Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist

Update on Global Water Dances Cambridge/Boston

The day dawned with steady rain. By late morning, it was simply gray and drizzling. By 4:45 PM as people began to gather, the sky was clearing. Mid dance, by 5:30, the sun was shining full out. If only dancing could regularly bring rain to those in need, as it brought us clearing on Saturday, June 25, 2011. Thanks to Marylee Hardenbergh, Global choreographer, visionary,and founder along with visionaries and founders of this global event, Karen Bradley, Richard Bell, Gretchen Dunn, Martha Eddy, and Antja Kennedy.

Thanks to local choreographer Amber Espar, to co-coordinator Barbara August, and dancers Hilary Lake and Alice Hunter. Thanks to Sue Eaton for the costuming. And thanks to Douma for speaking about the serious water needs in Haiti. Thanks to all who came and danced with us, to Chris who took some beautiful photos, Yon and Gail Hardenbergh for live streaming video and photos. Thanks locally to the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre who helped through encouragement and by providing a stage to practice the performance at the Cambridge River Festival on June 4.

 

 

global water dances Cambridge/Boston Saturday June 25 5 p.m.

Global Water Dances

Saturday June 25, 5 p.m. 
Cambridge/Boston site

Memorial Drive at the Weeks Bridge
10 minute walk from Harvard Square T Station, Cambridge

Dance to
 Celebrate the Miracle of Water

Be part of a worldwide Dance Performance encircling the earth.

Raise awareness of the global need to ensure safe water for all.

Join the Dance!!!!

Learn more: http://www.globalwaterdances.org/

Nonverbal Communication Training for Caregivers of People with Dementia at Kinections

From my perspective, the training of dance movement therapists and those in training in DMT at Kinections in Rochester, NY went beautifully. Students were provided the curriculum so that they can train caregivers of people with dementia using embodied techniques, something which is ESSENTIAL when it comes to nonverbal communication.

The fact that this is not already being taught boggles my mind. People with cognitive deficits communicate nonverbally and understand that language far better than those of us who also have verbal language. However, current training is severely limited to static guidelines. It does not make sense to me that the Alzheimer's Association and our governmental agencies do not consider it best practice to speak the language of the recipient. And regardless of the verbal language, EVERYONE SPEAKS NONVERBALLY.

Current guidelines are concerned with understanding the emotional communication of the person with dementia. How about the emotional communication of the caregiver? Without deep self reflection, we are unaware of our own emotional subtleties and conflicts which the perceptive person with dementia is picking up on. Trainees in the Nonverbal Communication Training which I provide learn to become more aware of varying emotions which they may be experiencing, and how those are transmitted through the many aspects of nonverbal communication.

Prior to last week-end's training, I visited the National Museum of Play at the Strong in Rochester. I was delighted by the focus on play and the many wonderful quotations. I will include a few here:

“[T]he true object of all human life is play.” G. K, Chesterton

“Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.” Stuart Brown, M.D.

“Play is training for the unexpected.” Marc Bekoff

It is this last quotation that speaks especially to the importance of play for caregivers who work with people with dementia. When people are trained using embodied techniques, they are trained for the unexpected. When we are trained through static guidelines, the locus of power and action resides outside the caregiver. We need to empower the caregiver to know intuitively how to respond to the person with dementia to provide the best care. To relate in what Martin Buber would call an "I-thou" manner of relating, rather than "I-it".

I think that I brought that feeling of playfulness into the training, allowing me to be spontaneous in response to the trainees, and the group of folks at Wesley Gardens where we provided a dance movement therapy group to residents. One favorite song that came out of my iTunes playlist was Fats Waller's "Your Feets too Big".

A photo of the trainees at the end of our training.

I am grateful to Kinections for providing a lovely space, welcoming and hospitable for us to learn together. I am grateful to the trainees for exploring and contributing to the curriculum. I am grateful to my colleague Meg Chang who helps me refine and edit my handouts and curriculum. Thanks to the Marian Chace Foundation of the American Dance Therapy Association for sponsoring my work, and to the 2010 Brodsky grant of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America for supporting the ongoing work of creating the training manual and video.

