Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 1.1

Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices
Volume 1 Number 1 2009

The scope of Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices (JDSM) Journal Editor
Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices is the international journal for scholars and Sarah Whatley
practitioners whose research interests focus on the relationship between dance Coventry University
and somatic practices, and the influence that this body of practice exerts on the Priory Street
wider performing arts. The journal seeks to promote research from established Coventry
scholars and practitioners, as well as to encourage those new to the field. United Kingdom
JDSM publishes articles on a variety of themes and in varied styles. Themes Tel: +44 (0)24
might include the pedagogical philosophy of somatic practices and how this 76158352
might be seen to challenge or negate dominant approaches to learning and crea- E-mail: s.whatley@
tivity; the history of somatic practices; the current application of somatic prac- coventry.ac.uk
tices to dance/performing arts training and education; the aesthetic implications
of working with/from a somatic understanding; the ‘body’ as site of discourse Co-Editors
in western culture, the influence of eastern cultures on notions of embodiment Natalie Garrett
and how somatic practices challenge/collude with these ideas. The journal acts Coventry University
as a forum for practitioners and researchers who are exploring these and related
areas. Kirsty Alexander
London Contemporary
Dance School
Editorial and Advisory Board
Jayne Stevens – De Montfort University Book Reviews
Amanda Williamson – University of Central Lancashire
Editor
Sylvie Fortin – University of Quebec
Polly Hudson
Vincent Cacalano – Manchester Metropolitan University
Coventry University
Gill Clarke – Laban/Independent Dance
Gary Hall – Coventry University
Cecilia Macfarlane – Independent Artist Online Editor
Joe Moran – Independent Artist David Bennett
Coventry University
Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices is published twice a year by Intellect, The Mill, ISSN 1757–1871 (print)
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Notes for Contributors
Research articles for peer review should be the text according to the place of insertion. interview), and at the end of the ‘Works
innovative with respect to the themes that If larger, they should be placed on separate cited’ list under ‘Interviews’.
the journal is addressing and grounded in pages at the end of the article. In this case, • If the informant gave an interview to
the relevant literature. Writing that combines ensure that an indication has been given as someone else, which is being cited, then
images and illustrations is encouraged, as is to where they should be placed in the text, the author should cite the informant and
reflective writing. In addition, book reviews, e.g. Insert Figure 3 here. Visuals in proposals the interviewer, e.g. (Bloggs, interview for
interviews with practitioners and reports of should initially be sent as low-res JPEG Smith 1999) in the text, and reference it as:
conferences/symposiums will all contribute files as an email attachment. If articles are Smith, S. (1999), ‘Interview with Bloggs’,
to JDSP’s mission to provide a platform for selected for publication, contributors will be London: Dance, 5, pp. 1–10. The point is
scholars, practitioners, educators and stu- asked to provide images to the Editor with for another person to be able to find the
dents who are involved in this body of work respect to Intellect’s Notes to Contributors. interview, so keep to the format in which
which has previously remained largely at the • Quotations should be used sparingly and be the interview was printed. In this case, the
margins of scholarly debate. We wish to con- identified by ‘single’ quotation marks if they interviewee’s name appears in the title of
sider the impact and influence of the work on are embedded in the text. Longer quotations the article, showing he is not the author
performance and to discuss the implications (i.e. longer than 45 words) should be indented because the interviewer is. However, it
for research and teaching. on both sides, without quotes. Both should could be the other way round.
Opinion be referenced using the Harvard system (see Data required before publication of any article
The views expressed in the journal are those below). The page number(s) must be included. Articles accepted for publication must contain
of the authors, and do not necessarily coin- • Foreign words and phrases inserted in the – Correct Harvard system references (see
cide with those of the Editor or the Editorial text should be in italics. above for details)
Advisory Board. Endnotes, references and citations – Article title
Referees • ‘Explanatory notes’ should be kept to a – Author name and institutional affiliation
JDSP is a refereed journal. Referees are minimum: they will appear in the outside (where relevant)
chosen for their expertise within the subject left or right margins of the text. They should – Abstract
area. They are asked to comment on compre- not contain publication details; submit all – Author biography (c. 50–100 words) in
hensibility, originality and scholarly worth of these as references. Please use the Word (or English
the article submitted. equivalent) ‘Footnote’ facility and ensure that – Key words (4–6 words or two-word phrases
they are submitted as endnotes, not footnotes. that indicate the core of what is discussed
Submitting • Place endnote marks outside the punctua- in the article)
Articles should: tion (after the comma or full stop). The note – Author street and email address
• Contain original research or scholarship mark must be in superscripted Arabic (1, 2, Copyright
• Not be under consideration by any other 3), not Roman (i, ii, iii). Before publication, authors are requested to
publication • Bibliographical references should use the assign copyright to the journal, subject to
• Normally be between 4000–6000 words ‘Harvard system/style’ (author + year: page), retaining their right to reuse the material
Non-standard submissions that might include e.g. (Hartley 1989: 84) inserted into the text. in other publications written or edited by
illustrations, images, reflection and so on can All references must identify an author (surname themselves and due to be published at least
be considered and do not need to conform to or institution name) for all documents, whether one year after initial publication in the
the word limits for research articles. Authors found in archives, newspapers, the Internet, etc. journal. A credit to the publisher and the
are welcome to contact the Editor for further • Each Harvard-style reference should be original source should be cited if an article
guidance if required. fully sourced in a list of ‘Works cited’ at the that appears in the journal is subsequently
Abstract and keywords end of the text. Publications not mentioned reprinted elsewhere.
Each article should be accompanied by an in the text should not be included in this
list, though they may be included under a Permissions
abstract, which should not exceed 150 words
separate ‘Further reading’ list. Copyright clearance should be indicated by
in length. Each article should also be supplied
the contributor and is always the responsibil-
with 4–6 keywords for searching purposes. Format for citing a book ity of the contributor. The source has to be
Language Author surname, Initial (year), Title in italics, indicated beneath the text. When they are
The journal uses standard British English. Place of publication: Publisher. e.g. Hartley, on a separate sheet or file, indication must be
The editor reserves the right to alter usage L. (1989), Wisdom of the Body Moving; an given as to where they should be placed in the
to this end. Foreign words and sentences Introduction to Body-Mind Centering, Berkeley, text. The author has responsibility to ensure
inserted in the text should be italicized. California: North Atlantic Books. that the proper permissions/model for visual
Articles should be written in a clear and Citing an article image releases are obtained.
concise style. Author surname, Initial (year), ‘Title in single Reviewing
Format of submitted articles quotation marks’, Name of journal in italics, Please contact the Editor if you are interested
Submissions to JDSP should be sent as an volume number: issue number (and/or month in reviewing for this journal.
attachment to an e-mail message to the or quarter), page numbers (first and last of Contributions welcome
editor. The attached article should be ‘ano- entire article). e.g. The Editor welcomes contributions. Any
nymized’. This is to maintain confidentiality Carr, D. (1997) ‘Meaning in Dance’, British matter concerning the format and
during peer review. You should delete the Journal of Aesthetics, 37: 4, pp. 349–366. presentation of articles not covered by the
‘File properties’ or ‘Summary info’ of your above notes should be addressed to the
Citing a web publication or website item
document (see file menu) that reveal your Editor, Sarah Whatley, Coventry University,
websites should be referenced as publishers of
name and institution (where relevant). Be Priory Street, Coventry, United Kingdom
material: a separate author and the title of the
sure to add your full name and address in the Tel: +44 (0)24 76158352 E-mail:
information/document/pdf article should be
e-mail message to the editor. s.whatley@coventry.ac.uk
supplied. e.g. Hale, C. (2004), ‘The Science of
• Font should be Times New Roman 14, The guidance on this page is by no means com-
Making Dances’ Dance Gazette, 2, pp.16–19,
one-and-a-half-spaces and left aligned, not prehensive: it must be read in conjunction with
http://www.choreocog.net/papers.html
justified. Intellect’s Style Guide.
• Margins should be 1 in/2.5 cm all round. Citing personal communications and interviews This guide can be referred to by contributors to
• Pagination should be continuous with • Personal communications are what the any of Intellect’s journals, and so is not sufficient;
numbers applied top right. informant said directly to the author, contributors will also need to refer to the guid-
• Images – illustrations, photographs, graphs, e.g.‘Bloggs thought this was a good thing ance such as this given for each specific journal.
and graphics – should all be entitled (personal communication)’. This need have Intellect’s Style Guide is obtainable from
‘Figure’, be numbered consecutively, and be no citation in the references list. Equally the www.intellectbooks.com/journals, or on request
clearly legible. The source must be indicated use of (personal communications) need not from the Editor of this journal. For additional
below each to acknowledge the holder of refer back to a named informant. guidance on submissions, reviewers guidelines
the copyright. If images are less than half • A more formal research interview can or general information, please contact Sarah
a page in size, they may be inserted into be cited in the text (Bloggs, 16 March, Whatley. Email: s.whatley@coventry.ac.uk
Any matters concerning the format and presentation of articles not covered by the above notes should be addressed to the Editor. The
guidance on this page is by no means comprehensive: it must be read in conjunction with Intellect Notes for Contributors. These notes
can be referred to by contributors to any of Intellect’s journals, and so are, in turn, not sufficient; contributors will also need to refer
to the guidance such as this given for each specific journal. Intellect’s Notes for Contributors are obtainable from www.intellect-
books.com/journals, or on request from the Editor of this journal.
JDSP_1.1_00_FM_1-2.indd 2 6/8/09 10:39:13 AM

Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices Volume 1 Number 1 © 2009 Intellect Ltd
Editorial. English language. doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.3/2
Editorial
Sarah Whatley
with Kirsty Alexander and Natalie Garrett
As we head into uncertain times in this first decade of the new century,
many of us are becoming more fascinated with those aspects that make us
unique as human animals. We are witnessing a return to interest in
embodied knowledge and theories about embodiment, which have been
developing in the West since the early 1900s. This is now influencing
thought processes and arts practices, including dance, in new ways. It is
only in recent years that the significance and philosophical position of
embodiment work has been recognized. And yet the pace and pressures of
life provide too few opportunities to take rest, to be still and to find an ease-
fulness in our relationship with our own body. We might acknowledge the
body’s extraordinary capacity for experience, expression, adaptation and
survival, and yet we are too often thwarted in our desire to respect the
body’s authority and wisdom. Thanks to the legacy of Cartesian dualism in
western thought, what we know through our sensing body is still often
regarded as unreliable.
This preamble provides something of the context for this new journal.
The aim of the journal is to provide space for debate around moving, think-
ing and writing; and to offer a celebration of the somatic epistemology that
underpins important developments in dance and movement practices that
have emerged and found purchase in recent years, whilst also acknowledg-
ing the challenges that this brings for all those engaged in the work.
For many of us working in the broad area of dance, whether as dance
practitioners, theorists or educators (or, most often, as all three), we have
witnessed a growing interest in dance as a site of investigation from those
beyond the discipline. At the same time, we have also seen a shift towards
a more enquiring and curious approach to dance, for those within the
discipline; an approach which draws on theories and practices that
constantly question traditional modes of doing, ways of seeing and experi-
encing dance. These practices are characterized by a return to the self and
sensorial awareness, to cultivate a new consciousness of bodily movement;
hence the term ‘soma’ (of the body) and ‘somatic’ as a reference to the
first-person perception, and the balance between first and third-person
perspective, which underpins these experiential practices. Thus in con-
necting to the self, somatic practice also seeks to cultivate awareness of
the self within the world, in relationship to our environment.
The roots of these enquiries are wide ranging, as the papers in this first
issue illustrate. Martha Eddy’s paper appears first, to provide a useful over-
view of the historical development of somatic practices. Two leading
educators in somatic practices, Amanda Williamson (UK) and Sylvie Fortin
JDSP 1 (1) pp. 3–4 © Intellect Ltd 2009 3
JDSP_1.1_01_edt-Garrett 3 6/5/09 9:33:07 PM

(Canada) then offer detailed observations of their work in different settings
to illuminate the profound impact this work has on learners and clients.
Williamson talks of a ‘quiet political movement’ that defines Somatic
Movement Education and reminds us that our body ‘is present and active
in every moment of our lives. To ignore its centrality discounts our mate-
riality, our engagement in a material world, our body substance – ultimately,
to disregard the body negates our humanness’. This theme is powerfully
explored in the reflective writing in the articles that follow, which reflects
on personal experiences with movement forms or particular events, and
gives voice to the artists’ own practice. The experiences of leading artists
are represented through the writing of Suna Imre, in interview with
Miranda Tufnell, through Helen Poynor’s reflections on the extraordinary
dances of Anna Halprin, and in the poetic utterances and drawings of
dance artist Cecilia Macfarlane following a period of movement research
with Anna Halprin.
When I first proposed this journal to Intellect, I was confident that
there was a space for a Journal that brought together this growing body of
knowledge, in the hope that the writing would become more visible, thus
strengthening and supporting the development of the practice, whilst
drawing interest from those beyond the dance community. It is encourag-
ing to know that the Journal has been welcomed by many, including those
who have already submitted contributions for this first issue and for sub-
sequent issues. The aim is not to be prescriptive about the range of writ-
ings and certainly not to limit the writings to discussing particular dance
styles, but to present the reader with a sense of a unifying curiosity and
determination that underpins the practices that give rise to these writings.
Each paper offers a view of a process, project or practice from writers at
varying stages of their engagement with somatic work. Because some of
the writing that emerges through this work is itself emergent and often
written by the artist/practitioner at the time of the practice, or shortly
afterwards in the form of reflective writing, the aim for the journal is to
support these different forms of writing: to let the community of somatic
practitioners, and those who comment on these practices, find a space for
sharing and exchanging ideas and experiences.
So the title ‘dance and somatic practices’ deliberately unites two inde-
pendent, yet potentially closely related, bodies of practice and theory – and
it is the intersection that provides the focus for the Journal. What links all
the articles is a growing attention to the body and its intelligence – and
how the intelligent body can find its own voice; a voice which is a radical,
but necessary, alternative to dance practices that aspire towards a virtuosic
body seeking to reproduce a stylized form. Another important common
thread is a deep respect for those individual artists, writers and practition-
ers who have made such a significant contribution to this body of work,
often through their teachings, which are acknowledged in this issue.
4 Editorial
JDSP_1.1_01_edt-Garrett 4 6/5/09 9:33:07 PM

Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.5/1
A brief history of somatic practices

and dance: historical development of
the field of somatic education and its
relationship to dance1
Martha Eddy Moving On Center/Center for Kinesthetic
Education, NYC
Abstract Keywords
This article outlines the historical development of somatic movement practices somatics
especially as they relate to dance, dancers, and dance education organizations. somatic movement
It begins with historical events, cultural trends, and individual occurrences bodymind
that led up to the emergence of the ‘classic’ somatic methods at the turn of SME&T
the twentieth century (Alexander to Trager). It then defines ‘somatic move- somatic education
ment education and therapy,’ and the growth of three generations of somatic somatic movement
movement programmes. Interview data reveals how a second generation therapy
included a large proportion of dancers and speaks to how the ‘bodymind
thinking’ of dance professionals continues to shape the training and develop-
ment of somatic education, as well as ‘dance somatics’. Finally it raises the
question of the marginalizing of both dance and somatic education, and points
to combining forces with their shared characteristics to alter this location in
western culture. Another finding seeks to assess the potency and placement of
‘somatic dance’ in a global schema.2
Preface
This article is based on three methods of inquiry: lived experience in the 1. This article draws on
overlapping fields of dance and somatic education since 1976; personal structured interviews,
personal educational
communiqués (live, by telecommunications, and by email) using a struc- experiences, and
tured interview; and supplemental literature review. Wherever possible review of literature in
the founder of a somatic discipline, or seminal figure in the academic pro- published and unpub-
lished manuscripts,
motion of ‘dance somatics’, was interviewed.3 I trained directly with as well as Internet
Irmgard Bartenieff and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen in the 1970s and then entries.
went on to teach in their certification faculties for ten years prior to creat- 2. This second theme
ing my own Dynamic Embodiment Somatic Movement Therapy Training in will be developed
1990. I continue to teach on all three faculties and have also since inter- in a subsequent
paper; Part 2. Part
acted with hundreds of diverse somatic experts at conferences, in classes 2 questions the
and on organizational boards. I am appreciative of each colleague who acknowledgement of
was willing to provide an interview and/or critical review of sections of cultural roots within
the pedagogical
this paper. Along with the data gathered, many of the statements in this process of somatic
article are made through my personal phenomenological perception of education and asserts
stories told within the oral tradition of ‘somatics’. that the voice of
JDSP_1.1_02_art_Eddy.indd 5 6/8/09 1:08:44 PM

dance professionals, Introduction
especially women,
within the field The field of ‘somatics’ is barely a field. If necessarily seen as one, I liken it to
completes a holistic a field of wildflowers with unique species randomly popping up across wide
paradigm by encour- expanses. How did individual experiences of, and with, the living body
aging emotional
expression, which in become a field? Illnesses, physical limitations, and exposure to unfamiliar
some instances also physical and/or spiritual practices through travel and transmigrations, led
elicits activism. numerous men and women, separately but in a common period of time, to
3. If necessary a director discover the potency of listening deeply to the body. Pain and new views of
of a school or a close human behavior combined with a love of movement and curiosity about
relative or colleague
was sought out. the physical body to create the independent formation of various systems of
bodily inquiry in Europe, the United States and Australia. The positive out-
4. ‘The Self that Moves’
was the title of a comes of these investigations gave credence to the process of finding answers
college course that to bodily needs and communicative desires through internal bodily aware-
I took in 1974 with ness. Somatic pioneers discovered that by being engaged in attentive dia-
Bartenieff trained
movement analysts logue with one’s bodily self we, as humans, can learn newly, become pain
Tara Stepenberg and free, move more easily, do our life work more efficiently, and perform with
Diana Levy. It used greater vitality and expressiveness.
the tools of Laban
Movement Analysis The historical time period moving out of the nineteenth and into the
for personal inquiry. twentieth century was ripe for a quantum change in our relationships
5. Additionally, James
with our bodies. There was a need to break free of Victorian strictures
Spira PhD worked and also to embody the optimism the Victorian era offered. The possibil-
in 1988 to bring the ity of experiencing the body newly came with such diverse movements
field together under
the title of Movement
as ‘free love’ and ‘gymnastik’. Within the twentieth century, as ration-
Therapy and began alism was influenced by existentialism and phenomenology, a gradual
the antecedent of the shift towards theoretical support for experiential learning and sensory
current professional
association – IMTA,
research occurred in parts of the academic and scholarly culture. These
which became shifts were catapulted by the theories of Dewey, Merleau-Ponty, and
ISMETA. Whitehead.
Somatic inquiry was buoyed by this growth of existentialism and
phenomenology as well as through dance and expressionism. These
developments were moved into diverse frontiers by the groundbreaking
work of Freud, Jung and Reich in psychology, Delsartes, Laban and
Dalcroze in cultural studies (art, architecture, crystallography, dance
and music), Heinrich Jacoby and John Dewey in education, and Edmond
Jacobson in medical research. From the unique experiences of explora-
tory individuals across the globe, fresh approaches to bodily care and
education emerged. However, it took the outside view of scholars, some
fifty years later, to name this phenomenon as the single field of somatic
education. Thomas Hanna (1985), supported by Don Hanlon Johnson
(2004) and Seymour Kleinman (2004),5 saw the common features in
the ‘methods’ of Gerda and FM Alexander, Feldenkrais, Gindler, Laban,
Mensendieck, Middendorf, Mézières, Rolf, Todd, and Trager (and their
protégés Bartenieff, Rosen, Selver, Speads, and Sweigard). Each person
and their newly formed ‘discipline’ had people take time to breath, feel
and ‘listen to the body,’ often by beginning with conscious relaxation
on the floor or lying down on a table. From this gravity-reduced state,
each person was guided to pay attention to bodily sensations emerging
from within and move slowly and gently in order to gain deeper aware-
ness of ‘the self that moves’.4 Students were directed to find ease, sup-
port, and pleasure while moving – all the while paying attention to
6 Martha Eddy

proprioceptive signals. Participants were also invited to experience 6. The International
Somatic Movement
increased responsiveness as they received skilled touch and/or verbal Education and
input as ‘fresh stimuli’ from a somatic educator or therapist. Therapy Association
The transmigration of people and ideas from the east to the western part reviews and approves
training programmes
of the globe also shaped the development of somatic practices, by fostering and registers individ-
exposure to the philosophies and practices of mind-body practices such as uals that meet a list
the eastern martial arts and yoga. For instance, during this era Joseph of professional criteria
including a minimum
Pilates developed a system of exercise (‘Contrology’) with focus on the coor- study time of 500
dination of breath that was derived from yoga (India), and George Gurdjieff hours. www.ISMETA.
developed movement activities for greater spiritual development grounded org
in Eastern philosophy (Allison 1999). Among the somatic pioneers, Ida Rolf
cites yoga as an influence (Johnson 1995), Irmgard Bartenieff studied Chi
Kung, and Moshe Feldenkrais was a black belt in Judo (Eddy 2002b).
In what could be attributed to Jung’s concept of the collective uncon-
scious, or likened to the ‘hundredth monkey’ parable, isolated individuals
and institutions in distant places independently began to recognize this
work as an important and effective area of inquiry. What emerged from
these profoundly creative and investigative somatic pioneers, especially
as they taught their practices to psychologists (e.g. Fromm, Perls,
Watts), educators (Dewey, Myers), and scholars (Fraleigh, Hanna,
Johnson), became a canon inclusive of exercises, philosophies, methods,
and systems of inquiry. By delving into personal bodily experiences,
new meanings about being human and potentialities for health and life
were codified into educational programmes in diverse parts of the world.
As an exchange deepened across disciplines, somatic inquiry also found
entry into some research methodologies such as: action research;
ethnographic study; frequency counts in movement observation;
phenomenology; pilot studies for quantitative research; and qualitative
case study.
Defining the Field: Coining ‘Somatics’ and ‘Somatic

