5th edition of a Health, Dance and Science workshop strengthens the connection between movement and quality of life

The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa) hosted the 5th edition of the Workshop on Health, Dance and Science for Sustainable Quality of Life, an initiative that seeks to bring science closer to a practice that can accompany different stages of life: dance.

With 113 registered participants, in addition to invited guests, the workshop gathered a total of 127 participants this year. Throughout the morning, specialists from fields such as Medicine, Psychology, Nutrition, physical fitness and health, natural resources and dance addressed different dimensions of the relationship between movement, health and quality of life. The programme concluded with a Zumba session on the CIÊNCIAS campus, led by João Borges.

The idea for the workshop emerged five years ago, after Professor Amélia P. Rauter, now retired, began attending João Borges’ classes: “After retiring, I started going to the S‑Center, to the classes João Borges taught there. I enjoyed them immensely and then, talking to him, we thought it would be fun, interesting and beneficial for the students to organise a workshop of this kind.”

The first edition ended up exceeding expectations, and the initiative has since been held annually, on the third Friday of September: “The Faculty also showed great interest: the Board, colleagues, staff, students. And it went very well.”

The model has remained consistent throughout the five editions, although the themes and invited speakers have diversified. The selection of participants for the round‑table is made largely through the organisers’ network of contacts, always seeking people from areas that can contribute to thinking about quality of life. “We look for people we know who are interesting, connected to dance or nutrition or psychology, or to topics that are always important for human quality of life, but which we always link to dance,” explains Professor Amélia P. Walter.

Dance has been, from the outset, the workshop’s unifying element. Over the years, the organisation has counted on the collaboration of students and colleagues from the Faculty. Among them is Fátima Sousa, who has taken part since the first edition and who has since begun attending João Borges’ classes. For Amélia Walter, this collaborative dimension is an essential part of the project, as is the fact that all the work is carried out voluntarily: “It is all volunteer work. None of us earns anything.”

The continuity of the initiative has also been made possible thanks to the support of several institutions. Among the partners identified by the Professor are the Santarém Polytechnic University, through the collaboration with Jorge Justino, the Fundação Jacqueline Dias de Sousa, and Maria João Alegria, a former student of the Faculty.

The history of the workshop inevitably intertwines with Amélia Rauter’s own story at Ciências. Before joining the Faculty, she studied at Instituto Superior Técnico, where some of the collaborators who now take part in the initiative also studied. After completing her PhD abroad, she returned to Portugal and joined Ciências, where she remained until her retirement.

It is this long‑standing relationship with the institution that she refers to when describing the Faculty’s role in the development of the initiative: ‘I feel at home and I feel among family. Our staff, our colleagues, our students made my life very happy.’

Five years after the first edition, the workshop maintains the purpose that inspired its creation: bringing together people, knowledge and movement to reflect on health and quality of life through dance. The next edition is already planned for September 2027, continuing the tradition of holding the event on the third Friday of the month.