This workshop explores creative and community dance as a form of embodied intelligence, functioning as a shared resource that fosters inclusion, collaboration, and community leadership in education. In an era dominated by standardized, technology-mediated learning, embodied practices reclaim the body as a site of knowledge, agency, and relational understanding. Drawing on research in community dance, participatory pedagogy, and inclusive education, participants will engage in movement-based strategies that cultivate empathy, cooperation, and collective problem-solving. Through structured improvisation and reflective movement tasks, participants will experience how shared movement practices strengthen collective cohesion, mutual recognition, and participatory leadership. Each activity is paired with pedagogical rationale, illustrating how creative dance nurtures agency, leadership, inclusion, and intercultural understanding. By framing dance as an educational commons, participants will explore how redistributing agency through embodied practice promotes equitable participation and cultivates learning environments grounded in care, creativity, and collaboration. These principles extend beyond classrooms, modeling values of cooperation, shared responsibility, and global citizenship. Designed for educators, researchers, activists, education policymakers, and arts practitioners, this workshop equips participants with practical methodologies, reflective prompts, and adaptable exercises suitable for diverse educational contexts. The research is conducted in the operating framework of the University of Thessaly Innovation, Technology Transfer Unit and Entrepreneurship Center "One Planet Thessaly", under the “University of Thessaly Grants for Scientific Publication Support” action and is funded by the Special Account of Research Grants of the University of Thessaly

Authors:
Eleni Tsompanaki, University of Thessaly, Greece

About the Presenter(s)
Eleni Tsompanaki is an Assistant Professor at the University of Thessaly (Department of Early Childhood Education). Her research interests focus on community dance and embodied, experiential learning for education and collective cohesion.

Additional website of interest
https://wwww.elenitsompanaki.gr

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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