Group workshop DanceScan

Your team consists of people who take on the biggest challenges together. This is not always easy, because we are trained to deal with each other on rational grounds, while as human beings, we say so much more than words convey.

For over twenty years I have been bringing my experience in reading and interpreting body language to (inter)national business, government and non-profit organizations.

I use my expertise to help you create a willingness to change during a strategy session, resolve (threatening) conflicts and guide personal growth among team members.

I will tell you more about the dance scan and its applications in my e-book “the DanceScan phenomenon”

Arie Jan de Waard
Director Defense Equipment Organization and Vice Admiral Technical Services

I have done a DanceScan several times and with different groups led by JanPieter. Every time it was a special experience.

Every time it was a  special experience. Jan Pieter has the remarkable gift and quality to keenly observe the movements of the individual in dance and to translate these into personal qualities and growth potential. In addition to being a dance master, he is also a true language virtuoso. He knows how to express his feedback to both the individual and the group in a sensitive and respectful manner. My  experience  at  each  scan  was  that  the  group  sat  listening  mesmerized  to  his  observation  about  the  being,  the  power  and  the  potential  for  growth. The results of the scans were always the start for further dialogue and deepening in the group. It helped the group members in their personal development and brought the collaborative dynamics in the group to a higher level. You can talk about a dance scan for a long time, but the only way to really experience what it is and what it delivers is to undergo it. Based on my experiences, I highly recommend making this journey with JanPieter under his motto: ‘In movement there are no mistakes, there are only variations’.”

One of the questions I get the most is:
“How do we convince our colleagues of the usefulness and effect of the DanceScan?

It’s hard for us to tell you that we’re going to dance.

This issue also concerns me. Of course I would like everyone to see the value of dance, but in practice it is still difficult. Over the years, I’ve found two tactics to get skeptics on board:

1. I am introduced as a mystery guest.
The participants in the DanceScan workshop on location are not aware of who is coming or what we are going to do.

2. I am announced as a non-verbal communication specialist

and provide feedback on what the participants say to each other outside of words.

That is completely true and acceptable for many to invest in.

It is common knowledge that what we say to each other  is only to a small extent in words.
Would you like to know more about what the DanceScan workshop on location looks like or how you can get colleagues involved in the movement?

Jan Jacob Stam
coach and trainer

The dance scan brings you into contact with not only your essence, but also with your potential.

“JanPieter is a welcome guest in my international programs about transformation. Well, guest… what Jan Pieter does makes a lasting impression and contributes to deep transformative processes. And you’re welcome? Yes, even though it always remains exciting what happens is coming. The dance scan brings you into contact with not only your essence, but also with your potential.”

Plan a DanceScan group workshop

Usually it takes 30 seconds for someone to notice: “Hey, we’re dancing” and then the ice is broken.”

The DanceScan workshop consists of three parts:

1.) The introduction in which the resistance to getting moving is removed in a playful manner.

2.) The DanceScans with individual and personal feedback to the  participants.

3.) In-depth inquiries and feedback.

I have no prior information about the participants. I only have the list of first names of the participants that I learn by heart, so that the workshop can be as personal as possible.

I start with an explanation of the FlowCompass that explains  how to achieve the optimal result as a team. This is  a cognitive underpinning of my work, as participants are used to in most training courses.

Then, when I personally welcome everyone by his or her or their first name, the surprise is so great that we immediately can switch to the movement. I ask participants to stand up, take a step forward, bend their knees twice and take a step back. Then the music starts.

After about thirty seconds, the first participants notice  that we are dancing. The ice is broken and we can move on to the DanceScan.

During the DanceScan part I copy the movement of each participant individually and give them feedback on what I feel, think and experiencing making this copy without pretending that what I say is really true. But in 25 years doing this in 25 countries, the end result is always that the team-members are amazed that they recognize themselves and their colleagues in the DanceScan.

“JanPieter verzorgde verschillende keren een dansscan in een van de opleidingen en leergangen  van de Academie voor Organisatiecultuur. Dat deed hij met grote precisie. Er was een fijn programma ter opwarming en vervolgens de dansscan. Zijn dansscans waren  steeds weer een van de hoogtepunten in de opleiding. Er werd nog lang over nagepraat en op  teruggegrepen. Jan Pieter denkt uiterst creatief en coöperatief mee in vorm en voorbereiding; voor ons was het  zoeken naar een fijne werkvorm om in een grote groep te werken. De dansscan is een feest van herkenning in een leiderschaps- of facilitatorsprogramma.” 

Danielle Braun, Academie voor Organisatiecultuur en antropologe des vaderlands