Movement Education & Therapy’
In the 1970s Hanna coined the term ‘somatics’ to describe and unify these
processes under one rubric. Philosophers and scholars in the late twenti-
eth century helped to forge the new field of Somatic Education. Mangione
(1993) describes how the global communication explosion, and the cul-
tural shifts of the 1970s, spurred a veritable boom in ‘somatics’. In 2004,
I identified that there are three branches of the somatic world – somatic
psychology, somatic bodywork, and somatic movement (Eddy 2004). I con-
tend that dance professionals have especially driven the development of
somatic movement and the field of Somatic Movement Education and
Therapy (SME&T). SME&T involves ‘listening to the body’ and responding
to these sensations by consciously altering movement habits and move-
ment choices. In large part, this article addresses the development of rec-
ognized training programmes in somatic movement6 and the role of a
second generation of somatic pioneers, who were predominantly dancers,
in this evolution.
Professional practitioners of somatic movement disciplines use a variety
of skills and tools, including diverse qualities of touch, empathic verbal
exchange, and both subtle and complex movement experiences. This
A brief history of somatic practices and dance 7

triune process helps a person discover the natural movement or flow of life
activity within the body. If a student or client is uncomfortable with any of
these modalities the practitioner will adjust the tools being used, as somatic
work is, by definition, a creative interplay. The goal of the somatic move-
ment professional is to heighten both sensory and motor awareness to
facilitate a student-client’s own self-organization, self-healing, or self-
knowing. Movement includes the subtler movements of the breath, the voice,
the face, and the postural muscles, as well as any large movement task,
event, or expression. Somatic lessons often use touch to amplify sensory
experience through the skin, the body’s largest organ, and therefore more
quickly awaken awareness. Touch is a primary tool, however it is only a
tool and is it not always used in every somatic movement session or class.
While many of the individual somatic movement disciplines (most
notably the ones that have been in existence for at least fifty years) have
their own standards and scope of practice, one professional association,
‘The International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association’
(ISMETA), worked to shape the commonalties of somatic movement disci-
plines. They provided a definition of the type and range of work that is
engaged in by a somatic movement professional, and a ‘scope of practice’
for the field of SME&T. The original scope of practice for somatic move-
ment educators and therapists, as defined by the International Somatic
Movement Education and Therapy Association, stated:
The professional field of somatic movement education and therapy spans

holistic education and complementary and alternative medicine. The field
contains distinct disciplines each with its own educational and/or therapeu-
tic emphases, principles, methods, and techniques.
Practices of somatic movement education and therapy encompass postural

and movement evaluation, communication and guidance through touch
and words, experiential anatomy and imagery, and the patterning of new
movement choices – also referred to as movement patterning, movement
re-education or movement re-patterning. These practices are applied to eve-
ryday and specialized activities for persons in all stages of health and devel-
opment. Continued practice of specific movements at home or work, with
conscious awareness, is also often suggested.
The purpose of somatic movement education and therapy is to enhance
human processes of psychophysical awareness and functioning through
movement learning. Practices provide the learning conditions to:
• Focus on the body both as an objective physical process and as a subjec-

tive process of lived consciousness;
• Refine perceptual, kinesthetic, proprioceptive, and interoceptive sensitivity
that supports homeostasis and self regulation;
• Recognize habitual patterns of perceptual, postural and movement inter-
action with one’s environment;
• Improve movement coordination that supports structural, functional and
expressive integration;
• Experience an embodied sense of vitality and extended capacities for living.
(ISMETA 2003)
8 Martha Eddy

ISMETA has also developed a more detailed ‘Operational Definition’ of
movement patterning – the use of touch to enhance movement per-
formance is a primary tool of somatic work. The operational definition
is as follows:
A movement educator or therapist will place his/her hands on specific areas

of the student’s/client’s [clothed] body in order to enhance movement per-
formance. By applying focus through the hands, and combining still and
moving touch, the educator/therapist defines the part/s of that area, articu-
lates the connection of those parts, and guides the person’s body movement
through an efficient or more expressive pathway. With hands-on movement
re-patterning, the educator or therapist can:
• guide the student/client in initiating and practicing improved movement

coordination;
• activate and direct the attention of the student/client throughout the
entire learning process;
• identify and define the student/client’s habitual patterns of perceptual,
postural and movement interaction.
This learning process helps the student/client:
• refine and focus proprioceptive and kinesthetic attention;

• recognize his/her habitual patterns of perceptual, postural and movement
interaction with his/her environment;
• develop improved movement coordination and perceptual movement
integration.
(ISMETA 2003)
Dance educators and choreographers may have stumbled upon these types
of interventions in the process of teaching movement. Martha Myers (Eddy
interview 2003b) was seminal in cross-fertilizing somatics within ‘the
dance world’ by sponsoring body therapy workshops at the ‘American
Dance Festival’ once it was at Duke University. She also pioneered the
advent of ‘the science and somatics of dance’ by inviting doctors and
researchers from Duke University to join dancers in exploring movement
on the floor to learn about their bodies. Her seminal work continues to
fuel the liveliness of somatic education within the dance science commu-
nity (e.g., at International Dance Science and Medicine Association con-
ferences) as well as in the professional dance community (American Dance
Festival Archives 1980–1996).
This paper focuses on the development and interplay of the ‘somatic
movement movement’ with the field of dance. In her treatise on ‘Somatics,’
Mangione also sees the historical connection between the birth of modern
dance and the development of somatic theories and practices.
Modern dance was a revolution in the field of dance. Beginning around the
turn of the century, this new exploration of expressive and earthy dance was
a response to the airy, stylized ballet that was dance at the time. Somatics
and the modern dance movement are linked. Both movements were born

7. Movement Pattern of the same time and possibly for many of the same reasons. They are both
Analysis; Movement body-based forms that value the whole human being. The two fields also
Signature Analysis;
Action Profiling; share some of the same personalities, pioneers of the modern dance move-
Kestenberg Movement ment such as those in the following listing have contributed to the field of
Profile. somatics. While not all of these individuals may not strictly be considered
8. Laban had three chil- somatics pioneers, their influence is significant.
dren with Suzanne (Mangione’s 1993: 27)
Perrotet, one of
Dalcroze’s foremost
teachers. She lists: Francois Delsarte (1811–1871), Emile Jacques-Dalcroze (1865–
1950), Rudolf Laban (1879–1958), Isadora Duncan (1878–1927), and
Mary Wigman (1886–1973). These artists helped to set the stage for the
emergence of somatic movement as a vital force in our current world.
They shaped the culture in which the primary somatic pioneers were
working. As dancers they were breaking rules; as people they were reintro-
ducing non-Cartesian models. Add to this list the genius of Margaret
H’Doubler (1889–1982), for her amalgam of open-ended dance explora-
tions on the floor coupled with the study of the biological sciences, which
became requisite studies within the first university dance department at
the University of Wisconsin (Ross 2000, Eddy interview 2003c). And with
all of this burgeoning growth I will make a case, later in this paper, for
how dance and ‘somatics’ remain on the fringes of academic inquiry, per-
haps precisely because they are of the body, and include elements that are
ineffable.
Considered the father of European modern dance, Rudolf von Laban
(1879–1954) was born in what is today Bratislava, Slovakia. He developed
a system of movement exploration that epitomized freedom of expression
through the human body. Even though Laban did not experience a bodily
injury or physical limitation, he did feel confined by the pressures of his
father to enter the military and, in his adulthood, by the constraints of
working under the rules of Hitler and the exigencies of the world war.
Laban spent many of his late adolescent years in Eastern Europe where he
was exposed to eastern forms of movement – folk dances, military exer-
cises and martial arts, as well as those that originated in Asia. Laban went
on to study dance, and to create dances and schools of dance that valued
personal expression. He also developed a system of movement notation
called ‘LabanNotation’. Laban had been working first as the choreogra-
pher and then as movement director for the Third Reich’s State Opera in
Berlin before he came under house arrest for not conforming to Hitler’s
mold. He defected to Paris during the International Dance Competition
and lived there until he moved to England with the help of his former
student, choreographer of the Green Table, Kurt Jooss. In England he
established the ‘Art of Movement Center’. During World War II, he was
called upon to analyze movement in industry. The components of move-
ment that he defined became the basis for ‘Laban Movement Analysis’
(LMA) and numerous other forms of movement analysis.7 This LMA sys-
tem has since been applied to physical education, dance education, and
somatic education.
Laban was teacher to Mary Wigman as well as Kurt Jooss, and a peer
of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (Bachmann 1993).8 While he lived in Paris, he
was influenced by the teachings of the already deceased Delsartes
10 Martha Eddy

(Hodgson 2001). He was also aware of Isadora Duncan, another great
founder of expressive movement and modern dance. Duncan brought
her dance style from America to Europe while Martha Graham stayed
strongly identified with American dance. Graham did, however, come to
perform at Dartington Hall while Laban lived in England. The early
1900s was a rich time for artistic breakthroughs. The somatic pioneers
spawned a different bodily endeavor applicable in many settings – pay-
ing careful attention to bodily sensation. The pioneers developed the use
of somatic awareness in movement work such as acting, martial arts,
exercise, physical education, physiotherapy, and dance. It is this history
of diversity across numerous bodily, creative and scientific professions
that engenders the continuing interdisciplinary nature of somatic educa-
tion. What is worthy of note is that these somatic progenitors were often
artists/performers also trained as scientists. Many suffered illnesses or
injuries, and others experienced the changing world of the twentieth
century through travel and emigration.
Theories and Practices in Europe prior to Somatic Education

