Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist

DNAWORKS.org - Dialogue and Healing through the Arts s

DNAWORKS.org - Dialogue and Healing through the Arts - Dialogue and Healing Programs.

Adam McKinney and Daniel Banks of DNA Works, Dialogue and Healing through the Arts are creating healing programs through dance and the arts throughout the world. Adam is a former dancer with the Alvin Ailey AMerican Dance Theater, Bejart Ballet Lausanne, and Alonzo King's LINES Ballet. He is currently completing his research at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, focusing on the physical effects and manifestations of racism with people who struggle with injection and narcotic drug use at the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center in NYC.

He is looking for assistance in the form of:

- Helpful books, journals, writings, etc. on using dance and movement with and in these communities

- Grants that might support his research, which will take place this fall.

If you have any information, go to the website and contact him directly at http://www.dnaworks.org/Contact-Us.php.

Yoga Therapist in Watertown, MA Steffi Shapiro

The Well Street Station :: Steffi Shapiro.

Steffi is a wonderful registered yoga therapist who, among her many accomplishments, has put out an Elder Yoga video, very helpful for those working with elders. I can't think of a better testimonial than the fact that one woman has been attending Steffi's classes for over 30 years. I first met Steffi in 1978 when she was working as a yoga therapist and I as a dance/expressive therapist at Charles River Hospital, a short term psychiatric hospital. Steffi's style is very gentle, compassionate, humble and understated. But don't let her lack of a glittery exterior fool you. In the privacy of a small group of friends, I have seen her demonstate the strength of - a lion, an eagle, a snake! She leads yoga groups in many of the areas senior centers and has for many years.

Dance as Ritual - JK Wedding Entrance Dance

YouTube - JK Wedding Entrance Dance.

An uplifting, meaningful way to embark upon the journey that is marriage.

Lora Wilson's Commentary on SYTYCD

Moving Towards Understanding.

Lora Wilson responds to the choreography that Melissa Sandvig and Ade Obayomi danced on So You Think You Can Dance. Choreographed by Tyce Diorio to This Woman’s Work, this was a piece about a woman with breast cancer and her friend who is trying to support her during her battle.

Don't miss this extraordinarily beautifully danced and don't miss Lora's exquisite wordcraft.

Motivating Moves for People with Parkinson's - Sampler

Parkinson's Disease Foundation | Facebook.

Motivating Moves for People with Parkinson's - Sampler

See excerpts from Janet Hamburg’s award-winning “Motivating Moves for People with Parkinson’s” DVD/video, co-produced and distributed internationally by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. It features seated exercises and practical tips that address balance, flexibility, walking, posture, breathing, spatial awareness, vocal range and facial expression. Each exercise enhances sensory motor integration. Pilot research has shown that participants who used the program improved in mobility, activities of daily living and quality of life measures. It’s also motivational and fun to do. The music was especially composed and performed by former Juilliard faculty member Robert Abramson, based on the principles of Dalcroze Eurthymics and Neurologic Music Therapy. For more information and to order the video, please visit For more information visit: http://support.pdf.org/publications and www.motivatingmoves.com.

A New Dance Therapy Book Is Coming to Amazon

The Art and Science of Dance/Movement Therapy: Life is Dance, edited by Chaiklin and Wengrower

is now available through Amazon.   Published by Routledge it contains articles by Chodorow, Fischman, Dascal, Hill, Tortora, Loman and Sossin, Dulicai, Capello, Kleinman, White, Shahar-Levy, Chang, Hervey, Berrol and Wengrower.

 

The Spanish version which was printed first, now has sold over 800 copies.

If you go to www.adta.org and click on Amazon.com! Shop & Benefit ADTA!, the ADTA receives a portion of the proceeds.

I've ordered mine and can't wait to get it.

Dancing as Liberation by Victoria Day

{The Dance to DTR}: Dancing as Liberation by Victoria Day.

Dancing as Liberation by Victoria Day

There are countries where it is a punishable crime to dance.

Women must cover their heads,
never raise their voice in song and
never ever display such immoral conduct as dancing.

Those who forbid the dance forbid life.

If they tied me in ropes
Held a gun to my head
And forbid me to dance
I would dance in my head.

If I woke up tomorrow
Without limbs that would move
I would dance in my soul.

If dance was taken from me
I would snatch it back.
I would dance with my eyes.
I would dance in my breathing.
I would dance completely still.
I would dance with the atoms moving inside me.

I would dance in the mingling of voices around me
Layering transcending swooping into each other.
I would dance in the red-blushed sky that caresses the tree line.
I would dance on the call of the geese
that cut through the sky above me,
my winged partners in the dance.

If dance was taken from me
I would snatch it back.

I would dance passion.
I would dance pain.
I would dance magick.
I would dance at my labor and dance at my rest.
I would dance my power.
I would dance my palpable joy of existence.

In some countries it is illegal to dance.
It is illegal to display such immoral conduct.

Dancing is an act of liberation.
It is for those who must dance in stillness
that I open myself up and dance.

Evangelizing Dance

I must admit, I am an avid watcher of So You Think You Can Dance. It is the only tv program that I watch, and I love it. I love watching terrific dancers become fabulous. I love watching people perform dance genres which are totally new to them. And unlike doing so in music or dance, it means transformation in every cell of their bodies, because the body is their instrument.

This past week, choreographer and SYTYCD Judge Debbie Allen said about Jason’s and Janette's dancing in last Wednesday’s night piece choreographed by 2nd season’s Travis Wall was so beautiful:

"This show has gone from being a competition. It is a conversation. It is a conversation that is connecting a community of dance and the world. This is truly evangelizing dance in a way that nothing else has. Nothing. Nothing else has. Nothing. And I am just thrilled to be a witness, to be a witness of this growth that’s coming, it’s coming in many ways."

Lying To Alzheimer's Patients : NPR

Neil Conan on Talk of the Nation focuses on whether or not to tell "fiblets" to people with dementia.

Lying To Alzheimer's Patients : NPR.

From my perspective, when my dad first had dementia and asked me why I didn't invite my mother to my home for a holiday occasion, I was flabbergasted. Didn't my dad know me well enough to know that I would never not invite my mother to my home? The first several times that he asked me that, and if I had seen my mother lately, I asked him, "Don't you remember, Dad? Mom died ...." Each time he was shocked, and became grief stricken.

I would think I would have known better, since I work with people with dementia. But somehow, I had no objectivity when it came to my dad. However, I learned pretty quickly something that John Zeisel talks about in his book I'm Still Here. That is, we can empathize with them that they are missing that person, and then change the subject, redirecting them which will help them ease their loneliness.

Roget Lockard :: The Nature of Addiction

This website is guaranteed to challenge current notions on addictions. It's thought provoking at the very least.

Roget Lockard :: The Nature of Addiction.