Biodanza Effects on Stress Reduction and Well-Being – A Review of Study Quality and Outcome

Biodanza is a new approach towards health and well-being. It aims to work with dance and group experiences to reinforce intraand inter-individual resources, reduce stress and increase well-being. Up to 2016, 13 studies and one systematic review about Biodanza studies have been published. The Research Network BIONET was created in order to connect researchers and to find a consensus on the standards of good quality studies. In this review, the authors summarised seven Biodanza studies on stress reduction and well-being. The authors describe and create criteria to evaluate the quality of the research works inspired by international standards of clinical and social scientific intervention research. In several studies, Biodanza has an effect on impatience, ability to recover, feeling of activation, physiological sympathetic activity (e.g. heart rate, skin response), increased mood, feeling of well-being, immunological effectiveness on IgA and increased expression of emotion. One study also showed the effect on stress reduction. Also there was a large difference between those who choose Biodanza (they have a significant lower status of stress reduction) and the other groups. In this study, the dropout rate was high (42%); in the other studies, it was under 10%.