Why does the soul not fly, when it hears is call?
Why does a fish, gasping on land, but near the water, not move back into the sea?
What keeps us from joining the dance the dust particles do?
Look at their subtle motions in sunlight.
RUMI
MY APPROACH ON DANCE (THERAPY)
Somatic movement, touch and Dance Therapy create a bridge between body and mind, senses and speech, feelings and expression, spirit and consciousness, matter and ether. The body is a primar tool for experiencing, it stores memories, patterns or emotions - consciously and unconciously - , which can be accessed through awareness.
By time reading and tracking the body's way of speaking and understanding, can help to increase the relationship to oneself. Sometimes the language of the body is indirect, therefor writings and paintings can translate sensations into words, to make underlying thoughts or emotions more accessable. In that way dance can be seen as translator, or even mediator to that, which is covered by dust.
The proess of experiencing "unpleasant" or hidden feelings along the way seem as necessary step, as much as acceptance of what happens in the present moment, in order to grow out of limited perceptions and develop a higher range of capacities, which shall enable a life in the purity of freedom and love. I assume that the more we grow into our cells and physicality, the more auhtentic and real our realities will unfold proportionally.
“When we learn to read the body and track it’s language, that’s the somatic narrative. It is the narrative of the body. The verbal story is secondary to the somatic narrative, because the body really speaks and can’t be deceived by minds.”
Pat Ogden
DANCETHERAPY
Dancetherapy is a creative-therapeutic method in the field of art and therapy, in which emotional, cognitive, physical, social and spiritual aspects of the individual are promoted through the therapeutic application of dance or movement. The body forms the central medium of expression as movement is the language of the body. Movers can get into deep contact with inner feelings or memories and the body becomes a source of knowledge through its sensory potentials. When the ability to interpret its differentiated language arises, creative, new movements can emerge.
Dance is always bound to physicality. All experiences are experiences of the body and experiences with the body, which are stored in the physical. At the same time, the body is the place where past experiences can become vibrant and visible. The processes of experience formation are seldom conscious; only the directed attention to sensations and perceptions of one's body in space and time can bring unconscious or preconscious, everyday and habitual as well as not yet conscious themes on the surface.
BODYWORK
The body is the first physical home in this world. It needs as much care, love, attention and nourishment, as the being housing inside. Touch enables the somatic recognition of the self in the body through awareness. Through the medium of the body as a mirror and mediator balance can be re-established.
My practise is influenced amongst others by methods of Ilan Lev, Feldenkrais, Shiatsu, Reiki, Somatic Experiencing, classical massage and approaches from Anna and Daria Halprin or Authentic Movement.
In one decade of work with the body, in a body, that has been shaped by numerous experiences in the field of (professional) dance, I am still constantly developing a natural and embodied understanding of it's language.
POSSIBLE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS
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Raising body awareness and sensitivity
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re-framing patterns of movement, thinking and emotional reactions
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self-awareness/ -regulation through somatic practise, reflection and the presence of a witness
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(creative) expression of thoughts and feelings by using a variety of medias (sensing, movement, writing, painting)
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tensegrity (Tension / Integration), regulation of the nervous system
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deepening breath
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connection to the core and environment
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personal connection in a safe space