The underlying theories and movement practices for numerous somatic
systems originated in Germany. Elsa Gindler (1885–1961) and Heinrich
Jacoby Gimmler were important movement leaders at the turn of the twen-
tieth century. Gindler and her teacher, Leo Kofler who lived in the United
States shared the experience of overcoming tuberculosis. Kolfler led the
way by learning to heal from tuberculosis through anatomical study and
physical exploration. Two German students traveled to the USA to STUDY
with him and then translated his book, which continues to be published in
Germany today (Johnson 1995). Gindler learned of Kofler’s success and
was also able to recover from tuberculosis using Kofler’s teachings. She
cultivated such an awareness of her breathing that she could actually rest
her diseased lung and allow it to HEAL. This discovery led her to develop
the somatic work she called Arbeit am Menschen/Work on the Whole Person.
Her prior movement training was in Gymnastik (Jahn’s work), yet she
addressed the physical exercises in a new way, with an emphasis on men-
tal concentration while breath, relaxation and tension were explored.
Historical influences of Gindler and Jacoby can be traced to other German
innovators such as Bess Mensendieck, Ilse Middendorf, and Marion Rosen
(Haag 2002). The somatic concept of deep internal reflection was an
adaptation of Gymnastik that both Gindler (Johnson 1995: 6) and
Dr. Mensendieck used.
Bess Mensendieck, M.D. (1864–1957) was influenced by a combina-
tion of medicine, art, and an understanding of Gymnastik. She taught for
Dalcroze and studied with Steiner. Her art form was sculpture, an art form
with both tactile and visual elements. With this integration, she developed
a system of over 200 exercises for executing movement (often in front of a
mirror with minimal clothing) to improve habits and functioning. Her
work is found in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dance, and osteop-
athy, especially in Europe (Johnson 1995).
Gindler asked students to focus, concentrate and become aware during
movement regimens. She wanted them to be conscious of breathing as
well. For example, Gindler states: ‘There is the difference between the

breathing that occurs when the lungs and vesicles are open and breath-
ing … through the arbitrary inhalation of air.… If the movement occurs
with open [conscious] breathing, the movement becomes alive’ (Johnson
1995: 33). Among her students were Carola Speads and Charlotte Selver,
who both escaped Germany and brought her work to the United States
where 24 they further developed it, each in their own way. The work of
Carola Speads and her students (see Elaine Summers below) is an impor-
tant resource to learn more about breath studies as is the work of Ilse
Middendorf.
Ilse Middendorf’s primary teacher as a young woman was Dora
Menzler, however Middendorf was a student of Gindler’s. Middendorf
became a teacher of the ‘Mastanang Method’ and was mentored by
Cornelius Veening, who was connected to Heier and thereby to Jung. The
methods of Kallmayer and Mensendieck were circulating in Germany at
the time so she was aware of their practices. She developed work with
natural breath ‘The Experience of Breath,’ to make room for the essence of
a person to unfold and develop.
Life Stories of the Somatic Pioneers: A brief history

Based on common lore, oral tradition, and written treatises such as those
edited by Don Hanlon Johnson (1995), I have identified F.M. Alexander,
Moshe Feldenkrais, Mabel Todd, Irmgard Bartenieff, Charlotte Selver,
Milton Trager, Gerda Alexander, and Ida Rolf as ‘the somatic pioneers’.
Please see the schematic on page 24 depicting each of them in bold letters.
It also attempts to give you information about who they were influenced
by and who they have influenced to create somatic movement trainings
including the ‘second generation’. These somatic dance professionals who
founded training programs are also highlighted in bold: Anna Halprin,
Nancy Topf, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Sondra Fraleigh, Emilie Conrad,
Joan Skinner, Elaine Summers, and Judith Aston.
The First Generation

Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869–1955) was an actor with laryngitis
who began to question deeply the cause of his vocal problems and won-
dered if they might have something to do with how he was using his vocal
apparatus and his body (Alexander 1932). Through intensive periods of
personal exploration he found a method for ‘changing and controlling
reaction’, which he then taught in Melbourne and in Sydney. He also
returned to performing and teaching in Australia and New Zealand. Next
he moved to London, and finally to the United States. While not much is
written about how F. M. Alexander may have been influenced by his child-
hood in Tasmania, or his experiences in New Zealand, these were influ-
ences replete with exposure to non-western values and concepts. Learning
through global travel or study was notable amongst other somatic move-
ment leaders as well. As with Laban, one can speculate that being an out-
sider in a new place might intensify one’s powers of observation and
self-reflection.
Moshe Feldenkrais, Ph.D. (1904–1984) also traveled through and
lived in different countries and continents, studied in France, and was
pushed to new levels of awareness during World War II. He was born in
12 Martha Eddy

Russia and emigrated to Palestine at the age of thirteen, traveling by cara-
van with his family. Feldenkrais studied engineering and earned his doc-
torate in physics at the Sorbonne. It was in Paris that he excelled in the
martial art of jujitsu. He became one of the first westerners to earn a black
belt in Judo (1936), and subsequently taught, following the footsteps of
his teacher Professor Kano, the originator of Judo.
Feldenkrais first injured his knee playing soccer, and again while work-
ing with anti-submarine research in England during the war. His knee could
not be healed, even with the help of surgery. Feldenkrais was motivated to
explore his own body to find out what caused his inability to walk. This
inward road of exploring the body grew, in part, out of his interest in auto-
suggestion, self-imagery and the workings of the unconscious mind. During
the process of self-exploration, he incorporated principles from physics,
Judo and human development in his two strands – ‘Awareness through
Movement’ and ‘Functional Integration’. He developed his methods by
working with all kinds of people with a wide range of learning needs, from
infants with Cerebral Palsy to leading theatrical and musical performers.
Like Alexander and Feldenkrais, Mabel Todd, author of The Thinking
Body (1937) and The Hidden You (1953), was also interested in improving
her health since she had to contend with bodily limitations. She had a para-
lyzing accident and was told she would not walk again. Unwilling to give
up, Todd used thinking processes to heal herself, including how to return to
walking, by developing imagery about the anatomically balanced use of the
body. She speculated that vocal problems were often due to bad posture and
that a psycho-physical or psycho-physiological approach might be of help.
With this hypothesis, Todd began to study the mechanics of the skeletal
structure, and she applied her discoveries in her studios of ‘Natural Posture’
in New York and Boston. Personally, her imagery resulted in a walk that
was an improvement over her pre-accident gait; professionally she created a
system that became central to many movement educators. She joined the
faculty of the Department of Physical Education at Teachers College,
Columbia University where she taught anatomy, posture, and neuromuscu-
lar awareness to physical education and dance professionals. At Teachers
College, her work was further developed by her protégé, Lulu Sweigard
(1974), author of Human Movement Potential.
Born in Germany, in the same year as Feldenkrais, Gerda Alexander
(1904–1994) also founded a somatic discipline – ‘Eutony’ (Eutonie), now
referred to as Gerda Alexander Eutony (GAE). In GAE, students are invited
to sense their muscles, skin, or bones – literally any part of the body and to
connect it to their feelings. On a physical level, GAE strives to bring balance
to the muscular tone of the body. She taught that tonus changes occur not
only with different kinds of effort, but with emotional shifts whether they
be deep depression with a low tonus or happiness with a high tonus. This
function is referred to as psycho-tonus. “Flexibility in tonus change is also
the basis for all artistic creation and experience….What you do not experi-
ence in your whole body will remain merely intellectual information with-
out life or spiritual reality”. (Bersin in Johnson 1995: 260)
Unlike the other somatic educators cited above, G. Alexander’s protégés
take a Eurocentric stance, and they make the following explicit statement
about her work and its influences: ‘The method developed completely from

10. It is interesting to the western culture area.’ Alexander’s work reveals a strong European lin-
note that GAE was
the first somatic dis-
eage (ASEGA 2003). She was a dance and gymnastic teacher who studied
cipline to be accepted and worked with Jacques Dalcroze; she then integrated her interest in the
by the World Health creative self-discovery of each person’s body-mind tonus into a holistic
Organization (in
1987) as a type of
approach used in diverse educational settings. Eutony teaches deep inter-
alternative health nal awareness that also helps one sense the outer environment fully.10
care (now referred to Charlotte Selver helped shape the work of her ‘gymnastik’ teacher, Elsa
as Complementary
and Alternative
Gindler. Charlotte Selver, (1901–2003) was the person, together with her
Medicine – CAM). husband Charles Brooks, who gave the work an English name, focusing it
(Chrisman, 1). more on sensation and consciousness: ‘Sensory Awareness’. Selver cites
Gindler as her primary teacher, yet she also refers to the importance of
learning from other scholars. She had the opportunity to learn in person
from various great thinkers from east and west, Suzuki Roshi (Zen mas-
ter), Suzuki Daishetz (scholar), Korzybski (General Semantics) and Ram
Dass (yogi) (Laeng-Gilliatt n.d.). She explored in depth the realms of con-
sciousness, as well as awareness while moving, and taught these processes
until she died at the age of 102.
Ida Rolf (1896–1979) was born in New York City. The inspiration for
her work springs from exposure to eastern practices, and to great thinkers
(Pierre Bernard, Fritz Perls, Sam Fulkerson and Korzybski), as well as the
serendipity of being able to work as a woman at Rockefeller Institute.
She also had the intent to heal not just the symptoms but also the causes;
she saw causes as multiple and related to ‘the circular process that do not
act in the body but are the body’ (Johnson 1995: 174). Her work grew out
of the sciences and alternative approaches to healing. She obtained her
Ph.D. in biological chemistry. During World War II, she was hired to work
at Rockefeller Institute, beginning in the department of chemotherapy. As
a scientist investigating the body and health, she was exposed to osteopa-
thy and homeopathy, and she developed an interest in yoga. From yoga
she understood that one could work with the body to improve all aspects
of the human being, and, for the most part, this was done through length-
ening the body to create more space in the joints (Feitis in Johnson 1995:
157). She learned from the Hindu philosophy that ‘when morals are built
from the body’s behavior you get a moral structure and behavior which
respect the rights and privileges of other individuals. (Rolf in Johnson
1995: 174)’ She wrote Rolfing: The Integration of Human Structures in 1977.
Dr. Rolf continued to study movement throughout her life including yoga
and taking classes in the Alexander Technique; she learned from osteo-
paths and about homeopathy, and always related the physical body to the
energy fields around us, most especially the gravitational pull.
Milton Trager, MD (1909–1997) also lived in the United States and
was the founder of Psychophysical Integration. Like F. M. Alexander, he
had to deal with physical weakness and illness at the outset of his life. He
was born with a congenital spinal deformity. Through steadfast physical
application he became an athlete and a dancer. He made his first somatic
discoveries at the age of eighteen when he traded roles with his athletic
trainer one day and touched him powerfully. The trainer took immediate
notice and remarked on the effectiveness of Trager’s touch in alleviating
his physical discomfort. This was the beginning of the somatic research
that led Trager to the development of the Trager Approach to Psychophysical
14 Martha Eddy

