Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist

Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel

Yesterday, my daughter and I went to this wonderful exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA of Iris Apfel's fabulous collection of vintage 1960's to present clothing, and vintage to current accessories. It is her way of putting together colors, textures, and styles that was so unique, outrageous and permissive that I loved.

Fashion editor Diane Vreeland is quoted: "It has been observed that American style, like democracy, celebrates the individual, the independent, and even on occasion, the idiosyncratic. There exists in the freewheeling American psyche an element of the frontiersman."

These are the very elements that draw me to creative movement and improvisation, dance movement therapy and expressive arts therapy as well as to the antique business, which I have been involved in for the past 40 years as well. I like character, color, and the uniqueness of self-expression which comes, not only from creating something from scratch, but also from putting together seemingly unrelated things and ideas, and making choices that are deeply satisfying. And while that may be very American, Iris Apfel's collection is built upon many of the cultures of the world.

Sweet Feet - Tap Goes Global on Vimeo

Tap, a history of Tap from the bottom up on video. "Tap has created bridges all over the world."

Abstract Thoughts? The Body Takes Them Literally

Natalie Angier wrote this article on embodied cognition in Feb. 1, 2010 New York Times.

"The new study, published in January in the journal Psychological Science, is part of the immensely popular field called embodied cognition, the idea that the brain is not the only part of us with a mind of its own.

“How we process information is related not just to our brains but to our entire body,” said Nils B. Jostmann of the University of Amsterdam. “We use every system available to us to come to a conclusion and make sense of what’s going on.”

Research in embodied cognition has revealed that the body takes language to heart and can be awfully literal-minded."

"gesturing has been shown to help children master math"

"Yesterday is regrettable, tomorrow still hypothetical. But you can always listen to your body, and seize today with both hands."

I, for one, am glad that people are beginning to discover what dancers and dance movement therapists have always known.

Kids at Mary Cariola Children's Center Love the Octaband.

Kimberley Smith Daly wrote me to say that she has just begun using the Octaband with kids at Mary Cariola Children's Center and they love it. She has already been using it with physically and developmentally disabled adults who also love using the Octaband. You can see her previous testimonial here.

The images in this YouTube video are from photographs that dance movement therapist Priscilla Harmel took of elders at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Roslindale and excerpts from a video of a celebration of Dance Therapy week in Massachusetts in May 2006. Thanks to Sherry Moore for putting this video clip together. Most of the adults in the video were students or graduates of Lesley University's dance movement therapy specialization. Sherry was Production Manager of the film Twisted.

The Body Is More than a Vessel

I'm attempting to organize my papers, a grueling task, and just found the following letter to the editor which I wrote and was published in the December 12, 1995 Newton TAB.

"This letter is in support of my statement at the PTA meeting, Nov. 14, that what I want for our children as people and citizens is for them to be responsible for their health. I believe we do our children a great disservice by not teaching them about, and through, the medium of the kinesthetic sense. Because we learned to breathe, sit up, crawl, move, and stand without teaching, we didn't know that these were subjects worthy of studying. These bodies we move through are worth of being studied, both from the inside and out. Children should be studying how the human body moves and functions, and discovering their responsibilities in creating and maintaining optimal health. This includes mental health, as well as physical health.

I want our children to become citizens who live together cooperatively, to make the world a better place. It is not enough to prepare our children to go on for further schooling, so that they can get 'good' jobs, and amass more individual wealth.

I want them to be aware not only of themselves, but of those around them; to be able to recognize where there is need, and to feel within themselves the power to have a part in resolving that need. Our children will need to know a sense of personal responsibility, to know their rightful place in a society which they will have the power to affect. They will need to know the effects of their actions, whether in ejecting noxious emissions, or degrading another being, whether human, animal or plant. They will need to know, not only how to be independent, but how to be interdependent.

I believe that we, in our society, have been very selfish. We want no part of someone else's pain. The American dream has been to rise up out of individual poverty, moving up through the economic class system to a position of great wealth and power. Perhaps, it is time to dream a new dream.

My dream is based on the creative movement teachings of Barbara Mettler in Tucson, Arizona. At the entrance to her dance studio, the Tucson Creative Dance Center, built by Frank Lloyd Wright, are the Zuni words, 'We dance not only for ourselves, but for the good of the people.'

Mettler's very first movement problem is, 'Find a space where you have enough room to move, and where everyone has an equal amount of space.' That problem alone could take the next millennium to solve. Imagine the genuine respect for each individual within that configuration.

In our society, we have thus far looked to solve problems only after they have become big. One of the biggest crises facing our government right now is the staggering cost of health care for our elderly and our poor. (This was in 1995!) Our nation's health bill is currently $800 billion. And we still want to fix people with a pill, surgery or even psychotherapy, after they have become ill. 

