Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist

Sign up for Dance for Connection monthly newsletter.

Subscribe to Dance for Connection monthly newsletter here.

Excited about today's midterm elections playlist for my group with frail elders. Included in the playlist are: Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Ethel Merman's Anything You Can Do, Ella Fitzgerald singing Vote For Mister Rhythm, my all time favorite for these days, Bob Marley's Get Up Stand Up, Aretha Franklin singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Sinatra singing High Hopes (I think that was JFK's theme song), One from Chorus Line, and Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive. Should be great fun.

The Octaband® a Device to Bring People Together

At a time when the U.S., and the world, are riddled with strife, the Octaband® is a tool to bring people together.

My understanding of health is a holistic one. It is the relationship between the parts, and between the parts and the whole, that bring health and healing. The etymology of the word "heal":

"Old English hælan "cure; save; make whole, sound and well," from Proto-Germanic *hailjan (source also of Old Saxon helian, Old Norse heila, Old Frisian hela, Dutch helen, German heilen, Gothic ga-hailjan "to heal, cure"), literally "to make whole," from PIE *kailo- "whole" 

As long as we attempt "fixes" that look only at the parts without looking at the whole, we will continue to fail. I love this quotation by American architect, Buckminster Fuller: "When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. But when I'm finished, if the solution is not beautiful I know it's wrong."

At this moment, I see divisiveness itself as a problem. How can we use the Octaband® to bring people together?

From the outset, set the intention for the group to work together (play) in such a way that every person has an opportunity to lead and to follow and where care is taken to preserve the Octaband® (i.e., not tear it). Look for harmony, balance, and joy as indicators that healing is happening.

Dance/movement therapist Devika Mehta of Synchrony in Mumbai, India, shared these photos:

Certified Movement Analyst Karen Bradley leads a weekly Community dance class, JustDance, in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia. Her website should be up shortly. She sent photos and a video of her adult class using the Octaband. 

Octaband Products Are on Sale until October 20

All of our products to get people moving, including the newest, are on sale, but only til October 20.

If you haven’t already seen it, we now have a 24-leg Octaband® with a beautiful purple center.

Second, Ollie the Octopus is a children’s book I wrote for children ages 3 to 8. Illustrated by expressive arts therapist and Lesley alum Bethany Beers-Mullen with her beautiful black and white illustrations. As Ollie the octopus explores his neighborhood, he reveals some of the many ways that octopuses can move. Used in conjunction with the Octaband®, Ollie the Octopus can be used by teachers of young children to educate about octopuses while inspiring them to move together as unique individuals and as part of a group.

And, third, see our newly developed Octaband Links®.

Octaband Links® are individual stretch bands with hems on each end, with multiple uses:

• perfect for resistance exercises for people with latex allergies or grasping difficulties
• for partner stretching for 2 people within close proximity
• for partner stretching for people sitting more than 36” apart by looping Links together
• used as a circular group stretch band of varying sizes by looping Links together, with both ends to be held by group leader

as extenders for the legs of the Octaband® for circles larger than the Octaband® permits.

Octaband Links® come in packages of 4 or 8.

All can be found on Dance for Connection’s new website. 

Any products you purchase and want to pick up at the 10th annual Arts in Healthcare Conference, September 27 at Washburn Lounge, Lesley University where I will be presenting, just notify me. I can bring the products to you before or after my presentations (before 4, after 7).

I believe Dr. Meg Chang and I will also be selling signed copies of our manual, The Dance of Interaction at the conference.

Octaband LLC celebrates 12 years in the market today!

It's hard to believe. Twelve years passes so quickly, but not without the Octaband® bringing a lot of joy and connection to people around the world.

From Australia, where Social Shindig used the new 24-leg Octaband 

to Forest Springs in South Carolina

and MELBOURNE BASED KIDS ENTERTAINMENT, again Melbourne, Australia

 a Parkinson's Music and Movement group

to Cambridge, Massachusetts

and to Italy, where Francesca Nicassio's music therapy kids draw their favorite activity of the day (they call it “Dance with Mimma the jellyfish”, their name for the Octaband®

people the world over are coming together, with the Octaband®.

Our new website is in progress, but you can learn about the Octaband here and purchase here, including the 24-leg Octaband, only available directly through Octaband LLC.

Stay tuned, as I will be blogging here again regularly (I hope), and letting you know about our newest products here as well.

 

This blog has lain dormant for the past few years, since I had a new blog on my old website. I will be reviving this blog as I now have a new website once again. You can subscribe to get notifications when new articles have been posted. www.danceforconnection.com and www.octaband.com

In the Wake of Paris ~ The Octaband® Symbolizes Our Impact upon One Another

In a world where our reach is global, how can we each own up more responsibly to our part in others' disenfranchisement?

