4th EADMT Conference / How far is far? How close is close? Choreographing a new world / 23-25 September 2022

The present proposal aims to deepen our understanding of varied lived experiences of the pandemic through an embodied enactive research framework. For this purpose, an in-person dance movement therapy workshop was designed, which included verbal dialogue, dance, movement, and creative writing to explore and share with one another lived experiences of the pandemic. Following the experiential part of the workshop, a dynamic and thorough discussion took place, which was recorded, transcribed and analyzed. The thematic analysis of this data revealed helpful insights into the participants’ experiences, which were linked to strong feelings, ambivalence, as well as resilience. Participants’ different needs concerning space, time, and rhythm played an important role in their response to the demands of a society in a pandemic. Our findings suggest that such workshops combining therapeutic and research purposes on a specific subject can promote invaluable interpersonal learning experiences.