Talk about Dance and Dance for World Community

While I am excited to be in Rochester, NY, preparing to teach Nonverbal Communication for Caregivers of People with Dementia at Kinections, I am sad to be missing the dance performance Back Pocket Dancers will be doing at Dance for World Community on Saturday, June 11 and Talk about Dance on Sunday, June 12 at Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre in Cambridge, MA. Both events are free and open to the public. They should be wonderfully inspiring for anyone interested in dance in the eastern Massachusetts dance community.

 

TALK ABOUT DANCE

Expanding the Role of Dance in Communities: All About Access

Connecting Dance Artists, “Experts” and Activists

Representatives from VSA Very Special Arts, Hyde Square Task Force, EdVestors, and Native Programs Specialist from the Boston Children's Museum will be speaking. 

I hope that dance/movement therapists will be present and at the table.

 

 

 

 

The Octaband for Children with ADHD and ODD

A counselor asked how she might use the Octaband with children with ADHD and ODD and with their families. while I haven't worked with children for many years, I drew upon some of the testimonials which indicated that people are using the Octaband successfully with children with these diagnoses.

First, I created the Octaband for an elderly woman with dementia who was oppositional. You can see the story here. http://www.octaband.com/origin.htm  The way that I work is to join a person where they are, i.e. oppositional, asserting self, and by engaging playfully with them, attempt to move them toward cooperation. In the case of Ann, once it was in our hands, (and this was the very first group that I used the prototype in), I pulled on the legs and said, "Mine", which the entire group joined in. Once I'd done that, I thought "oh, oh. Now what?" I then extended my arms and said "ours", which Ann and others also joined in. That ended that behavior, and allowed her the opportunity to assert herself when she needed to.

 

I think that the sensory input with the Octaband on top of the head of the child in the middle also serves to settle some children down.

A dance therapist who works with adolescents on an inpatient psych unit found that the kids liked releasing a leg, like a slingshot. So she told them that this would only work if everyone else held on, so they would have to wait their turn. Then she asked them, as they released the leg, what would you like to get rid of. This encouraged both group cooperation and individual self-expression. I can imagine doing this as well with children.

A dance movement therapist "used the Octaband at a school for children with learning disabilities (and ADHD and OCD and generally being out of control). Everyone was taken with the vivid colors and the unusual form. I liked the immediate interest and desire for connection people had. Putting a frog bean bag in the middle was a good focus and gave people a goal to keep it up... A beautiful moment was when the older group of kids, ages 9-12, was walking around in a circle keeping the frog balanced. I commented they were doing this so well that maybe now they could balance plates on their head. So they picked up paper plates and cups and did just this! and this from ADHD kids! It's a good thing.”

There are others who work with families. I know that one therapist used the Octaband when the family was at an impasse. She then had each person take a leg and without speaking, go under the center across the circle. Once the Octaband was all tangled, she had them untangle without speaking. Then they talked about what they had done that they could apply to other situations.

You can see additional ways that people are using the Octaband by clicking on Octaband Forum on this site and on the testimonials page on the website www.octaband.com/testimonials.htm and on my blog at www.dancetherapymusings.com and clicking on Octaband Forum which could also give you some ideas. 

The Octaband with People with Dementia, Dual Diagnosis, & with Children

 

Here are the latest testimonials from people who are using and/or seeing the Octaband used.

Patience Oakes, social worker at Friends Village at Woodstown, NJ wrote to tell me, "I’m looking out my office window at 10 residents and 3 aides playing with the Octaband---they are bouncing a balloon around with it.  All the residents are very alert and there are occasional shouts and lots of laughter." A delightful image of fun that wasn't happening all that much prior to the training I provided in Nonverbal Communication in 2010.

