Art therapy, music therapy and dance

Daniel-William Roger Neville-Lake

Daniel-William Roger Neville-Lake

Music

The first time I ever noticed that Daniel was really responding to music was when a Taylor Swift song came on the radio and he dropped his cars and started to dance when he was 19 months old. He would watch his aunt and Owa play guitar and sing and he would join in. When he was three he organized a family band at the cottage, handing out small garbage cans to bang on, sticks for a microphone and he got himself a guitar. The song that day was “Old MacDonald” and since his favourite animal was dogs, you can guess how many times we sang that Old MacDonald had a dog on his farm. He loved to sing and when Harry joined our family there were many nights when Daniel would sing his brother to sleep with a traditional Filipino lullaby. When Milly joined our family he created special song for his sister to soothe her when she was upset and would sing it over and over until he got her to smile.

Apply for funding

ART

Daniel loved to draw, especially anything to do with baseball, basketball and his Star Wars troops. Daniel’s natural curiousity prompted him to try to use things like charcoal from our previous night’s campfire, birch bark we found on the trail on a hike and a dip ink pen. He loved to express himself through cooking as well, learning how to use cast iron to cook his famous scrambled eggs and pancakes at age 7. He compiled his favourite recipes into a book he called “Daniel’s book of Good Eats”. Daniel was very good at repurposing items that he would find in the kitchen, in the basement or in a random place into pieces of art. Cake tins, pop cans and toilet paper rolls would become castles for his troops…until his sister came along and sat on it. He would use blankets, chairs, tables, sheets –anything to build forts he and his siblings could play with. Daniel loved to draw, especially anything to do with baseball, basketball and his Star Wars troops. Daniel’s natural curiousity prompted him to try to use things like charcoal from our previous night’s campfire, birch bark we found on the trail on a hike and a dip ink pen. He loved to express himself through cooking as well, learning how to use cast iron to cook his famous scrambled eggs and pancakes at age 7. He compiled his favourite recipes into a book he called “Daniel’s book of Good Eats”. Daniel was very good at repurposing items that he would find in the kitchen, in the basement or in a random place into pieces of art. Cake tins, pop cans and toilet paper rolls would become castles for his troops…until his sister came along and sat on it. He would use blankets, chairs, tables, sheets –anything to build forts he and his siblings could play with.

Apply for funding

Dance

When Daniel was 6 yrs old he came to me and said “Mom, I want to do ballet.” I was a little surprised and thinking that he might be confusing ballet with something else, asked if he knew what ballet was. We took books and videos out of the public library and sure enough, it was ballet that he wanted to do. He danced with the City of Brampton Dance Department and every Mother’s Day, my gift was that he was on stage dancing for me. He had a passion and love for ballet and even when given a choice to do something else he also chose ballet. He was starting his fourth year as a dancer and took a lot of pride in his art.

How to apply