Integration. When he was in his mid-forties he chose to go to medical 11. Agnes de Mille would
later make a point of
school to become a doctor. He continued to give daily sessions in his stating that Graham
unique somatic discipline in addition to maintaining a regular medical was not influenced
practice. As part of his approach, Trager developed a bodywork system as by Laban in her
explorations into self-
well a system of movement education called Mentastics. Trager’s work expression through
emphasizes moving “lighter, freer.” After 50 years of developing his work, new approaches to
in the mid-1970s, he was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. His dance (Graham Co
Programme notes
work was received with excitement and spread rapidly, he was know to 1998).
have a “gift as a healer”. He insisted that he was not a healer and that
anyone could learn these skills. (Trager Organization n.d.: 1)
Following in the footsteps of her teacher, Rudolf Laban, Irmgard Bartenieff
(1900–1981) was a dancer who helped to pioneer several new fields – dance
therapy, dance anthropology, Laban Movement Analysis, and her own
somatic system called ‘Bartenieff Fundamentals of Movement’. She was born
in Berlin, studied dance and movement analysis with Laban, and performed
dance with her husband, Igor Bartenieff. While in Germany, Bartenieff stud-
ied ‘Bindewebegung Massage’, known in the United States as ‘Connective
Tissue Therapy.’ Bartenieff experienced an abrupt dislocation from her home
in 1936 when, because her husband Igor was Jewish, she and her husband
caught one of the last boats out of Nazi Germany. Upon arrival in the United
States, they did not feel welcome in the dance community, which was then
dominated by Martha Graham.11 This lack of work in dance opened another
door, and both Igor and Irmgard Bartenieff studied to become physical thera-
pists. In time Irmgard found her way back into the world of dance in New
York by teaching dancers, as well as other professionals, the ‘Effort/Shape’
concepts of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) at the Dance Notation Bureau.
She also taught classes in ‘correctives’ that evolved into the Bartenieff
Fundamentals of Movement. Although the term ‘corrective’ reflected her
intent to find correct posture and movement efficiency, Irmgard always
taught through improvisational exploration and somatic inquiry, emphasiz-
ing attention to breath and developmental processes.
These pioneering individuals, born near the turn of the 20th century,
lived through much adversity and historical change. They discovered ways
to cope with diverse stressors by being present and active in their unified
body-mind experience. They also used systematic reflection and organiza-
tional skills to create tools to share with others, as well as methods by which
to teach them, and in this way are still helping new generations to cope
with the 21st century.
And there are other somatic movement practitioners, including those
who developed their own somatic movement systems, many of whom are
students of the progenitors. Indeed there are over 37 different somatic
movement certification programmes today. Francoise Mezieres and Marion
Rosen are two other important early pioneers. Each of these women were
students of the human body and were motivated to explore how to work
with touch and movement to heal. Rosen developed a movement system
referred to as ‘Rosen Movement’ (Knaster 1996). Mezieres’ work was
taught in universities and also influenced her student, Therese Betherat to
develop “The Anti-exercise Method”. While some dancers have trained to
do Mezieres, Trager and Rosen’s work, they have yet to have a strong
impact in dance curricula. More of their stories will be told in the future no

doubt, in large part because of protégés such as Therese Bertherat, Martha
Partridge, and Linda Chrisman.
New Generations of Somatic Leaders: Dancers motivated

by dance, global exchange and their students
Dance excites people to explore movement expression, deepen creative
skills, and investigate the body kinesthetically. More than a dozen more
somatic disciplines were born from the exploration of dance and somatic
education; numerous somatic founders began their professional lives as
dancers. Discovery through internalized and conscious exploration of a
physical or emotional challenge, supported at times by exposure to cul-
tures or thinking that values ‘diving inward,’ is a theme that repeats itself
through the generations.
Bartenieff’s story demonstrates how experience as a dancer can support
somatic investigation and become instantly applicable in dance classes. Like
her somatic peers, Bartenieff remained inquisitive throughout her life and
continued to study diverse movement forms. She discovered a Chi Kung
teacher while in her seventies, and found in this Chinese discipline a key to
her own graceful aging; Chi Kung aligned with her Laban-based philosophy
of integrating the functional and the expressive in movement, and her
principle of finding gradated rotation in movement (Bartenieff 1980: 19).
Bartenieff’s innovations were embraced within her programme training
‘Certified Movement Analysts’ replete with dance professionals. It was her
students within the CMA programme that encouraged her to name her own
work Bartenieff Fundamentals and to create ‘Bartenieff Instructor Training.’
The work of Elaine Summers (a student of Selver and Speads), Bonnie
Bainbridge Cohen, Emilie Conrad, Sondra Fraleigh, Anna Halprin, Joan
Skinner, and the late Nancy Topf all derived in part from their experiences
as dancers and was immediately applicable to the dance community. These
women have all played pivotal roles as leaders, and bridged the fields of
somatic education and dance. On their own and with their students, each
has taken bodily inquiry to new levels of human potential – as expressive
physical performers and as fully engaged human beings.
Elaine Summers developed ‘Kinetic Awareness’ when osteoarthritis
began to limit her dancing. She sought the help of Charlotte Selver and
Carola Speads, who taught her a somatic approach through deep aware-
ness to sensation. Prompted by her great drive, and by a dancer’s natural
inclination to creatively explore motion, she delved into kinesthetic and
kinetic investigation. Through movement and different positions in space,
she discovered principles and techniques that helped her continue to
dance. She developed techniques and “tests” often using small balls
(3–8cm in diameter) as stimuli for movement. Her cues invite slowing
down comfortably on the floor with the balls as mobile cushion. The goal
is to release each part of the body into gravity more fully, and most impor-
tantly, respond to the balls mobility with movement responses. Her
instructions highlight that this self-initiated breath and movement
activates the nervous system, the blood and the lymph.
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, occupational therapist, Certified Laban
Movement Analyst and dancer, founded the system of ‘Body-Mind
Centering®, (BMC®), in part to be able to understand and explain what it is
16 Martha Eddy

she did intuitively with her occupational therapy patients (Eddy 2002b).
She felt that she understood the mental-emotional aspect of her holistic
work, but at the same time she wanted to give voice to the particular way
in which she touched clients (Eddy interview 2001). Like other somatic
leaders, she has spent a good deal of her professional life exploring how
best to transfer this knowledge to her students. While her training in
Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) helps to organize and to confirm some
of her discoveries, Bainbridge Cohen cites over forty people in the ‘Lineage
of BMC – Homage to my teachers’ – an appendix in her book Sensing
Feeling and Action (1993: 158). This lineage includes professionals from
the United States, Asia and Europe. Bainbridge Cohen studied yoga in New
York, and practiced Aikido and Katsengen-Undo in the USA and in Japan.
She also studied with and taught for Erick Hawkins, trained with the Ohio
State University dance department while studying occupational therapy,
and has collaborated over the years with key players in the ‘Contact
Improvisation’ community (Lisa Nelson, Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark
Smith). Indeed as editors of Contact Quarterly, Nelson and Stark Smith
were first to publish descriptions of Cohen’s work (republished with
Bainbridge Cohen as author). Cohen’s early somatic training began with
Barbara Clark, protégé of Todd’s and was later deepened with Bartenieff.
Sondra Horton Fraleigh was born in Utah into a Mormon culture, always
dancing. As an adult she infused her dance exploration and theories with
Zen Buddhism, Butoh, and the work of Feldenkrais. A renowned scholar and
author in the field of phenomenology, especially as experienced through
dance, she developed ‘Shin Somatics’ as part of her ‘EastWest Somatics’. She
cites tutelage under Mary Wigman, Rosen’s use of breath to access emotions,
Ann Rodiger’s Alexander lessons, and Maxine Sheets as strong influences.
She is a proponent of effective communication, integrative bodywork and
meditation as part of her somatic process (Eddy interview 2003a).
While many somatic leaders were influenced by Asian practices, Emile
Conrad, founder of Continuum, was exposed to new paths of expression
through her Afro-Caribbean dance experiences. Conrad’s travels to the
Caribbean (Eddy 2002b) were a primary source in the development of the
work. As a dancer studying with Katherine Dunham, then through living
in Haiti, she (like Cohen), experienced and developed inroads to cellular
awareness through movement. Her own experience of oppression within
her family fueled her motivation to ‘break free’ by means of dance and
movement (Eddy interview 2002).
Anna Halprin, choreographer, performer, healer, and affirmer of
other people’s self-healing potential, not only used somatic focus as the
basis of her art-making but, together with her daughter Daria Halprin,
developed a model of health-supporting exploration that places the
Halprin work in the domain of somatic movement education and ther-
apy. Their work is also part of the field called ‘Expressive Arts Therapy’
or ‘Creative Arts Therapy’. Halprin chose to work with emotional expres-
sion because of her work with Fritz Perls. However, it was her dance
training with Margaret D’Houbler, whom Halprin likes to call ‘the
mother of somatics’, that first supported Halprin’s philosophy of holism.
D’Houbler asked her always to look for the meaning and expression of
movement (Eddy, 2003c). Influenced by the Halprin model, several other

