Cavalcardanzando

cavalcardanzando

Cavalcardanzando is a course that integrates introductory activities related to dancing and horse riding by looking at them as complementary disciplines.

The activity is aimed at school-aged students, but also includes adults who wish to bring together distinct but complementary disciplines in order to improve and increase knowledge of the self in its psycho-physical dynamics.

This is a project aimed at implementing parallel and complementary activities that can lead young people and adults to a better knowledge of the psycho-physical dynamics of themselves and others. It also develops a more careful perception of space and time through vertical, horizontal and lateral movement. Significant note can be made of the increased capacity to identify and recognize different senses and feelings.

The idea of working in combined disciplines comes from such activities as dance therapy and hippo therapy (therapy using horses) and applying it to non-disabled people. This activity is linked to opportunities to develop social skills without verbal communication. Similarly in dance, children are asked to use a physical language by using the body as a medium of expres- sion and a means of interacting with their peers.

Getting close to horses means to acquire a new sense of the self in terms of both space and the emotions. Dance offers the opportunity to develop sensitivity and the ability to conduct oneself in the appropriate manner for those encountering horses for the first time. The two disciplines provide complementary tools to all those who approach one or the other. There are many elements of contact between horse riding and dance:

  • Development of socialization and interpersonal relationships in relation to one’s body and that of others. The understanding of “improvement” is not intended as a means to be competitive
  • Perception of emotional states and a way of living in beings different from us
  • Processing and interpretation of bodily sensations in patterns of movement in space
  • Developing the capability of self-location in space-time
  • Physical activity linked to the use of different muscles and joints designed for “actions”
  • Integration of different modes of physical posture and balance management of the body (center of gravity to the ground and knowledge of the horse)