Dance movement therapist Sandra Sneiderman of Origin Movement wrote to say, " I am really enjoying the Octaband. I use it for my weekly group, religiously; they absolutely love it. What a great invention!" Below she is describing her work with adults, mostly young adults, with a range of developmental disabilities. Some live independently and some need full time support. Most are verbal, but some have very limited verbal expression.
"I like to use the Octaband after a movement check in where where we establish the themes/energy level of the group. I like to look for contrasting themes in the check in and develop two movements with the group that represent the contrast and put them together and exaggerate this with the Octaband. I am a big fan of using the Octaband in slow motion to exaggerate tension, physical energy and emotional states- so interesting and fun! It has also been wonderful to use in support of leadership and observation skills. Someone will be encouraged to take a very clear leadership role and the rest of us will use our observation skills and start attuning to that person's movement (not exactly mirroring- but close to it). I might also ask someone to lead us in a move into the center of the Octaband and the rest of us will follow again with the same move. I encourage them to sync up as closely as possible, but without the idea of perfection. If anyone starts slow motion we all follow, fast motion, etc. I also encourage them to build off each others' moves, so if someone wraps themselves in their band, someone else could attune, but add a dramatic flair with their head and we would take this on too.
We've also done something like limbo where people take turns holding an arm up and the group goes under the arm in different ways. I also use the five rhythms. At the close of the group, I ask for a few favorite moves and we might repeat, exaggerate and/or combine them. A particular favorite seems to be wrapping the band around the waist and turning into the middle.
This photo is from a workshop I led at the American Dance Therapy Association conference 2007.
While not a group of developmentally delayed adults, you can see demonstrated some of what Sandra is talking about.
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