Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OF
BIODANZA
• BIOGRAPHY
Born
in
Concep5on,
Chile,
April
19,
1924.
Trained
as
a
teacher
of
elementary
educa5on
at
the
"José
Abelardo
Núñez"
Normal
School
in
1943.
He
taught
in
the
ci5es
of
Valparaiso,
Talcahuano,
Pocuro
and
San5ago
(Chile),
during
the
years
1944
to
1957.
He
was
appointed
Professor
of
Psychology
of
Educa5on
at
the
School
of
Educa5on
at
the
University
of
Concep5on,
Chile.
In
1964,
he
graduated
from
the
School
of
Psychology
at
the
Pedagogical
Ins5tute
of
the
University
of
Chile.
In
1965
he
was
appointed
Professor
of
the
Centre
of
Medical
Anthropology,
School
of
Medicine,
University
of
Chile,
and
worked
there
un5l
1973.
In
parallel,
he
conducts
research
on
violence
in
peniten5ary
centers
in
San5ago.
He
also
belongs
to
the
Research
Ins5tute
of
the
Psychiatric
Hospital
of
San5ago.
In
1966
he
was
appointed
Professor
of
Psychology
and
Psychology
of
Expression
Art
at
the
Ins5tute
of
Aesthe5cs
at
the
Catholic
University
of
Chile.
Between
the
years
1968
and
1973
he
began
his
experiments
with
Biodanza
(called
during
this
period
"Psicodanza").
He
applies
this
system
at
the
Psychiatric
Hospital
of
San5ago
and
at
the
Aesthe5cs
Ins5tute
of
the
Catholic
University
of
Chile.
In
1974
he
moved
to
Buenos
Aires,
Argen5na,
where
he
applies
the
Biodanza
System
in
pa5ents
having
undergone
a
mastectomy
at
the
Argen5ne
League
for
the
Fight
against
Cancer.
• He
was
appointed
Professor
Emeritus
of
the
Open
Inter-‐American
University
of
Buenos
Aires,
Argen5na.
In
1979
he
moved
to
Brazil
where
he
created
a
Private
Ins5tute
of
Biodanza,
and
therefore
the
system
is
expanded
throughout
La5n
America.
He
also
works
with
the
mentally
ill
at
Jiqueri
Hospital
of
Sao
Paulo
and
with
women
with
mastectomy
in
the
Ins5tuto
del
Radio.
In
1989
he
emigrated
for
eight
years
to
Milan,
Italy,
where
he
works
with
Alzheimer's
and
Parkinson's
pa5ents
in
the
ci5es
of
Como
and
Varese.
He
also
creates
Biodanza
Schools
throughout
Italy.
In
1998
he
returned
to
San5ago
de
Chile,
from
where
he
directs
the
movement
of
Biodanza
Centers
and
Training
Schools
across
Europe,
La5n
America,
United
States,
Canada,
South
Africa,
Japan
and
New
Zealand
.
In
2001
he
was
appointed
to
apply
for
the
Nobel
Peace
Prize
for
his
work
in
Biodanza
and
Biocentric
Educa5on
at
the
Casa
de
America,
Madrid,
Spain.
In
2006
he
was
named
Doctor
Honoris
Causa
of
the
Federal
University
of
Paraíba
(Brazil).
In
2008
he
was
appointed
Professor
Emeritus
by
the
Metropolitan
University
of
Peru.
He
was
also
a
poet
and
painter,
and
has
made
exhibi5ons
in
Brazil,
Italy
and
France.
He
has
published
books
of
poetry
and
psychotherapy
that
have
been
translated
into
several
languages.
In
February
16,
2010
he
died
at
the
age
of
85
in
San5ago
de
Chile.
ROLANDO
AS
A
CHILD
AND
AS
A
YOUNG
MAN
Rolando
Toro
comEs
from
a
family
of
educators
:
his
grandfather,
his
mother,
seven
of
his
aunts
and
two
of
his
brothers
are
professors.
On
the
picture
he
is
with
his
parents
Gregorio
et
Berta,
his
sister
Norma
and
his
brother
Carlos.
With
his
mother
Berta,
his
sister
Norma
and
his
brothers
Carlos
and
Jorge.
Rolando
with
his
mother
Berta
and
his
brother
Carlos
Rolando
during
his
military
service
(the
fourth
standing
from
the
right).
ROLANDO
TEACHER
IN
PRIMARY
SCHOOL
«I
believe
that
someone
who
neither
knows
nor
feels
the
primi5ve
and
ancient
sources
of
life
cannot
be
a
teacher
»
Rolando
Toro
-‐
1953
At
Talcahuano
he
dedicated
himself
par5cularlty
to
get
children
closer
to
nature,
doing
with
them
frequent
excursions
to
the
sea;
and
then
using
the
subjects
from
this
visits
for
learning
in
the
classes.
"The
Farm
School
of
Pocuro
is,
as
its
name
suggests,
an
agricultural
school
where
young
boys,
in
addi5on
to
knowledge
of
primary
school,
learn
to
plow
the
land,
raise
livestock,
caring
for
birds,
etc..
In
other
words:
a
group
in
which
the
child
learns
to
confront
physically
Fuente:
Las
Ul5mas
No5cias
1953
and
intellectually
the
reality
of
his
subject
"
«I
consider,
and
I
am
sure,
that
one
of
the
basic
tasks
of
the
teacher
is
to
develop
the
spiritual
and
intellectual
facul5es
of
the
child.
To
encourage,
s5mulate,
and
never
force
them.
This
will
undoubtedly
produce
for
our
society
an
ul5mately
giled,
sensi5ve,
rich
in
spirit
child.»
Rolando
Toro
-‐
1953
«Rolando
Toro
is
the
teacher
who
opened
the
windows,
the
one
that
charts
a
revolu5onary
new
way
in
teaching
methods»
Rolando
Toro
«The
life
of
every
person
at
every
moment
is
an
act
of
crea5on
and
is
close
to
the
extraordinary.
Love
itself
is
a
crea5ve
manifesta5on
of
personality»
Rolando
Toro
For
ten
years,
Rolando
Toro
collected
the
drawings
of
mental
pa5ents,
and
formed
a
unique
collec5on
in
Chile
which
was
exhibited
in
various
.Rolando
sought
to
understand
with
children,
how
the
design
is
able
to
show
a
person's
psychological
state.
«These
games
evoke
the
power
of
music
to
cure
diseases,
invoke
the
forces
of
nature,
arouse
love
and
desire,
harmonize
socie5es,
etc
...
To
achieve
this,
we
must
awaken
in
man
the
inner
musicality
and
restore
his
lost
animal
vitality»
Source
:
Puro
Chile
1973
Games
of
Psicodanza
at
the
Municipal
Theater
of
San5ago
«This
show,
by
his
audacity
and
insolence,
hurts
the
deepest
feelings
of
the
immense
majority
of
Chileans.
They
tried,
under
the
guise
of
the
concept
of
ar5s5c
purity,
to
destroy
the
expressions
of
beauty
and
art
that
sustain
the
values
that
such
words
mean»
Monseigneur
Raúl
Silva
Henríquez
1973