The Body Hotel
Our Mission
The Body Hotel is a Wales-based Community Interest Company using dance and movement to help people connect with their bodies through play, joy and creativity, building embodied skills for coping with stress and life's harder moments.
We deliver arts-based wellbeing services for marginalised communities, building multicultural, LGBTQ+ affirmative spaces with EDI at the core.
Funded largely by Arts Council of Wales, we work with 5 NHS Wales Health Boards, local councils, universities and partners like Glitter Cymru, an LGBTQ+ Global Majority organisation and Fflamingo CIC. We use a needs-informed approach, with evaluation by university and community-engaged evaluators showing dance/movement's value nationally and internationally.
We offer a variety of programmes that foster burnout prevention for people in the caring professions, safe spaces where LGBTQ+, Global Majority people and other marginalised communities can engage together and build community through the arts.
Currently, we offer a variety of programmes for community organisations and companies that bring something creative and different to wellbeing and professional development.
Our flagship programme, MenoMove UK, supports vitality, solidarity and cohesion during menopause with NHS Wales. We also support frontline health workers through employee wellbeing programmes preventing burnout and fostering cohesion for multicultural staff groups.
Very inspiring about transitions and movement qualities!
The workshop was so affirming and fun!
Thanks for suggesting such a quick and simple morning routine for checking in with our bodies.
Our Values
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Accessibility
All of our services are accessible to people of all abilities and backgrounds. We welcome difference and diversity in our spaces
Inclusivity
We create safe/non-judgmental spaces, where participants feel they belong. Our groups focus on building solidarity and interpersonal skills through play and creativity.
Adaptability
We provide client-centred, fully tailored services that reflects on the varying needs of the participants and organisations we partner with
Why Movement for Wellbeing?
Movement for wellbeing is a branch of arts, health & wellbeing, which works with the connection and awareness of our body through creative outlets.
Body-based interventions provide an essential role in recuperation from extreme stress by providing a way to renew, resource recharge and energise our body. In our sessions we use play, enjoyment and reflexivity, which are crucial to developing and nurturing resilience.
What is DMT?
As a profession that incorporates postgraduate-level training in psychotherapy, movement analysis with dance/movement practice, DMT offers a system of embodied skills to help make, maintain and repair the relationship to body, self and other(s). DMT training involves helping clients ask ‘body questions’, drawing connections between movement behaviour and life stress, while transforming relationships through the vehicle of creative expression. The integration of verbal and nonverbal information and the access to symbolic content makes movement-based psychotherapeutic interventions propitious for supporting research and practice in wellbeing, with many constructive implications for health, science and business (Acarón, 2020)
DMT formally prepares facilitators for dealing with mental health concerns should they arise in sessions and we signpost to local organisations if needed. Dance movement therapists also have regulated ethical responsibilities in terms of safeguarding. By having certified practitioners leading our sessions, you can ensure your staff will be welcomed into a safe space. There is a wealth of research of the effectiveness of this modality especially in the area of trauma, self-regulation, stress-recovery, neurological conditions and a myriad of client groups (WHO report, 2019).
Meet The Team
Dr Thania Acarón, PhD, BC-DMT, FHEA
Director, Facilitator & Dance Movement Psychotherapist
(she/her)
Award-winning movement specialist, author, performer, researcher and dance movement therapist from Puerto Rico based in Wales, UK. Acarón obtained her PhD at the University of Aberdeen on the role of dance in violence prevention and is course Leader for the MA Arts, Health and Wellbeing at University of South Wales. Acarón directs The Body Hotel, offering international programmes on wellbeing for healthcare staff, LGBTQ+ communities and embodied decision-making. As a certified clinical supervisor in the UK and US, she has taught in over 10 DMT programmes worldwide and published her first book: Body Questions in Practice: Decision-Making through Movement and the Arts (Routledge).
Thania is the founder of The Body Hotel. She is responsible for the day to day running of the company. She also runs the staff training and organisational workshops that the company offers. Dr Acarón is fully committed to continue pursuing activity in arts, health and wellbeing and currently serves in the board for Fflamingo CIC, Her consultancies and clinical practice evidence working as part of multi-sector teams, directing arts and health projects, designing professional development and academic programmes and coordinating arts and wellbeing initiatives in the UK and internationally.
Dr Mark Gurney, Non-Executive Director
(he/him)
Mark is a scientist and researcher with a PhD in biology and health research, a specialisation in Immunology. He holds an active engagement with equality, diversity and inclusion. Dr Gurney has joined the directorship to support its overall vision and direct efforts in fundraising. He is an avid supporter of the arts, with a keen interest in the health sector.
Dr Stewart Eyres, Non-Executive Director
(he/him)
As an inclusion specialist Stewart delivers informed, expert consultancy for a range of clients, including universities, professional bodies and industry. His unique mix of academic insight, experience with research and education, knowledge of inclusive cultures and practices, and industry-relevant experience, equip him with the ability to engage with people (clients, staff, students, members or beneficiaries). Coupled with interrogating data, objectively reviewing practice and culture, he makes informed, actionable recommendations for change.
Emma Edwards, Programme Manager
(she/her)
Emma is responsible for the management and administration of projects at The Body Hotel. She has a degree in Arts Management from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama - The Body Hotel was one of her graduate placements and she has been with us ever since. When she isn't working she enjoys watching rugby and spending time with family - she has recently become a mum for the first time!
Katie Keeble, Programme & Evaluation Assistant
(she/her)
Katie is supporting MenoMove and Self-Care Saturdays with The Body Hotel. She is a dancer, artist and graduate in Art Psychotherapy from University of South Wales. Katie loves being in nature and learning about growing veggies and much more with her community allotment in Newport. She also enjoys outdoor swimming in the nearby lake.
Our Partners