somatic movement programmes choose to integrate expressive arts ther-
apy processes into their training programmes such as those of Daniel
Levin, Alice Rudkowski, and Kay Miller.
Joan Skinner founded ‘Skinner Releasing Technique’ while serving as
Chair of the Dance Department at the University of Washington. Her work
with imagination and visualization builds on elements of Mabel Todd’s
work, which she was exposed to through her first dance teacher during
childhood. As a Graham and Cunningham trained dancer, she was com-
pelled to work on her own to find an antidote to ‘pulling up,’ ‘holding on’,
and ‘gripping’. She also had an injury in 1954 that instigated an even
deeper self-investigation and led her to study the Alexander Technique
and apply her experience to ballet barre. As she went on to teach her dis-
coveries, she would use imagery, and the images became so powerful an
agent for change that she developed them to the point that they became a
signature of her method.
Nancy Topf (1942–1998) also trained with Joan Skinner, along with
Marsha Paludan as Joan’s assistant, and Mary Fulkerson, Pamela Matt,
and John Rolland as classmates. When Skinner left the University of
Illinois, Urbana to go to The University of Washington in Seattle, Topf
(and most of her colleagues) went on to study with Barbara Clark, who
was schooled in the work of Mabel Todd and who came to live in Urbana.
While Todd’s approach was deeply founded in anatomical imagery, Topf
became known for honing in on the importance of the center of the body
and the work of the psoas in efficient human expression. Since Topf’s
untimely death in a Swiss Air flight in 1998, graduates of her programme
have joined forces to continue, formalize, and promote the ‘Topf Technique’.
It became an official member of ISMETA in 1995. This information was
gathered through personal communications with her sister, dance educa-
tor, Peggy Schwartz (Eddy 2003e).
Others can be included in this roster of somatic leaders with a history
in dance. Judith Aston (Pare 2001; 2002) reaches out primarily to the
health and fitness community, but she too began dancing as a child, and
continued to study dance into her college years. At UCLA, Aston studied
with Rudolf Laban’s daughter, Juana De Laban, and with Valerie Hunt,
both schooled in Laban Movement Analysis. She also worked with dance
therapist Mary Stack Whitehouse. Each of these mentors encouraged her
to find her own answers rather than studying their systems. After incur-
ring spinal injuries after two car accidents in 1966 and 1967, she studied
with Ida Rolf. Aston helped expand upon the Mensendieck-based move-
ment programme that Dr. Rolf was offering. Aston’s work, together with
some contributions from Dorothy Nolte, helped to shape what is now
called ‘Rolf Movement’ but began as ‘Movement Analysis.’ Judith Aston
said:
Many people took the Movement Analysis course: Bob Prichard, Don
Hanlon Johnson, Mark Reese, Tom Myers … in fact everyone who trained
from 1971 to 1977 was required to take that course. Bill Williams, Roger
Pierce, Joseph Heller, Annie McCombs Duggan, Heather Wing, Louis
Schultz, and many others took my Movement Certification training and
in fact took classes for years. I think we were called ‘the dancers.’ I was
18 Martha Eddy

offended then – now I realize my highest goal is to continue dancing
through this life and beyond.
(Pare 2001: 7–8)
Since that time (1977), Aston has integrated her love of dance, fitness and
somatic awareness into her own work called ‘Aston Patterning.’ Similarly
Dorothy Nolte, Ph.D. has gone on to develop ‘Structural Awareness: Nolte
System of Movement Education.’ Rolf Movement also continues to grow
and be used by diverse dance professionals.
Movement practices designed by Mensendieck, shared by Rolf, and
then transformed by Aston and Nolte, illustrate how somatic movement
systems have evolved over the generations. The work of Feldenkrais is
reframed by the teaching of dancer Anat Banuel. Ilana Rubenfeld com-
bined Alexander, Feldenkrais and Gestalt principles to devise ‘Rubenfeld
Synergy’. Key ideas are reshaped and added to new ones. The end of the
twentieth century saw the burgeoning of dozens of new somatic move-
ment systems. Just from Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen alone, six new systems
in four different countries have been born – my own ‘Dynamic Embodiment
Somatic Movement Therapy Training’ (1990), Jacques van Eijden’s
‘Somatic Coaching’ (circa 1996), Suzanne Rivers’ ‘Global Somatics’ (circa
1999), Linda Hartley’s ‘Institute of Integrative Bodywork and Movement
Therapy’ (1995), Horst Viral’s ‘Somatic Movement-Art Training’ (2007),
and Mark Taylor and Katy Dymoke’s ‘BodyMind Movement Certification
programmes’ (2008). So, each programme blends influences from other
studies and experiences in the founders’ lives. Dynamic Embodiment uses
BMC and LMA/BF as key tools. Jacques van Eijden, formerly on the faculty
in the dance department of the Amsterdam Theatre school, teaches princi-
ples that can be used across disciplines. Linda Hartley has forged a path
that includes deep understanding of psychotherapy, while Suzanne Rivers
brings her own Native American and intuitive knowledge into her train-
ing process. Eric Franklin (a teacher of Ideokinesis) and Susan Klein cite
BodyMind Centering as among their influences: both studied Bartenieff
Fundamentals as well. Indeed, one of Franklin’s books uses a primary
Bartenieff concept – Dynamic Alignment – as its title; Franklin’s pro-
gramme is not a full ‘Somatic Movement Therapy’ or Education certifica-
tion but rather combines diverse somatic activities with Ideokinesis and
dance science to strengthen the dance experience. BodyMind Dancing©, a
dance form using principles of Dynamic Embodiment, is another case in
point; this training method uses dance to teach somatic concepts that can
be used during daily life, while of course training dancers to be more
somatically aware while dancing.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the historical emergence of each of
these somatic movement disciplines is that they defined, and now share, a
theme that there are many possibilities, no one truth, and always the
option to make choices if one chooses to take responsibility for one’s body
and living process. Whether this discovery came primarily from the major
historical shifts apparent during this time period, or in response to injuries
or illnesses that the medical profession had no answer for, or from having
been educated to accept a non-Cartesian point of view, or cross-fertilization
of Eastern and Western philosophies, or a combination of these factors, all
these progenitors spent long periods, mostly alone, engaged in somatic

research. These journeys of somatic exploration may not in an of them-
selves be unique but these leaders went on to articulate their processes
and often worked with their students to codify a method, or a series of
movement explorations, if not a full philosophy of how to be in the world
with the physical body.
Many other dancers, and some notable dance somatic scholars, have
contributed to the development of somatics as well. They are often con-
temporary dance professionals rather than founders of training programs.
Sylvie Fortin has studied, researched and taught dance somatics in
Australia, Canada, France, and the United States. Her dissertation research
was a cross-case analysis of the modern dance teaching of somatic move-
ment educators Glenna Batson, Martha Eddy, and Mary Willaford (Fortin
and Siedentop 1995).
Dance programmes and somatic psychology degrees have spawned the
growth of masters theses and doctoral dissertations on somatic movement
topics. A sampling of these programmes include: dance science (University
of Oregon; University of Maryland), dance/choreography (State University
of New York-Brockport, The Ohio State University), dance education
(Temple University, University of Central Lancashire, University of North
Carolina-Greensboro), somatic psychology (Naropa, California Institute of
Integral Studies, and Santa Barbara Graduate Institute), interdisciplinary
and liberal studies (International University of Professional Studies, SUNY-
Empire State College).
Dance settings have been especially potent for the teaching of ‘somat-
ics’ inclusive of somatic research methods. These classrooms value experi-
ential learning – learning by doing, being of the body. Since the advent of
modern dance, there is a precedent to spend time on the floor, to release
and relax with the support of the ground and to build upward from there.
Somatic education has been equally potent for dance by helping perform-
ers to heal from injuries and enhancing performance. The exchange
between somatic education and dance education is particularly important.
Within the Limon company, Ann Vachon (Ideokinesis) and Jennifer
Scanlon (Alexander Technique) both integrated somatic studies into their
teaching. When she was a member of the Trisha Brown company, Eva
Karzcag was another seminal teacher of choreography and dance using
Alexander principles. Trisha Brown credits long-term study of Alexander
Technique and Kinetic Awareness, with Elaine Summers, for alternatives
to how to hone her body for dancing (Griffin 2001: 30). For periods, Trisha
Brown’s company members studied the ‘Klein Technique’, a dance method
that was devised in large part from interaction with Collette Barry, long-
term patient of Irmgard Bartenieff’s and from Klein’s direct Laban/
Bartenieff studies. Contemporary dance is marked by Bartenieff’s ‘Big X
floor work’ even though many teachers are unaware of its beginnings
(Bartenieff 1980: 256). Students of Irmgard Bartenieff such as Susan Klein
who ran a dance studio in New York City together with Bartenieff’s physi-
cal therapy patient Colette Barry (and then later with Barbara Mahler)
extended the Bartenieff work to the dance community. Laura Glenn and
JoAnna Mendl Shaw continue to do so at Julliard. Janet Kaylo’ arrival at
the Laban Centre brought Bartenieff’s work to the dance community in
England. Glenna Batson (1990), Irene Dowd (1981) and Pamela Matt
20 Martha Eddy

(1993) are dance scholars who have taught the Ideokinesis work exten-
sively within the context of dance. Jill Green (2002; 2007) and Ellen
Saltonstall (1988) have been major proponents of ‘Kinetic Awareness’.
Feldenkrais has influenced dance pedagogy around the world. Nancy
Galeota-Wozny has integrated both Feldenkrais principles and somatic
scholarship into dance (Galeota-Wozny 2006) and also has written about
Barbara Forbes (former ballet mistress at the Joffrey and faculty at Sarah
Lawrence) and Catherine Paine’s exploration of Feldenkrais principles
with dance (Galeota-Wozny, 2002). Anat Banuel is a dancer and
Feldenkrais protégé who has developed her own training programmes.
This is just a small sampling of the intersections between dance perform-
ers and teachers and somatic practices. Dancers use somatic education to
strengthen technical capacity, expand expressiveness, and reduce inci-
dents of injury, as well as for self-development (Eddy 2002a; Eddy 2006).
It is no wonder that dance departments have become academic homes
for somatic work. Somatic psychology departments have also been
important, but dance programmes are much stronger advocates for
using bodily kinesthetic learning processes in the classroom: providing
courses that allow enough time for somatic exploration and proper envi-
ronments for somatic learning (Eddy 2000a). Both types of departments
provide classes, and also support publishing, journals themes, and con-
ferences. Key conferences and journals that cross-fertilize dance and
somatic education have been sponsored by the Congress on Research in
Dance, National Dance Association in the United States, CENIDI DANZA,
the National Center for Fine Arts (INBA) and the National School of
Dance in Mexico City, Palatine Higher Education Academy, Taipei
National University of the Arts, the University of Quebec/Montreal, and
Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne, among others. The
international visibility of the work is further witnessed through pro-
grammes at the University of Haifa, the Paris Conservatory, the Laban
Centre, The TheatreSchool in Amsterdam, Western Front in Vancouver,
TanzFabrik in Berlin, Moving Arts in Koln, and Universidad Javeriana
and Academia Superior de Artes de Bogota, Colombia. The State
University of New York has been pivotal in providing academic support
for dancers who also want to gain somatic certification while studying at
university level. The Laban/Bartenieff training, East/West Somatics,
Somatic Dance and Well-being, and Dynamic Embodiment Somatic
Movement Therapy Training training programmes have links to gradu-
ate level degrees. These have traditionally linked to dance degrees. The
DE-SMTT is now linked to a cross-disciplinary degree and to doctoral
studies as well.
What remains disturbing to me is how marginalized both somatic edu-
cation and dance continue to be despite our growing understanding of the
influence of the mind on the body, and the body on the mind. Does an
affiliation with dance strengthen the position of somatic education? And
likewise does the growth of “somatics” help strengthen the position of
dance in the academy at all? Certainly dance’s position is growing stronger
through its visibility on the front page of art sections of daily and weekly
papers; instead of the existence of doctoral programmes in dance; the pres-
ence of dance scholars in interdisciplinary plenary; and the role of dance

