The Implantation of a Dance Workshop on the Quality of Life in the Work Environment: The Paola Rettore Method

Introduction

Paola Rettore Creative Dance Method (PRCDM) was created based on the spontaneity proposed by Isadora Duncan in her observation of natura and on the Laban/Bartenieff System. The method was developed over more than three decades of pedagogical and artistic practices with different audiences and environments, and was inspired by creative autonomy ideas such as Doris Humphrey's method of composing dances, body knowledge and awareness as taught by Ivaldo Bertazzo, somatic education studies, Haselbach and Ivonne's improvisation structure and studies of Laban's Modern Dance Education.

Paola Rettore, the creator of the method, studied at Instituto de Educação de Minas Gerais (Minas Gerais Educational Institute), first called Escola de Aperfeiçoamento de Minas Gerais (Improvement School of Minas Gerais) and today called Faculdade de Educação da Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (Education Faculty of the State University of Minas Gerais). She worked with literacy and reading and writing skills fostering the pleasure of reading, creativity, invention, and imagination. Paola instigated student to be curious, to question skills, to be open to new ideas and technologies and to develop autonomy in order to conquer freedom through knowledge and criticism.

Many of her studies in pedagogy and primary school teaching were concerned with the importance of literacy, art and the development of students' skills to fulfil their vocation, enabling them to have a prosperous personal and professional life.

It is noteworthy that PRCDM may be applied with diverse audiences, whether dance students or not, and various age groups, such as children, adolescents, young people, adults, and seniors. People with difficulties at socializing, patients with Down Syndrome, drug addicts and alcoholics were also clinically benefitted from the workshops using the PRCDM. Despite having observed positive clincal results, she did not do any quali-quantitative research. Videos were recorded on classes at the Centro Mineiro de Toxicomania (Minas Gerais Drug Addiction Centre) in a program sponsored by the state named Loucurarte (Crazy Art), directed by the psychiatrist Francisco Paes Barreto. Dr Barreto based this program on another program by Dr Nise da Silveira, a Brazilian pioneer of occupational therapy. Daughter of a pianist and a mathematics teacher, Nice da Silveira (1905-1999) rebelled against the employment of aggressive treatments such as electroshock and isolation with people with a mental health condition.

Paola Rettore worked intensively with actors from a Brazilian drama group called Grupo Galpão. Grupo Galpão's work is highly praised by public and critics in Brazil and abroad. PRCDM was used in classes, offered twice a week for ten years, in the rehearsals and body conditioning of the actors. She also worked with important theatre directors such as Eid Ribeiro and Gabriel Villela and choreographed scenes for works such as Corra Enquanto é Tempo (Run While There's Time), Rua da Amargura (Street of Bitterness), and Romeu e Julieta (Romeo and Juliet).

PRCDM consists of exploring the students physical and creative possibilities. Every class is unique and aimed at the specific needs of the group being worked. Classes begin with an informal talk followed by stretching and warmup exercises, once more focusing on the possibilities and requirements of each group. Then, the basic Bartenieff principles are explored: breathing, movement presence and awareness, possibilities of posture and gesture. After that, several creation games are used to explore multiple languages such as poetry, drama, dance, and singing. Regarding improvisation, Lisa Nelson's method is applied using the Tunning Score as the main reference.

Although PRCDM was used in different environments, no research was done to analyze the effects of the method in a work environment. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the results of the implementation of the “Movement Workshop: a Body-Space Experience (MWBSE)” based on PRCDM in promoting health, well-being and improving employees quality of life at work from “Company A”.

The objectives were to:

• 1.

  analyze the participants' perception of the concepts of quality of life at work and out of it.

• 2.

  analyze the intervention impact on the improvement of life quality at work.

• 3.

  evaluate the benefits brought/offered by this action on the quality of life.