Social-Emotional Aspects of the Biodanza Space in Kindergarten

Abstract

This study examined the implementation of a biodanza program in a kindergarten for five-year-olds. The purpose of the project was to understand the contribution of biodanza to social-emotional learning (SEL) of kindergarten children. The exposure of children to biodanza made it possible to stimulate a social-emotional aspects of children’s development: to promote closeness and a sense of belonging to a group, and to encourage children to open up, express themselves, and show initiative. This was a qualitative case study carried out in 2017-2019 in Israel. The findings of this study suggest that the introduction of biodanza into kindergarten encouraged coping closeness, emotional and social expression, and social initiative. Biodanza created social situations that aroused the children’s curiosity to discover many and varied points of view and to cultivate empathy and acceptance. The data have revealed that collective games should be integrated into vivencias, to offer activities that allow the formation of spontaneous connections between the children, in the form of games. In time, the vivencia space was filled with the children’s laughter, and positive gestures multiplied.