IKoon 2026

From 8 to 12 December 2026, Introdans and the Gelderland-based mental healthcare institution Pro Persona will organise the dance project IKoon for the second time. Just as in the first edition in 2025, it will be a special dance week for clients of Pro Persona’s TOPGGZ centres: Overwaal, the Expertise Centre for Anxiety, Compulsion & PTSD, and the Expertise Centre for Depression. IKoon offers clients with severe anxiety or depressive disorders the chance to get moving in a positive, non-therapeutic way, thereby also setting them in motion mentally.

Over the course of four days, participants work together with choreographer Adriaan Luteijn and the Introdans interaction team, culminating in a performance on the fifth day for family, friends and involved staff. The dance week is explicitly not a form of treatment. By temporarily letting the treatment context fade into the background, room is created for a different experience. It’s all about fun, joie de vivre, social connection, being physically active, daring to show yourself, and strengthening self-confidence and personal autonomy.

During the week, participants step out of their familiar role, both literally and figuratively. They are approached as dancers and become acquainted with the daily rhythm and working method of a professional ballet company. They are challenged to leave their comfort zone, make their own choices, work together, stand up for themselves, and experience what is possible. At the same time, a specialist team from Pro Persona stands ready behind the scenes to ensure everyone can participate to the fullest. Introdans firmly believes that everyone can dance!

A team of researchers from Radboudumc and Pro Persona is also following participants during this second edition, studying the impact the dance week has on their well-being. The results of the first edition in 2025 were very positive, showing changes in mood, self-confidence, autonomy, competence and social connectedness, among other things. Even five months later, participants still looked back positively on the experience. These findings suggest that the project can contribute to fulfilling basic psychological needs, such as autonomy, competence and connectedness — factors known to support mental well-being. This new edition offers the opportunity to further explore and deepen these experiences and research findings. You can read more here: Dance as an engine for mental well-being – IKoon impact study.