This is a photographic and textual account of research that reframes the Boalian technique "The Rainbow of Desire" (TRoD) as a form of embodied self-reflexivity within initial teacher education. In particular, TRoD is applied as an embodied reflective process to provoke reflection on the emotional dimensions of learning to teach. The application of TRoD in this research subverts the traditional privileging of logical-rational knowledge forms and processes within higher education. As such, this research produces a new, politicised purpose for TRoD itself, which has traditionally been categorized as a therapeutic applied theatre practice.