Tiësto

"dance4life appeals to me both as a performer and as a human being. Their approach to one of the world youth's major challenges, HIV/AIDS, is very strong. They offer young people attractive ways of becoming involved in the project, rewarding them with a dance event at the end. It is this combination of serious information with dance and entertainment which motivates so many young people to move for dance4life."
Tiësto, ambassador dance4life

Paul van Dyk

“I take part in d4l because I think we shouldn’t forget that there are a lot of things that are wrong. Especially in Africa we have huge problems with HIV. Not only in Africa, but in Eastern Europe as well. The infections are growing. We have to make people aware that there is something out there. If they wanna do what they wanna do, they should do it safe.”
Paul van Dyk, DJ

The heart connection tour

The heart connection tour is the first activity within schools4life. Each dance4life country has a tour team who travel to schools giving a fun and interactive dance4life experience to young people. It is the introduction to dance4life for most of them, and is high-energy, informative and connects to young people. In 2008 over 300,000 youth in at least 20 countries will take part in it.

Dance4Life South Africa The tour team is made up of:
Peer educators - young people who are trained to talk about and inform other young people in their own language about HIV and AIDS and sexual health.
Dancers, drummers and performers - they bring this experience to life, and help teach the drill.
Young person living with HIV (or in some cases someone who has been affected by HIV) - who talks about their experience of living with HIV, how it affects those around them, and how they are treated by society.

There is also the organisational team - a group of students and teachers from the school who are involved in and represent dance4life. They help out with the heart connection tour and the other activities.

Dance4Life Tanzania An average of 150 young people take part in it, and learn the drill, watch videos about HIV and AIDS, listen to the person living with HIV talking about their experience, and discuss and ask questions. Once they've experienced the heart connection tour, they get the chance to do act4life and some go on to skills4life.