Emma Barton wrote of her use of the Octaband:

"I use the Octaband in my work with dually diagnosed adults experiencing opioid dependence. Initially, I introduce the Octaband along with a light-weight ball. Group members individually take hold of one or two arms of the band and then work together to bounce the ball from the central body of the band.  I generally use a small rubbery and textured ball with an LED light element, which illuminates when bounced.  During the evolution of the experiential, the participants tend to develop their own "techniques" of bouncing or moving the ball around the full form of the extended band.  The group works in concert to complete various skill tasks such as rolling the ball down individual arms and making spiral paths around the body of the band.  Occasionally, participants attempt bouncing the light-up ball in a darkened room in order to explore how their skill level shifts to accommodate less visual information. Score charts were created to tally up the greatest number of bounces that took place prior to the ball hitting the floor.  Groups "competed" with each other to top the previous highest number of bounces. Some groups were naturally more successful than others and this was discussed using the tallied numbers as comparison. From this the groups were able to objectively discuss their own successes, strengths/ challenges, as well as their unique relationship dynamic.

[T]herapeutic benefits: relationship development, group cohesion, increased openness to play, improved focus and tolerance of others, and a sense of universality/inclusion, as evidenced by the fact that even individuals with mobility issues could fully participate... of course exploring the role of nonverbal communication within the execution of the tasks is also worth a mention!"

Suzy Matheson is "[u]

sing the Octaband ™ to expand movement repertoire and build team building skills" to the following music:

1)      “Fun Fun Fun” The Beach Boys 

2)      “Octupus Garden” The Beatles 

3)      “Sugar Sugar” The Archies 

 

Dancing with Children with Developmental Disabilities

This is a 2008 video of adaptive dance, with dancers and dance instructors from Boston Ballet collaborating with Children's Hospital to bring to dance to children with developmental disabilities. 

 

The program was begun in 2002 for children with Down Syndrome. 

I think the video and the work are quite wonderful. I'm glad for people to have the opportunity to see this wonderful work. But at the same time, it's interesting. Perhaps because this is dance and not led by a "dance therapist", there doesn't seem to be a problem with getting photo releases. But if it's considered dance therapy, parents/ institutions/ are more reluctant to provide photo releases. Perhaps this is the reason that this is considered a first.

In the 1960's, Norma Canner was dancing with children with developmental disabilities. You can see a video of her life and work, A Time to Dance which has excerpts of early film of her work at that time. In 1974, I met Joyce Burd, a dance therapy student with Norma at the time. Joyce was also dancing with children with Down Syndrome and also under the aegis of the Boston Ballet. I'm not sure what population Joyce was working with for the Boston Ballet, but the program was certainly providing access to children who wouldn't have had it otherwise. After Joyce, dance therapist Nancy Jo Cardillo was contracted by the Boston Ballet to teach dance. I'm talking about the late 70's and early 80's. Nancy Jo continues to work with children and young adults with DD. 

The work is wonderful and beautiful, regardless of who brings the dance to those who would otherwise be deprived.

What Do We Expect from a Dance Performance?

There's a wonderful article, "Work in Progress: What's Wrong with D.C.'s Modern Dance Scene?" posted by Amanda Abrams in Washington City Paper. Wonderful because it makes us think about what we value in a dance performance. Is it physical prowess? Acrobatics? Edginess? Beauty? Something that makes us think?

This week Back Pocket Dancers, an intergenerational company of which I am a member, will be staging a performance at the West Medford Community Center, Dance Me a Story, Sing Me a Song thanks to a grant from the Medford Arts Council. I hope that our performance is beautiful and makes people think. We'll be dancing stories from different cultures, some touching, some humorous. As a fledgling performing artist, although older one, the experience of rehearsing in this ensemble, the opportunity to contribute to choreography and preparing to perform is a growing edge for me. As the months of rehearsal go on, I begin to understand better that the stronger our connection to one another and our desire to manifest the vision of the choreographer, the better able I will be to release my ego fears about my skills or lack thereof, and surrender to the dance. Let the dance tell the story. And the viewers will see their stories in the dance.

 

June 3, 7 PM

West Medford Community Center

Free

See you there!