Read more on Dance for Connection's new blog site here.

What Was the Colorful Thing with Arms on the Season Finale of Blunt Talk?

If you happened to be watching the season finale of Blunt Talk on StarZ on October 24 and wondered what that colorful stretchy dance prop with arms was that the nurses were using with the patients in a seated “dance therapy” group ~ well, wonder no more. That thing was an Octaband®.

You can see a link to the video of the Octaband being used here.

Dance for Connection: Creating Connection and Joy through Dance, Movement,Engagement

Dance for Connection is my new website which went live earlier this summer. As with all things technical, I am experiencing a steep learning curve as far as how to post new blog articles, but from now on that is where my new articles will be posted.

I began Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist in July 2007 - 8 years and about 692 posts ago. I appreciate you, my readers, and hope that you will follow me there. You can subscribe to Dance for Connection monthly newsletter to keep in touch.

Depending upon your preferred social media sites, you can follow us in a number of additional places. Octaband has a new Youtube channel with a number of videos of the Octaband with kids and older adults. Watching them can provide you with additional ideas for how to use the Octaband successfully.

 

Octaband's FB page can be found here. In a recent post, you can have a behind-the-scenes look to learn a bit more about how the Octaband is made, marketed and delivered. If you like the Octaband, please LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE, as that helps build customer confidence. And if you do not like the Octaband, please write and let us know why. We would truly love your photos and your stories. After all, the Octaband is all about the people who use it.

Dance for Connection's FB is here. You'll find quick updates to Dance for Connection and news about dance/movement therapy.

 @Octaband is our twitter feed.

I'm having fun with Pinterest as well. So far, it's under my name, Donna Newman-Bluestein. You'll find boards there about dance/movement therapy, dance and dementia, dementia, creativity, creative arts activities, dance, etc.

One of our awesome summer interns set Octaband up with an Instagram account as well.

I hope to see many of you at the American Dance Therapy Association's 50th Annual conference Oct. 22 - 25 where I will be presenting a pre-conference intensive with Astrid Struijk: Affecting the Lives of People with Dementia through Embodied Attunement and Expressive Movement.

Or perhaps meet you at the 32nd Annual APT (American Play Therapy) International Conference in Atlanta, GA where Octaband will be exhibiting October 6-10.

And then, again, I'll be presenting Dance & Expressive Movement to Engage and Inspire People with Dementia at the Expressive Therapies Summit in NY on Saturday, November 7.

Until then, with a heart full of gratitude for getting to do the work that I love,

Donna

JF&CS Memory Café Waltham, MA ~ The Power of Dance to Inspire, Uplift & Heal

Friday, August 7 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Contact Beth Soltzberg at bsoltzberg@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-5628.

1430 Main St., Waltham, MA

I'm looking forward to leading this uplifting group tomorrow.

Remembering Dance/Movement Therapy Pioneer Norma Canner in the Great Southwest

The New Mexican mountains are vast and beautiful, far beyond my capacity to capture adequately with my iPhone camera. Traveling in the Southwest desert reminds me of a summer many years ago when I was studying Creative Dance with Barbara Mettler in Tucson, AZ. It was my 2nd summer studying with Mettler, and she was not in a very good mood. The saving grace was hanging out with fellow students, spending free time with Norma Canner and Elizabeth McKim. The image of this native American woman below and her expansive gesture from this poster in the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque reminds me of a well-known image of Norma Canner in another poster, the cover of the dvd of Norma's life and work, A Time to Dance.

Spending the day in this part of the world, I am greatly inspired by the art of Georgia O"Keefe,  some of the fabulous rugs by weavers such as Esther Silentman, pottery by Nampeyo, and Apache basketry in the shop called Native Jackets on the Square, and the photography of the Southwest and African safaris by R. David Marks.

Norma Canner loved the Southwest. Her clothing style was influenced by Native peoples. She loved dancing outside in nature and even more so in her later years.

In this photo you can just see my head peaking out to the left of Myron Sharaf, biographer of Wilhelm Reich in what is considered the definite biography, Fury On Earth.

On this, the last day of Creative Arts Theray week 2015, I feel so very blessed to have followed my path to becoming and practicing as a dance/movement therapist these past 36 years. The arts can be a way to allow the powerful energy received from communing with Mother Nature to flow through one.

If you want to learn more about becoming a dance/movement therapist, check out the ADTA's prolific blog posts. You can also read my blog post, Dancing with Persons with Dementia.