“Geodanza”: An Artistic Activity to Educate the Sense of Belonging to the Living Whole.

With the following I would like to give an idea about educational opportunities offered by an interesting outdoor activity, that in Italy we call Geodanza (geo-dance). It is a methodology created from some approaches of ecological movement, meditative movement and some elements of dance movement therapy reworked in a pedagogical way (Naccari, 2012 ed.; 2014; 2016; 2020; 2021).

These movement activities, often proposed in a natural environment, have their ancient origins in the dance traditions of people, and have their educational goals in different human life cycles.

The intention of this approach is to awaken a sense of belonging to ‘Mother Earth’, to rediscover and experience the harmony between the human and the natural rhythms, to enlarge our awareness, care skills and sense of responsibility for the earth-system, to educate inner perception of our innate and vital ‘terrestrial citizenship’. Thanks to movement and dance, we work on body awareness and on the ability to stay in the here and now; then we can open to the most authentic ability to listen to oneself and to the “Other”. In movement and dance we can be inspired by shapes, sounds, smells, everything that surrounds us...

We try to search and listen to the 'Genii Loci', the hidden and sacred essence of the place, to discover something about us that is reflected in that place. All this therefore allows us to rediscover in a new way the profound meaning of our life on earth, our interconnection with the whole, that allows us to look to the 'Other', (human being, element of nature, creature), not as a being to dominate and use, but as an 'otherness' with whom one can creatively and subjectively come into a possible harmony.