I believe children need to be educated about how to be well. Our holistic health care providers already know how. Through attention to the kinesthetic sense, children can learn to become more aware of their emotions and alternative ways of communicating, including assertiveness skills. Children can learn to manage their stress without reliance upon tobacco, drugs or alcohol. Children can learn to nurture a healthy body image and eliminate eating disorders. By having learning grounded in the body through the medium of dance, children will learn respect and responsibility for their bodies, which are their first homes, and from there can learn more respect and responsibility for their environmental homes.

To the extent that we want to enhance our students' self-esteem we must understand that there is no self without the body. Our bodies are not merely containers in which our minds are stored.

The Newton schools already have an excellent pilot program in health education at Day Middle School. We need a comprehensive health education program for K-12. It is time for our schools to stop contributing to and begin to heal our societal mind/body split."

Awakening to Our Inner Dance

I am just rereading a former students' paper with this wonderful quotation from Diane Mariechild in her book, The Inner Dance, 1987, p. 72,

"awakening to our own inner dance and to the dance of the universe demands our courage, our willingness to dig beneath layers of pain and find the hidden treasures . . . the ability to feel."

What is Dance Movement Therapy?

Grace Ho, a student representative of the "Alternate Route" toward becoming a dance/movement therapist, wrote in the most recent ADTA (American Dance Therapy Association) newsletter that she has been learning from Mimi Berger about "simplicity, creativity, and kinesthetic empathy." Grace has also learned "that the stillness of the mind creates more space in (her) body, and allow(s her) to reflect rather than react." She speaks of DMT as "an ongoing creative process of deeper self discovery as well as gaining self awareness in (multiple) dimensions" and "the joy of . . .  making connection with a true self."

"I am so thankful for having the opportunity to dance from the heart, to co-create the visible and invisible space with others, to experience the power of collective consciousness in the circle, to have a vision of how we co-constructed a sense of kinesthetic empathy and a sense of humanity with the community, to see the beauty of each individual's uniqueness through their movement, and to spread the joy of dance with others in every present moment." 

Touch Trust Provides Creative Movement Opportunities for Those Often Denied Access to the Arts

Touch Trust was born 10 years ago in Wales, UK when Dilys Price began campaigning for her ‘Happiness Centre’ for people with special needs.

In the early days of Touch Trust, things were run literally from Dilys’ kitchen table and sessions were held in rooms and spaces all over Cardiff. It was often difficult but from these early beginnings, the Touch Trust programme grew in reputation amongst the disabled community in Cardiff. In 2004 Touch Trust moved to its own purpose-built suite in the Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) through the support of the National Assembly of Wales, the WMC Trust and the Arts Council of Wales.

In those early days at WMC, it was envisaged that we would run 5 sessions per week for people with complex needs. It soon became clear that demand for the Touch Trust programme was far greater than that and very soon we were running 5 sessions per day! People with Autism and behaviour that challenges greatly benefit from our programme and we are providing more and more sessions for these groups. We have also had remarkable results working with very young children and babies and, more recently, people with dementia.

The Art of Movement for Health and Happiness

Touch Trust is a pioneering charity offering unique and creative movement education, and dance programmes primarily for individuals affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders, those with complex needs and behaviour that challenges, but also to other groups in the community.

We encourage self-development and active, life-long learning within a social, creative and nurturing environment.

 
We promote inclusive communities through the provision of creative movement opportunities for those often denied access to the arts.

Celebrating the integration of the disabled and non-disabled communities in our inclusive, prestigious and state-of-the-art facilities will make Touch Trust a model for the 21st Century.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

Teaching History, Music and Culture through Hip Hop and Latin Dance

When Edwin Fion moved from Guatemala to NYC, he didn’t speak English or know how to take the subway. In less than a week, he received contracts from seven companies. Edwin danced in Captain Morgan commercials, taught at SUNY, appeared on One Life to Live… he was livin’ the dream.

But after performing for families affected by 9/11, Edwin found his true voice. “I wanted to inspire students to be less judgmental by freeing their minds and bodies via movement.” He founded New York Dance Residency to celebrate expression, tolerance and dreams with young students. 

“There’s so much pressure from society to be a certain person. Kids need to be who they want to be, so we need to teach them to follow their own dreams and permit others to do the same,” Edwin says.

Through his Residencies, Edwin teaches history, music and culture through hip hop and Latin dance. He also provides scholarships to schools without arts education. He’s reached over 8,000 students in the past year and a half and plans on reaching more in Guatemala, Africa and Brazil.

Read his inspiring story.