Introduction
About Biodanza
Biodanza started in Chile in the 1960s when a psychologist and anthropologist called Rolando Toro accidently discovered the power of music and movement to trigger positive emotions and intense feelings of aliveness in the present moment (aka vivencias). At the time he was working in a psychiatric hospital. Later, these “vivencias” became Biodanza’s main working tool.
Biodanza works to bring out the wellness within.
As this wellness grows the symptoms recede. ~ R. Toro
A System for Social Change
The Great Art of Living
However, Biodanza has been called the Ars Magna (Latin: "The Great Art") not because it encourages artistic self-expression but because it encourages us to view our own life as the greatest work of art. Biodanza invites us to use the power of our imagination to dream up the life we really want, and to visualise the positive changes needed to make it become our reality. Then, it boosts our “can do” attitude. The more we dance the more we listen to our deepest desires and the more we increase our courage to go for what we want. And when things get tough, there are dances to develop our resilience, to get us used to bouncing back and persevere towards our vision.
Deep Equality - From Human to Human
In its early days, Clinical Biodanza was restricted to psychologists. R. Toro soon changed his views, moving beyond the expert-layman divide. "In Biodanza," he said, "there are no passive patients. Each person participates in his own healing and at the same time helps to heal others. The classic therapist-client relationship doesn’t exist in Biodanza. The relationship between facilitators and participants is therefore one of equals.” |
Connecting and Building Bridges
Rather than therapy, Biodanza is a therapeutic and educational approach suitable for everyone: children, young people, families, adults, and the older population too. It has many different applications. It is offered to the general public and also to specific communities – learning disabilities, brain injury, cancer survivors, carers, and many more. |
Non-Verbal Communication
and dance is a wonderful way of integrating body and soul.
Beyond language, we rediscover our original means of expression. Unless we were born with a disability, most of us have learned to smile, move, crawl and walk before we have learned to talk. It’s as if we have come into this world with a pre-installed body language software. We have also cried, screamed, and laughed before we have learned to speak. |
Developing Sensitivity to Social and Human Issues
An Invitation...
I hope that this post has given you a glimpse into the spirit of Biodanza. If you'd like to experience it for yourself, come along to the Biodanza workshop at the 4th Community Psychology Festival on Monday 24th of September in Hertford, in the heart of Hertfordshire. Hosted by University of Hertfordshire and the British Psychological Society, the Festival celebrates work by psychologists, communities and voluntary organisations to showcase initiatives that fit with the community psychology ethos and themes. |