Unifying Personal Development Through Dance and Movement and Increasing the Level of Bodily Intelligence

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting a study on bodily intelligence, a relatively new term that joins the most established ones such as cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence or spiritual intelligence. The theoretical basis is supported by Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence as well as more recent neurological and psychological studies on the human body. A form of knowledge is highlighted which, although it is the first to appear in human ontogenesis, has not been much studied and promoted and which opposes rational or iconic knowledge. The present study aims at finding a tool for measuring bodily intelligence and at investigating the dynamics of this intelligence in relation to participating in a unifying personal development program through dance and movement. In this sense we went through two major stages and objectives at the same time: 1 - conducting a unifying personal development program through dance and 2 - conducting a quantitative statistical study to capture the effects of the program on bodily intelligence and its correlation with self-satisfaction related to the physical body. The quantitative (experimental) research was applied with the participation of an experimental group composed of 33 people and a control group composed of 36 people. The results were obtained by pre-test-post-test procedure. The initial testing was held at the beginning of the program and retesting - one day after its completion. The experiment consisted of a UPDDM program lasting 20 hours over three days. The results obtained from the statistical data processing show significant differences between the control group and the experimental group in the bodily intelligence variable confirming the research hypothesis, according to which a UPDDM dance therapy program is a valid method of increasing bodily intelligence.

Key words: personal development, dance therapy, bodily intelligence, kinesthetic intelligence.