καλὸς καὶ ἀγαθός is the main aesthetic ideal in in Ancient Greek philosophy (Plato, Timeo 360 AD). It refers to the importance of developing, during childhood, psychological competences that can prosper for a healthy growth of both the mind and the body.
The phrase is composed of two adjectives, καλός that means “beautiful” and ἀγαθός that means “good” or “virtuous”.
The idea of the importance of possessing both beauty and goodness passed also to the Romans. The relevant phrase in Latin: “mens sana in corpore sano” (a healthy soul in a healthy body) was also seen as a target for a well-balanced education of the body and the spirit.
In 1994, the World Health Organization (WHO), described the core set of psychological skills that are at the heart of skills-based initiatives for the promotion of children and adolescents’ health and well-being.
These skills have been defined as “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”, suggesting that the schools should work on specific programs to help children and adolescents to develop their emotional intelligence.
Keeping in mind these theoretical references, that is why, dance for science (danzaperlascienza) supports the development of two educational programs (“growth by dancing”) and (“classical technique for a better health”), that can help the growth of a child as a human being, and not only as a student who needs to learn “technical” or executional skills.