Biodanza wellness cocktail: thirty participants, a couple of experienced masters, mix in the dance and get an ideal and harmonious relationship with ourselves and the world. The teachers of the school from Lisbon Irene Franco and José Neves tell the story.
Psychologies:
What is Biodanza?
Jose Neves: Biodanza is a human development system. We call it a system because it combines several areas of knowledge about a person. This is not therapy, but it has a powerful therapeutic effect on the level of the soul and body.
Irene Franco: Rolando Thores, the creator of biodanza, did not like to call his system therapy, because it is not aimed at working with diseases. However, a person is an integral system, everything. what we think about is somehow reflected in our body, so physical problems often come after oppressive thoughts. This is what biodanza works with.
- Biodanza: the energy dance of life
Why is it necessary to dance in a large group?
I.F.: The main goal of biodanza is togetherness, and this can only happen through interaction with other people. We get to know ourselves, our partners, raise self-esteem, get joy.
How often and for how long can I do biodanza?
Biodanza — like homeopathy, it is useful, but you should not eat all the pills at once. If you have never practiced biodanza and then practiced for three days in a row, you will feel the same tiredness as if you run several kilometers at once after a long break. Classes are attended once a week, this is enough.
How are classes?
Beginners get acquainted with the system: immersion in it takes about four months. They learn to feel the rhythm of life and enjoy and enjoy. The next stage: we switch to the harmonization of personal history, we begin to add dances aimed at solving specific problems.
At this stage, we turn to the teachings of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen, to their methodologies for stress relief. Biodanza by the method of soft immersion helps not to overcome, but to dissolve all internal blocks. We go through different stages: personal unconscious, life experience, sexuality, creativity… And from time to time we return to the topics covered. Our classes can be compared to a train that travels in a spiral: it passes the same stations, but each time at a new level.
- A slow dance
Does the number of people in a class matter?
It’s good when 30-50 people gather together. Maybe a little more or a little less, depending on the teacher. The main thing is that he can organize everyone and have time to observe what is happening with each participant. During the course, personal consultations are also provided. If the group is too small, there is less interaction. If it’s too big, intimacy is lost.
You teach in Europe, Latin America, Asia. Do you feel the difference between people’s behavior, their problems?
The only difference is that some are liberated from the very beginning, while for others this process takes more time. But each of us experiences similar emotions and feelings.
What should be prepared for the first lesson?
Beginners, as a rule, do not yet realize what sensuality and receptivity are, and at first they simply splash out energy. They are too active, they make mistakes in interacting with each other … This is how the desire to change, to open up is manifested. This is understandable, we live in a very serious, built world, and when we find ourselves in an atmosphere of freedom, we can be overwhelmed by emotions. This is normal, the rest will come with experience, the main thing is to dance!