Since 2001 the Corpus Dance Group has promoted the 'Cidadança' [Citizen-Dance] project. The project's aim is “to make children dream of a good thing, and learning it exists and it is possible”. This is definition offered by group director Denise Milward for the project involving 60 needy children and teens in Juiz de Fora. The project offers classes in ballet, jazz, uniforms and dance wear, as well as tickets for the performances.

Milward believes the partnership with U&M exceeds financial issues, and affirms, “the important thing is to have a partnership with a serious and socially committed company.”

Besides offering cultural lessons the project helps students to improve their self-esteem, discover new horizons, create bonds, keep a responsible sexual behavior, work in a team, maintain attention and discipline, and search for results through demanding processes.

'Cidadança' combines both the project's and paying students at the same classes to promote integration and cultural exchanges, while they learn new values and respect differences. This happens after a certain period, when project youngsters have learned personal hygiene notions and improved their human perspective, an example of the project's continuity profile.

By year's end, all students performed at the city's main theater stage. It was a night of great excitement for their parents, who had seen the change in behavior at school and at home during the year. Aparecida Gonçalves, mother of 14-year old Mara Aparecida confesses, “I jumped the first time I saw Mara at the theater.”