farm workers' children and dance scholarships for poor girls were insufficient responses to their needs. As Dora put it, the situation "demanded a deeper engagement and decisive action," and it was from that judgment that Escola de Dança e Integração Social para Criança e Adolescente (School of Dance and Social Integration for Children and Adolescents – EDISCA) emerged.

Through EDISCA, Dora has been able to reach and make an important difference in the lives of large numbers of poor and sometimes desperate young women. The imaginative and successful formula that she has developed for doing so has also attracted considerable national and international attention and support.

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