Dance movement psychotherapy for the deconstruction of power and identity in Mexican women in Spain: affective migration

Abstract

A creative laboratory for Mexican women living in Seville was implemented from the psychodynamic perspective of dance movement therapy (DMT). The principal objective was to create a space for community meetings that would bring about dialogues on topics of interest for the participants. The thematic analysis method was used, observing that migration provides perspective when regarding problems pertaining to the country of origin, which are rooted in the body itself. Thanks to the distancing from cultural references and to the contact with new representations, certain questions and insights arise – regarding the way in which they relate to their body, to themselves, to other women, to the community and to the culture. The analyses show that the participants are in a process of deconstruction regarding power hierarchies, family loyalties, love, self-care, the position of women today; this allows them to make visible their internalised oppression.