research in diverse conferences. Books such as The Body Has a Mind of Its
Own (Blakeslee & Blakeslee, 2009) that show how movement and aware-
ness heighten the neural “maps” for body schema, sensory and motor
activity, movement planning, and physical anomalies may help to sharpen
interest in somatic education. Neuro-science is helping to describe what
occurs during somatic processes. However, even while neuroscience is
becoming the rage, getting up (or lying down) to learn through movement
is still a rare educational experience. Perhaps the growth of scholarship in
somatic education, neuroscience, and creativity (as in dance) will boost
the investigation of each discipline and their interaction.
Oddly though, the growing body of research on creativity does not ade-
quately address dance. There is a meagerness of kinesthetic experience in
education across disciplines, including those subjects that focus on human
expression or movement studies – from kinesiology to cultural studies, to
physical and occupational therapy, to psychology. Most of these disciplines
remain unaware of somatic education as a resource. On the other hand
the dance community has heavily cited the work of Howard Gardner for
studying the genius of Martha Graham and bringing awareness to ‘kines-
thetic intelligence’ (Gardner 1993). However, Csikszentmihalyi’s research
has not included studies of dancers for their creativity as much as for the
ability to enter into ‘the flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi 1992). The “Creativity”
research that Csikszentmihalyi gives a capital “C” to includes interviews
with musicians and visual artists along with scientists, writers, and inven-
tors (Csikszentmihalyi 1996). Two statements in his early treatises may
point to why. He strongly contrasts creativity with ‘sex, sports, music and
religious ecstasy,’ pointing out that they are similar in that both give us
the feeling of living life to its fullest, even providing us at times with a uni-
versal connection, but different because the latter physical experiences are
only fleeting (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996:2), in that they don’t leave a lasting
product for future generations. Perhaps related to this, he does share his
awareness that creativity research has had little to say about the more
difficult aspects of human experience.
So we are in the paradoxical situation that novelty is more obvious in

domains that are often relatively trivial but easy to measure; whereas in
domains that are more essential novelty is very difficult to determine. There
can be agreement on whether a new computer game, rock song, or eco-
nomic formula is actually novel, and therefore creative, [it’s] less easy to
agree on the novelty of an act of compassion or of an insight into human
nature.
(Csikszentmihalyi 1996: 29)
Given that somatic education is perhaps even more elusive than dance, it
is no wonder that it too has not had a great deal of research attention.
However, there is a developing rigor in the disciplines of dance and
somatic education. Judith Lynne Hanna (2008) makes an exhaustive case
for the role of dance in education based on research and practice. The tau-
tology that the discipline of dance strengthens the body and soul is an
informal acknowledgement of the capacity of dance to train rigorously,
developing one’s ability to do more. Most dancers have carried two jobs,
22 Martha Eddy

two educational majors, two simultaneous projects, and/or two roles
within their organization (performer and fundraiser). Biographies provide
accounts of dance increasing discipline, as well as health and vitality
(Nagrin 1988). The somatic paradigm supports a hypothesis that awaken-
ing the body expands the mind and beckons somatic dance professionals
to become strong both of body and mind. Within the contexts of the acad-
emy, more somatic research can be shaped with this fortitude.
Both the movement practice itself and marginalization within society
has taught the dancer to work hard, to survive. Dance as a profession can
be debilitating. If dance is experienced through classes or performances in
an authoritarian and demeaning manner, it can be not only physically
injurious but diminishing of the soul. Since the 1970s more and more
dance professionals are discovering the usefulness of somatic education in
softening these deleterious challenges.
The marriage of dance education and somatic education has seen
numerous benefits – tips for longevity and the honing of our living instru-
ment, inroads to creative process (Calamoneri and Eddy 2006, Fraleigh
2003; Shapiro 1998), empowerment through self-authority (Green 2007),
and increasing communication (Eddy 2000b and 2004; Eddy 2003a;
Eddy 2003c; Eddy 2003d). The world of somatic education has secrets to
living life more fully – keys to finding and knowing when we are ‘in the
flow.’ Somatic awareness could be used for a step-by-step manual to docu-
ment that entry into ‘the flow’. Indeed choreography, and its documenta-
tion, allows for long-lasting expressions of essential insights into human
nature. When influenced by somatic inquiry, choreography and dance
should well become of increasing interest to academic inquiry, especially
as its impact on modern culture becomes more known.
Hopefully these stories about the men and women of the world of
somatic movement education and therapy, who have broadened our view
of health to include bridges between the medical and the intuitive – the
scientific and body wisdom – will invigorate those of you on this quest. It is
of interest to me how unique each of them was or is, and that the twentieth
was ripe for so many individuals to immerse themselves, independently, in
such similar pursuits. This to me is creativity in action. The dawning of the
field of somatic education seems to fit well within the parameters of being
‘creative’: the burgeoning of a novel idea or phenomenon by a person (or
persons), in interaction with a culture that also has a field of experts that
recognizes, challenges and promotes it (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). That field
of experts in both somatic education and in dance may only now be stand-
ing fully present. We now have a world culture that ripened within the
past 100 years with creative individuals drawn to somatic awareness con-
tinuing to be born. The dancer of the twenty-first century is well poised to
be creative, deeply conscious, supportive of a creative and aware culture,
and contribute generously to somatic scholarship.
Since somatic inquiry and dance share ineffable qualities, our chal-
lenge is to add to the canon of research methods and published works that
can speak to these more elusive domains. How brilliant and prescient
Feldenkrais was when he titled his last book, The Elusive Obvious (1989).
Human nature, the body, the sensation of living, are so obvious and yet
perceived as elusive. Dance and Somatic Education share the gauntlet:

Not to be Reprinted without Permission of Author.
24 Martha Eddy

how to study, awaken, and even canonize the ‘elusive obvious,’ and bring
forth the depth of knowledge that emerges from each field, separately and
together, out of the ranks of ‘fleeting moments’ and into the ranks of
Csikszentmihalyi’s ‘Creative,’ with a capital ‘C.’ Journals that print somatic
movement research and discourse, such as these, will play a critical role.
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26 Martha Eddy

Ross, J. (2007), Anna Halprin Experience as Dance. Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
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Interviews
Eddy, M. (2001), ‘Interview with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Len Cohen’,
Amherst, Ma., 22 October.
Eddy, M. (2002), ‘Interview with Emilie Conrad’, New York, NY: 25 October.
Eddy, M. (2003a), ‘Interview with Sondra Horton Fraleigh’, from Brockport, NY
by Telecommunication, 3 July.
Eddy, M. (2003b), ‘Interview with Martha Myers’, New London CT, 30 July.
Eddy, M. (2003c), ‘Interview with Anna Halprin’, Kentfield, CA, 3 November.
Eddy, M. (2003d), ‘Interview with Elaine Summers’, New York, NY, 8 November.
Eddy, M. (2003e), ‘Interview about Nancy Topf with Peggy Schwartz’, email cor-
respondence: January–December.
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telecommunication, 26 April.
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Suggested citation
Eddy, M. (2009), ‘A brief history of somatic practices and dance historical develop-
ment of the field of somatic education and its relationship to dance’, Journal of Dance
and Somatic Practices 1: 1, pp. 5–27, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.5/1
Contributor details
Martha Eddy, CMA, RSMT, Ed.D. is Director of the Dynamic Embodiment Somatic
Movement Therapy Training (DE-SMTT) affiliated with Moving On Center (www.
MovingOnCenter.org) and in partnership with the State University of New York –
Empire State College (www.ESC.edu/MALS), housed at the Center for Kinesthetic
Education (www.WellnessCKE.net) in New York City. CKE provides somatic move-
ment sessions to individuals of ALL ages and professional consulting to schools,
hospitals, and community centers in the use of movement and kinesthetic aware-
ness in education, health, and creative endeavors.
Contact: CKE: 49 West 27th Street #MezzB NY NY 10001, USA.
Tel: 1-212-414-2921
E-mail: MarthaEddy@WellnessCKE.net
<mailto:MarthaEddy@WellnessCKE.net>
www.WellnessCKE.net <http://www.wellnesscke.net/>

Choreographic
Practices
ISSN 2040-5669 (1 issue | Volume 1, 2010)
Editors Aims and Scope

