SomaGaia: An Embodied Ecological Framework for Dance Pedagogy Evidence from an Art and Movement Workshop with children and the Dance-Drama “The Nine Muses

This case examines the application of the SomaGaia pedagogical model, an embodied and ecological learning framework that integrates somatic awareness, creative movement, and care-centred educational practice. Grounded in embodied pedagogy, ecological education, and mythic narrative, SomaGaia approaches the body as a site of knowledge, emotional attunement, relationally, and ecological responsiveness.
The model was implemented across two interconnected programmes. The first was a site-specific dance-theatre intervention entitled “Nine Musses”, realised in the natural environment of Pieria, involving 15-17 participants aged 8-25. Through mythic embodiment and collective movement, participants explored interdependence, culture memory, and relational identity within a shared ecological landscape. The second was a ten-day Summer Creative Movement Laboratory with ten children aged 6-14, held at the Ballet School “Atelier de la Danse” in Katerini, Greece. This programme focused on creative movement exploration, sensory awareness, and nature-inspired improvisation as tools for emotional expression and environmental attunement.
Across both contexts, pedagogical processes employed movement metaphors, mythic storytelling, ecological engagement, and reflective exercises to support emotional regulation, cooperation, and embodied ecological awareness. Participants demonstrated increased emotional literacy, heightened environmental sensitivity, and strengthened relational and collaborative skills. The findings highlight the potential of embodied pedagogical approaches to foster ecological empathy, care-based learning, and relational forms of knowledge in youth arts education.
This case contributes methodological and empirical insights to WG1 Sub-Group 2 by offering a practice-based example of pedagogies of care, affect, and embodied ecological learning. It supports comparative and theoretical discussion on how artistic-somatic practices can function as effective tools for cultivating emotional awareness, ecological consciousness, and community-oriented educational processes. By foregrounding affective learning and embodied relational practices, the SomaGaia model illustrates how artistic pedagogies can cultivate care-based ecological awareness in youth education.