Stress and lack or limited self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, cultural differences and economic barriers cause negative emotions and affect the mental and physical health of adults, particularly adults with fewer opportunities, most of them having difficulties with cultural inclusion and adaptation.
According to the adult education literature, emotions play an integral role in our way of understanding the world, occur at all stages of any learning process and influence the way we learn to a considerable extent.
Art-based experience fosters critical and creative learning which offers to the learners the possibility to be aware of issues which may not be easily comprehended through rational argumentation.
This project aims to provide to adult trainers in psychology (psychotherapy, dance therapy) and in art and culture (dance and theatre) an art-based tool which will help the adult learners to become familiar with different cultures, reduce xenophobia, develop fairness and respect for inclusion and diversity, as well as advance their mental and physical health.
More specifically, a methodology has been created, which includes circular dance movements stemming from traditional and popular dances from all over the world with an emphasis on African, middle-Eastern and South European dances which use circular dance elements often. A lot of psychotherapists and dance therapists have referred to circular dance elements as a therapeutic tool for physical and psychological health. A lot of ancient religions have used circular dance elements for meditation, prayer and therapy. This multicultural art training tool will be used by adult trainers in psychology (psychotherapy, dance therapy) and in art and culture (dance and theatre) in order to help their trainees through the emotions and feelings arising from the learning process to advance their mental and physical health and to become familiar with different cultures, reduce xenophobia and develop fairness and respect for inclusion and diversity.
