Dance - an artistic and aesthetic contribution to social pedagogy

Young people who flee to Germany unaccompanied often experience traumatic events before and during their journey, which they must cope with alongside other factors in their lives. Social pedagogy can provide support in this regard. The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which dance, as an aesthetic and artistic contribution to social pedagogy, can help traumatised refugee minors to come to terms with their trauma. This thesis is aimed at social pedagogues who wish to integrate dance as an aesthetic and artistic contribution into their work. Based on literature, the author examines the effects of dance from an artistic, aesthetic, psychological, dance therapy and social perspective and reflects on these using an exemplary dance project in a residential facility for unaccompanied minor refugees. Due to the non-verbal methods of dance therapy, it could be particularly attractive for traumatised refugees, as the language barrier recedes into the background and speech therapies can be alienating due to cultural differences.