Date of Award
Spring 5-17-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Major
Expressive Therapies
First Advisor
Wendy Allen, PhD, LPC, BC-DMT
Abstract
“La Vida Es Un Carnaval” is a community engagement project and thesis that explores how identity and nostalgic resilience show up through dance/movement therapy with Cuban immigrants living in the United States, specifically Massachusetts. This project brought together six Cuban-born participants, ages 26 to 67, each with their own unique migration stories; from the Rafter Balsero Crisis of 1994, to the “Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot” policy, and family reunification. Through a mix of in-person and online sessions, participants explored their experiences using intermodal activities including dance/movement therapy techniques, conversation, journaling, artwork, and music. Themes of cultural pride, “Cubanía” – Cuban-ness, culture shock, and emotional challenges of migration arose in sessions through storytelling and embodied connection. Participants expressed feeling seen, supported, and more open to mental health support because it was offered in a way that felt familiar through a culturally grounded approach and safe. This thesis and community engagement project is a tribute to nostalgic resilience. It is a reminder that through dance, movement, reminiscing, and shared cultural pride, identity is not only preserved but also embodied. It shows how collective healing happens when people come together, speak in the language of their roots, share stories only they can tell, and move through pain and joy side by side, reclaiming who they are and where they come from.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Mendez Mendoza, Maria Fernanda, ""La Vida Es Un Carnaval": An Exploration of Cuban Identity and Nostalgia through Dance/Movement Therapy - A Community Engagement Project" (2025). Expressive Therapies Theses. 65.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_therapies_theses/65
Included in
Caribbean Languages and Societies Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Clinical Psychology Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Community-Based Research Commons, Community Health Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Dance Movement Therapy Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Folklore Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons, International Relations Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Migration Studies Commons, Movement and Mind-Body Therapies Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons, Tourism Commons
