Avoid stupid mistakes at 16, make a sharp turn at 30, discover new sources of joy at 60… All this is possible with the help of biodanza techniques, the energy dance of life. Whether it really works, I decided to check the Psychologies editor.
The system, created in Chile by the Chilean Rolando Toro, is very popular in Europe, it is taught in the USA and in India and even in African countries. In June 2015, such a school opened in Moscow, and I went to find out what they do there.
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- Find yourself in the dance
In short: dancing. Biodanza is a system that combines music, movement and communication so that everyone can experience an intense and conscious perception of life here and now, which is also called “vivencias”, that is, “living” (from the Spanish word vivir – to live) .
It is almost impossible to get acquainted with biodanza at one time. Three days of intensive workshops were enough for me to understand the basics.
Biodanza – the dance of life – is a scientifically proven way to get rid of internal blocks and even genetic fears embedded in us since the first unsuccessful date between the first man and the first woman and diligently added century after century by our ancestors. A heavy load, however, as it turned out, can be thrown off, or rather, dissolved.
In our unconscious, like in a giant computer, thousands of different stories are hidden, it is already impossible to get to the bottom of most of them, but there is another way: press Del and delete unknown files. This is exactly what they do in biodanze – they don’t break anything, they don’t try to overcome it, but they simply dissolve the blocks. A difficult but interesting path, during which a meeting with your true “I” is guaranteed – harmonious, easy, free from prejudice and social pressure, sexy and happy. But what is inherent in us that will allow us to experience all these sensations? The answer I got at Biodanza was instinct.
Instinct is what allows us to survive – to prolong our lineage and choose the best couple for this. Sexuality is also an instinct, we give in to sensations, and they lead us to where we need to go. The instinct allows us to feel unity with nature and receive its support, trust the body and see beauty in it. Social norms, internal attitudes and rules, the opinions of other people drown out our instincts. Deprived of inner strength, we are subjected to stress, doubts, self-doubt, we feel dissatisfaction, irritation. Our shoulders gradually sink down, the neck hurts, the back stoops, movements are constrained, and sexual energy tends to zero. Biodanza helps to bring back the instincts with the help of dance, and not only…
V. Kozlov, A. Girshon, N. Veremeenko
“Integrative Dance Movement Therapy”
Integrative dance movement therapy is one of the new trends in applied psychology and psychotherapy.
The biodanza system contains knowledge of biology, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, there is a place for art and even poetry. It is filled with wisdom, but at the same time it is a simple system, people comprehend it in practice, dancing with each other. I learned about this from Irene Franco and José Neves (Irene Franco & José Neves) – masters of biodanza, who specially arrived for the opening from Lisbon. They are a passionate, passionate couple who have lived together for 27 years (of which 13 have been dancing), raise a daughter, travel and study the fields of human development. In the process of training, they helped us to gradually plunge into the unconscious in order to return the main component of our instinct – eros.
Eros is a powerful life force. All the best aspirations – for love, joy, relationships – everything gives rise to eros in us, it gives us the strength to live and create. Beautiful poetry, music and other works of art come from this infinite source. We awakened him through dance, restored the ability to openly express emotions and desires. As it turned out, there are many techniques on this topic, we started with exercises that allow you to return energy to different parts of the body: first the neck, then the shoulders, arms, chest and pelvis.
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- Why do we dance
According to the masters, the neck is responsible for control and fears, it hurts when we are afraid of losing control of our lives. We put all our obligations on our shoulders, they sink under the weight of their oppression. The chest is responsible for the affairs of the heart and takes the blow for all our experiences with or without, and the pelvis is our sexuality, the weaker its manifestations, the less mobile this part of the body is. We danced and relaxed our body, we learned to love it, we learned to please other people and show interest without internal fears and embarrassment. This is a very erotic and at the same time delicate method, where any communication takes place with great respect for each other. And there were a lot of us – about 30 people.
A large number of participants is a prerequisite for practicing biodanza: dancing in a large group, we begin to understand others, feel unity and, most importantly, see that beauty is present in literally everything. I felt it in myself and in everyone I looked into the eyes.
There are many discoveries in biodanze: unity with nature and the elements, self-knowledge, immersion in the unconscious, but one way or another, everything is aimed at releasing tension, finding peace, improving relationships with people around and feeling love – for yourself, your partner, surroundings and all living things.