CONFERENCES, Congresses & SYMPOSIUMS
DANCING STORIES AT 'STORYTELLING FOR HEALTH' SYMPOSIUM, 10 JUNE 2024
I am delighted to announce that I will be offering a "Life-Centred Dancing Stories for Health" workshop at the ‘Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing Symposium’, which will take place at the University of South Wales, Cardiff. This one-day event, which builds upon the successful Storytelling for Health conferences, has been organised by Swansea Bay Health Board, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Beyond the Border, Awen Cultural Trust, and the University of South Wales.
I will be offering a participatory workshop using life-centred dance as a kinetic educational tool to enable participants to have a felt-experience of whole health through meaningful and purposeful movement to music. A positive story inspired by the facilitator's lived-experience will be used as a base from which to propose dances that explore aspects of a successful healing process that might also work for others in terms of processing grief, releasing widespread pain and muscle stiffness, regaining vital energy after extreme tiredness, reestablishing a sense of trust in the body's natural healing capacities, and taking responsibility of one's own healing journey.
Links: Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing Symposium
INTERNAtional conference of psychic & paranormal studies nov 2024
I am delighted to have been invited to facilitate a workshop at the International Conference of Psychic and Paranormal Studies on the 26th and 27th of November at Craig Y Nos Castle, Brecon Road, Penycae, Brecon Beacons National Park SA9 1GL Wales
Would be lovely to see you there!
Dances of Eternal Love
In the realm of the unknown, where frequencies collide,
I invite you to join me, on a journey to the other side,
Where music and movement, entwined as one,
Can help us sense the energy, that's never undone.
With every note, we'll communicate with grace,
Telepathically, we'll find our loved ones in space,
In the spirit world, where we'll find our way,
We'll offer them a dance, to brighten their day.
Would be lovely to see you there!
Dances of Eternal Love
In the realm of the unknown, where frequencies collide,
I invite you to join me, on a journey to the other side,
Where music and movement, entwined as one,
Can help us sense the energy, that's never undone.
With every note, we'll communicate with grace,
Telepathically, we'll find our loved ones in space,
In the spirit world, where we'll find our way,
We'll offer them a dance, to brighten their day.
The Embodiment Conference 2020
I was delighted to be part of The (somewhat epic) Embodiment Conference. It was a rich opportunity to come home to your body, in our chaotic world. It was also a fantastic turnout. With over 400,000 people registered from all over the world, the conference has been the talk of the embodiment community for weeks.
Many of the planet’s best teachers were there, and boasted keynote speakers such as Peter Levine, Dr. Gabor Maté, Ken Wilber, Charles Eisenstein, Tara Brach and Sharon Salzberg. Biodanza, yoga, leadership, dance, creativity, social change, intimacy, martial arts, meditation, breathwork, coaching body therapy, anatomy, ecology and trauma were all represented! The event was unique in size, but also in how it helped many people connect to others using some clever new technology. Oh, and for anyone who missed my session - you can catch up on that for free here, too! |
Biodanza & Dementia Seminar
A creative seminar on 'The Dance of Life: Biodanza Life-Centred Dance/Movement for people with dementia living in residential care homes' as part of the University of Derby´s Art-based Research in Dementia (ARD) series - 5th November 2019
The University of Derby's Arts-based Research in Dementia (ARD) cluster invite you to attend another exciting seminar in their series of arts-based and creative approaches to dementia care. You will be guided through a sequence of dance-movement exercises aimed at giving you an insight into the manifold benefits of biocentric dance to people living with dementia. In particular, how encouraging physical movement may help to maintain physical functioning; how inviting non-verbal self-expression may strengthen the sense of identity and personhood; and how sensory/touch exercises may help to reduce anxiety, stay in touch with reality, reduce the sense of isolation, and meet the universal need for affection and validation. In addition, recognising the difficulties that carers and care workers may face, how it can offer a way to interact and to increase quality of life. Afterwards there will be time for a short presentation followed by group discussion and open dialogue on the importance of meaningful activities for those with dementia and their carers. For more information on this seminar or ARD, please contact: [email protected].
EMBRACING REFUGEES - BIODANZA AS THE REFUGE OF THE HEART
8th INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF CLINICAL AND SOCIALLY ENGAGED BIODANZA
The Art of Happiness - Embodiment, Emotions, and Relationships for Personal and Social health - May 2019 in Italy
The International Forum of Clinical and Socially-Engaged Biodanza, which focused on happiness as a societal value, attracted 43 contributors from Europe and South America. Together, they offered 16 talks, 14 workshops, 2 interactive sessions and a round table. This special gathering offered participants an opportunity to meet in a creative interactive space, and to learn and dance with some of the most experienced Biodanza, health and social care professionals. #IFCSEB2019
I shared my experience of multicultural Biodanza with female refugees and asylum-seekers. My presentation included a brief overview of the organisation and its service users, issues to be aware of, music-induced memories of traumatic events, the need for culturally relevant music, examples of possible musical sources, and examples of safe and efficient Biodanza exercises.
EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF BIODANZA
11-14 OCT 2018
The 3rd Biodanza European Congress took place in Punta Umbria, Costa de la Luz in Spain from 11 to 14th of October 2018. I loved the opportunity to practice heart-based co-facilitation with Ruth Strupinski, director of the London School, Catherine Canning from Scotland, and Geane Bonfim from Brazil/Portugal. Another special moment was sharing The Dance of Forced Displacement with people from all over the world and meet others from Germany and France who have done similar work.
The 4 Languages of Love - Just as Carl Jung proposed the archetypes as the contents of the collective unconscious, R. Toro proposed love as the main content of the numinous unconscious. The 4 Languages of Love is an invitation to experience the 4 types of love considered to form the 1st of the 4 steps towards the numinous. The love of community is the foundation of community consciousness, justice and freedom. If we think of the human species as an organism, and of individuals as its organs, then isolation doesn’t make sense. Our biological impulses of cooperation are the seeds of altruism and the roots of love. In healthy communities, individuals learn to qualify, to value and to celebrate each other´s passion for life. This passion for life also manifests as intense, erotic, sensual, and passionate love. This intensity is softened by the sweetness and sensitivity of tenderness, which helps us to understand, love, and protect others. And when we connect with our luminous part we can suddenly realise the sacred nature of every human being and of every single encounter. Click here to check the programme, and here to book your place.
BIODANZA FOR PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
4TH COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY FESTIVAL
4TH COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY FESTIVAL
The programme is looking great! Book soon to discover what´s going on in the community psychology field, enjoy lots of stimulating talks and workshops, and dance Biodanza on Monday 24 Sep at 11:30am. Jointly hosted by University of Hertfordshire and the British Psychological Society (BPS), the 4th Community Psychology Festival will be held at the Hertford Theatre in Hertford from 23-24 September under the theme "I am because we are - finding the HEaRT of Community Psychology".
Curious? Read on...
Biodanza and community psychology - Biodanza and Community Psychology in Brazil - The Importance of the Lived-Experience
Biodanza and community psychology - Biodanza and Community Psychology in Brazil - The Importance of the Lived-Experience
7TH INTERNATIONAL HEALTH HUMANITIES CONFERENCE
4TH AUG 2018 SOUTHAMPTON
Read more
Absolutely fascinating programme! Thrilled to see Biodanza on pages 7 and 24
BIODANZA AS A FORM OF PERSON CENTRED THERAPEUTIC DANCE
ADPCA UK LEEDS CONFERENCE 21 JULY 2018
Are you a therapist looking for more embodied and creative methods? Person-centred psychotherapist Jo Calenti is sharing her research suggesting that Biodanza incorporates the six necessary & sufficient conditions. Her talk will be followed by a practical session facilitated by myself which will give you the opportunity to experience both the differences and similarities of these approaches. All welcome. Read more.
HEALTH HUMANITIES & ARTS IN HEALTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
27-28TH NOV 2017 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
Discover Biodanza, a system of whole health developed in the late 1960s by R. Toro, a Chilean psychologist and anthropologist.
Music, movement and group interaction are used to generate positive lived-experiences. Its roots go back to a psychiatric hospital in Santiago, where R. Toro first discovered the power of music to trigger positive emotions, i.e. to uplift patients with depression, soothe those struggling with anxiety, and bring back to reality those who had slipped into psychosis. These discoveries were the seeds that grew into a dance-based system that has spread to the four corners of the world. Read more
Music, movement and group interaction are used to generate positive lived-experiences. Its roots go back to a psychiatric hospital in Santiago, where R. Toro first discovered the power of music to trigger positive emotions, i.e. to uplift patients with depression, soothe those struggling with anxiety, and bring back to reality those who had slipped into psychosis. These discoveries were the seeds that grew into a dance-based system that has spread to the four corners of the world. Read more
COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY FESTIVAL 15-16 SEPT 2017
ARNOLFINI CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Discover Biodanza
dance-based community-centred system for social change
dance-based community-centred system for social change
- This workshop is an invitation to discover the power of Biodanza and its focus on embodied direct experience
- Find out how it promotes physical and psychological wellness, and a sense of connectedness and belonging
- Expect some playfulness to break the ice and great music from around the world
- The movements are simple and easy to do – all you need is a little openness to experience
Biodanza is a system of human development developed in the late 1960s by R. Toro, a Chilean psychologist and anthropologist who believed that personal difficulties stemmed from socio-historical situations. R. Toro once described Biodanza as a community-centred system for social change. Music, movement and group interaction are used to generate positive lived-experiences. Affectivity is central - at its highest level it manifests as social action. R. Toro encouraged facilitators to use Biodanza to help people reconnect with each other and with nature, to empower ethnic minorities and marginalised groups, and to defend human rights.
Find out more about the Community Psychology Festival
Suggested reading Biodanza and Community Psychology - Biodanza and Community Psychology in Brazil - The Importance of the Lived-Experience
Find out more about the Community Psychology Festival
Suggested reading Biodanza and Community Psychology - Biodanza and Community Psychology in Brazil - The Importance of the Lived-Experience