Biodanza in Theological Higher Education An Embodied Pedagogical Approach to Integral Human Formation

Abstract

Within Catholic higher education, where theological education is expected to cultivate an integrated formation encompassing intellectual, ethical, and spiritual dimensions, the pedagogical potential of embodied, experiential approaches remains underexplored. This study addresses the lack of empirical inquiry into biodanza as a mediating practice in university-level theological teaching and its contribution to students’ holistic formation. Employing a qualitative phenomenological design, a single-case study was undertaken in an elective course at the Universidad Católica de Temuco, drawing on the thematic analysis of voluntary written testimonies supported by qualitative data analysis software. The findings reveal five interrelated dimensions: the experience of pedagogical novelty, processes of emotional transformation, personal–spiritual reconfiguration, enhanced relational openness and communal cohesion, and the formative role of facilitation. Taken together, these results suggest that biodanza enables a form of embodied learning in which cognition, affect, and spirituality are dynamically integrated. The study thus points to the potential of such practices to extend the pedagogical horizon of theological education and to inform innovative approaches to integral formation in Catholic university contexts.