"The foundation of Biodanza comes from a meditation on life, or perhaps from despair, from the desire to be reborn from our fragmented gestures, to free ourselves from our empty and sterile structure of repression. Or, even more simply, from nostalgia for love. More than a science, it is a poetics of human encounter, a new sensitivity to existence. "

Rolando Toro Araneda

Biodanza is a system of animation and intervention that promotes human fulfillment through integrative experiences induced by music, dance, and group encounters. It consists of a set of dance exercises and selected music, organized according to a theoretical model whose objective is the integrated expression of the potential of life, present in each of us. Biodanza aims above all to stimulate the healthy part of this potential, perceived in terms of five major areas of expression: vitality, sexuality, creativity, affectivity, and transcendence, with the goal of strengthening in each person a process of autonomy, fulfillment, evolution, and solidarity. It is an approach based on existential rehabilitation, a true pedagogy of the art of living.

The exercise sequences follow rules that have specific objectives such as rhythmic integration, integration between affect and motor skills, rehabilitation of the instinctive response, expression of identity, better resistance to stress, improvement in health and mood,

improved interpersonal and social communication, and rehabilitation of the original bond between human beings and nature. Biodanza is often defined as "a poetics of human encounter." By allowing access to a profound encounter with oneself, with others, and with the totality of the universe and the multiple manifestations of life, it stimulates a sense of existential aesthetics.

Biodanza teaches us to move, to express ourselves, to experience contact, to be more sensitive, to enjoy the joy and pleasure of living—in short, to feel life rather than think about it.

It is a veritable laboratory that allows us to experiment with new behaviors, new openings, and new possibilities. It invites us to discover our own existential answers through expression and action.

By drawing on the extraordinary creativity inherent in each and every one of us, Biodanza promotes the development of our ability to blossom, unfold, and ultimately realize our full potential as human being, as being together, and as being in the world. Biodanza was created in Chile by Professor Rolando Toro Araneda, who drew his inspiration from anthropology and ethology. The theory of Biodanza is therefore based on all life sciences (biology, physiology, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, etc.).

In Quebec, it was with Michel Loignon's dream and his determination to bring it to life that the school's history began nearly 23 years ago. The first school in Quebec was founded in 2003 by Europeans Hélène Lévy Benseft, Olivier Dettwiler, and Isabelle Dettwiler Lorétan. Michel Loignon, Sylvie Lavoie, Maira Martinez, and Dorotea Pok worked as part of the coordination team, ensuring continuity here in Quebec. Thanks to these pioneers and the help of several passionate volunteers, Biodanza was able to take off and develop in our region.

In the fall of 2014, a new chapter of our history began. For the first time, the school had a director and an educational council made up entirely of Quebecers. It was a surprisingly paradoxical moment: a new Biodanza school was born in Quebec, and yet the

work continued. The École de Biodanza SRT – Montréal Sud-Ouest du Québec has its roots and origins in the Montreal Biodanza School, of which it is both the successor and the offspring.

And the adventure continues. With each new cycle, the school is reborn. Although the Director remains the same, the teaching council is transformed. And as always, the team is driven by the same passion, the same love of the human process, and the desire to accompany all those who come to learn, with professionalism, sensitivity, and tenderness.

There are many reasons for undertaking facilitator training. The desire to become a facilitator may be present from the outset and be the primary motivation for undertaking this training. However, it is also possible to undertake this learning cycle without

necessarily wanting to facilitate. For some people, taking this training—as a student of the school—corresponds to a real desire to deepen their knowledge of the theoretical and conceptual elements underlying Biodanza. Others are motivated more by the desire to join a group that, over a period of three years, will undergo an intense evolutionary process through Biodanza. And sometimes the desire to teach arises during the training. Whatever the motivation, the training is the same for everyone. It is at the end of the training that vocations are confirmed or revealed. Our goal is to accompany an integrative process that respects the desires and needs of each individual.

Becoming a Biodanza facilitator

There is no new path, no path that no one has traveled before us. There is only a new way of traveling. Thus, a Biodanza facilitator is someone who wants to work to facilitate a process through which each person reappropriates their own path in life. The facilitator is first and foremost a lover of Biodanza who wants to share this approach and actively participate in the development of a healthier, more humane humanity.

During their training, apprentices will be guided in a profound reflection on life and the essence of living beings. It is through a rich and intense group process and, above all, through vivential experimentation that they will be able to develop the skills and the theoretical and methodological knowledge necessary to practice the profession of Biodanza facilitator.

Becoming a Biodanza facilitator means choosing to embark on a profound journey of personal transformation. If you choose to join us for this cycle, you will be invited, throughout these three years of training, to dive with us into a space where our relationships will be our fertile ground for experimentation and our experiences will be the cauldron in which we forge the gold of our identity.

Since we all arrive with knowledge, experiences, skills, and a history, we will be able to offer ourselves the opportunity to put the wisdom that dwells within us at the service of our growth and that of the group. In this way, we will be able to learn from each other

at all times and create together a safe and stimulating environment for the development of each and every one of us. In short, the facilitator training process offers both a comprehensive and varied curriculum and a process through which we transform ourselves as we learn.