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Formative support and connection:

somatic movement dance education
in community and client practice
Amanda Williamson University of Central Lancashire
Abstract Keywords
This article articulates some of the key features and philosophical standpoints connection
currently employed by Somatic Movement Dance Educators in community and support
client-based practice. Community and client practice is a newly formed profes- heart
sion in the UK. This article explains some of the defining features of commu- relaxation
nity practice, particularly ‘formative processes of connective support’ – such as: community
biologic movement, relaxation support, heart-felt connections, inter-connective companionship
support and open-ended models of self-discovery. In doing so, the article also self-realisation
addresses many unspoken elements of international practice – namely the cul-
tivation of human qualities such as companionship, gentleness, heart, vitality,
pleasure, empathy and compassion. Further to this, there is a discussion of key
skills required to work within contemporary practice and generic international
concerns pertaining to the field at large.
As we mature, and our organism continues adapting to the physical require- 1. The first ISMETA
ments of the stimuli in our gravitational world, we also adapt to the affective- Masters Degree train-
ing professionals to
emotional and habitual requirements of our social world. This adaptation work in the field of
takes place initially in our family[,] and later as we move further out into community and client
our culture. We currently find ourselves adapted to the demands of a hi- practices developed
in the UK in 2007
tech, mechanistic society, unconsciously – often ritualistically – repeating at The University of
the same movements, both neuro-muscularly and feelingly day after day. Central Lancashire.
(Abrams 2009: 2–3) ‘MA Dance &
Somatic Well-being:
Connections to
This article articulates some of the key features and philosophical stand- the Living Body’
points currently employed by Somatic Movement Dance Educators in com- is approved by
‘The International
munity and client-based practices. Community and client practices are a Somatic Movement
newly formed profession in the UK. In 2007, the University of Central Education and
Lancashire developed the first vocational Masters Degree in ‘Somatic Therapy Association’
(ISMETA). This pro-
Movement Dance Education: Community and Client Practices’. The MA is gramme of study was
approved and academically supported through registry by ‘The International founded by Amanda
Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association’ (ISMETA).1 This Williamson and
developed through
highly innovative international development gives academic visibility to a research in New
largely under-acknowledged strand of practice within mainstream univer- England over a period
sity curricula, and supports practitioners world-wide by raising the status of three years. The
curriculum was
of Somatic Movement Dance Education (within community and client con- designed through a
texts) to the level of viable academic study and professional practice. This thematic literature
JDSP_1.1_03_art_Williamson.indd 29 6/8/09 10:21:14 AM

review and practice- new strand of practice is distinctly marked by high degrees of socio-political
as-research, with
leading figures, such
reflection, non-violent communication, non-hierarchical reflective frame-
as Daniel Leven works, biologic temporality, and restful resonance. In essence, it could be
and Mary Abrams, referred to as a model of ‘Dance and Human Companionship’.2
supporting radical
innovation in the
Somatic Movement Dance Education in community and client contexts
field: this initiative has been shaped through different strands of practice and a far wider para-
was supported by digmatic movement advocating depth-connection and connectivity.3 When
Professor Sarah
Whatley from
we talk of Somatic Movement Dance Education, we are not dealing with
Coventry University. one specific practice or a singular praxis. On the one hand, we are making
Across the USA, reference to a paradigm (a vast body of international knowledge) that
there are a number
of highly successful
shares an ethos and (gentle) socio-political remit – for example, the inter-
ISMETA-approved national community shares generic concerns, and central principles inform
training programmes training across continents.4 On the other hand, we are referencing a world-
in community and
client-based practices.
wide body of individual practitioners (real people) who tend to develop
See for example: unique praxis arrived at through extremely high levels of creative synthe-
Daniel Leven, Martha sis, as well as spiritual, emotional, aesthetic, and political individuality.5
Eddy, Anna
Halprin, and Emilie
The field shares an international language developed through much trans-
Conrad – all of global exchange. In reality, however, international practice can be mark-
these programmes edly different in aesthetic form and pedagogical intent from one continent
foreground the impor-
tance of bringing
to the next.6 In this article, I am specifically referring to a unique genre of
somatic awareness community practice developing in the UK – the influential roots of this
to the general public strand can be largely traced to the USA and attributed to the radical
and community. For
further details of com-
groundbreaking work of Anna Halprin, Daniel Leven, Emilie Conrad, and
munity programmes Mary Abrams.7 Many of the principles located within this strand are educa-
and organizations tional principles formed through ISMETA’s life-affirming scope of practice.8
approved by ISMETA,
see http://www.
Historically and philosophically, community practice shares common
ismeta.org/. The ground with the integration of applied somatic movement education
International Somatic within university dance curricula.9 Both strands are deeply influenced by
Movement Education
and Therapy
‘ecosomatic perspectives’ and actively shaped through a pedagogical con-
Association promotes cern for the ‘decentralization of decision-making’ and ‘a shift from outside
a high standard of authority to self-responsibility’ (Enghauser 2007; Eddy 2002b: 47). Both
professionalism in
the field of somatic
are distinctly marked by the concept of perceptual autonomy developed
movement education through an easeful and deeply-sensed relationship with body-self; educators
and therapy through work to cultivate a sense of self which can potentially escape or transcend
advocacy and main-
taining a registry of
objectification, albeit within dominant cultural values which place impor-
professional practi- tance on external perceptions of the body (Green 1999).10 Key philosophi-
tioners. cal standpoints, such as the internalization of authority, self-awareness,
2. This strand is a self-knowledge, and self-education, inform training and aesthetics, as well
model of dialogical as community and client practices. Both strands are part of a quiet politi-
companionship: by
this, I mean dance is
cal movement based on the belief that we have the capacity and personal
used as a process to agency to direct and/or redirect our lives through gentle self-reflexive
reflect and enhance processes; becoming active agents in our experience, sensually alive, and
life within a commu-
nity context through
co-actively engaged with our world. This is a defining feature of Somatic
non-invasive meth- Movement Education generally.11
ods of listening and Community and client-based practices differ because they are not con-
creativity.
cerned with the advancement of performance, or how applied somatic
3. To gain an early education supports technical training, or how it shapes aesthetics.
Euro-American view Community educators are primarily concerned with helping people move
of the roots and devel-
opment of embodied into life again after a period of stress, fatigue, world-weariness, and disil-
and somatic practices, lusionment. The body, already layered with meaning, weighed heavy with
30 Amanda Williamson

socio-cultural value judgements, burdened and pressured, requires a dif- please see Don
Hanlon Johnson
ferent type of socio-communal space – a space of reorientation developed (1995). For further
through organismic rest, ease, and communal connection. Somatic educa- discussions on how
tors are all too aware of the impact cultural values, societal structures, the field developed,
see Johnson (1997),
and familial/ancestral lineage can have on the body.12 Given this, educa- and for an even
tors go for simplicity and do not impose pre-existing theory upon a client wider look at the
or community. Body classifications, typologies, and overarching grand paradigm in a con-
temporary context,
theories of analysis and interaction are rarely used, if at all.13 Educators see Ian Macnaughton
consciously choose to work in a manner which does not impose knowl- (2004). The following
edge or hold a fixed truth about the body or health. Practices of heart-felt are just a few of
the professional
companionship, experiential anatomy, spacious presence, biologic tempo- categories which form
rarily, simplicity, minimalism, and non-analytical frameworks define part of a far wider
much community work. Offering simplicity to the complexity of lived expe- paradigm advocating
depth-connection
rience is a key skill required to work within the profession. and connectivity:
Community and client practices are part of a wider supportive and Somatic Integration
connective paradigm, a body of knowledge advocating the healthy benefits Techniques,
Somatic Movement
of connection and support. This body of knowledge straddles both per- Structural Integration
formance and community work. Finding support in the moving body is a Techniques, Somatic
basic premise and discerning feature of Somatic Movement Dance Movement Education,
Somatic Movement
Education, and there is a growing body of international knowledge explor- Therapy, Applied
ing the positive effects of connection and bodily support.14 Connection to Somatic Movement
the body, support within the body, and supportive communications Education to Dance/
Performance
between bodies are definable aspects shaping the field. Studies, and Applied
Figure 1: Brigitte Carr Visioning the body Photo: AnneMarie Nissen.
Formative support and connection 31

Somatic Movement In relation to the above, this article will articulate some of the defining
Education to Dance
in Community and
features of community practice, and particularly what I term ‘formative proc-
Client Practices. esses of connective support’– these are: biologic movement as support, relax-
Please visit ISMETA ational support, heart-felt connections and inter-connective support, and
to observe the clear
distinctions between
open-ended models of self-discovery. In doing so, I will address some of the
various schools of unspoken elements of practice – namely the cultivation of human qualities of
practice and to view companionship, gentleness, heart, vitality, pleasure, empathy, and compas-
the orientation of
a far wider body of
sion. These subtle but essential qualities are embedded within somatic move-
knowledge in con- ment exercises and reflective dialogical processes.15 As such, these qualities
temporary contexts. are key skills required to work within contemporary practice and play an
Visit approved train-
ing programmes to
integral part in the training of community practitioners. Qualities such as
observe generic and gentleness and companionship are cultivated in order to explore the health
shared discourse, benefits of embodied personal and transpersonal experiential support.
whilst noting differ-
ence and variety in
approach. Models of connectivity and support
4. Educators working
within this paradigm Our general everyday life is often formed through habitual movement pat-
share a similar con- terns which greatly ‘diminish our essential ability to adapt and to be crea-
cern about the status
tive’, and this results ‘in a trapped condition known as over-stabilization’.
of the material body
and the way in which We experience over-stabilization physically by feeling sluggish, dense, and
dominant culture lacking in resiliency, by breathing rigidly and shallowly, and by losing our
neglects the body as
capacity to recognize and value subtle sensations and movements.
a source of positive
knowledge and a (Abrams 2009: 2–3)
site of active change.
Anna Halprin (2000) Somatic Movement Dance Educators are trained in models of connectivity
and Daria Halprin
(2003) are perhaps and support. Often clients come to sessions because they feel alone,
the most radical and fatigued, isolated, and alienated – usually people feel something is missing
politically active in their lives – a sense of joy or vitality has disappeared from their lived
writers in relation to
the cultural neglect experience, and there is a need to be met and heard without judgement.
of the body and the Clients often articulate an uncomfortable feeling of ‘estrangement’, sens-
body within healthy ing their body needs some attention and care. Miranda Tufnell notes,
community – both
write on how we
can activity shape [d]espite a culture in many ways obsessed with the body, its fitness, appearance[,]
our relationship to etc., we are curiously estranged from the feeling world of our bodies – from the
the world through
fostering depth- constellations of sensation, memory, intuition, emotion, instinct[,] and dream
connection. Please see that our bodies generate to keep us in touch with ourselves and the world.
Tom Myers (1998) (Tufnell 2000: 10–11)16
for an excellent
exploration of socio-
political concerns and Even when surrounded by family and friends, clients often articulate a feel-
an overview of the ing of ‘aloneness in the world’, expressing feelings of bodily dissipation,
neglect of the body
within mainstream exhaustion and perceptual experiences of disintegration. Much international
educational systems. practice addresses the paradox that we are alone yet deeply connected. As
See Sandra Fraleigh such, practices are shaped by models of self-support (how we support our
(1987) for an in-
depth exploration aloneness, finding enough support within our own body) and depth-connec-
of re-embodiment tion with others (how we stay present, spacious, curious, bright and alive;
addressed through fostering positive connections). Initially, connectivity is fostered through
existential phenome-
nology. Key principles experiential processes which contact a deeper sense of vitality, usually located
which orientate the within the body’s moving physiology.17 Connecting to the innate and myste-
field internationally rious intelligence of body helps people to feel part of creation again: connec-
include: raising the
tion and exploration of mystery is a definable aspect of practice.

In addition, educators address alienation from the sensate through radi- status of the body as
a site of knowledge
cal models of kinaesthetic education. For example, traditional education and a site of positive
teaches people to know the world through the exteroceptive system, prima- change, becoming
rily the visual and auditory. As Tom Myers notes, we learn about our world a co-active agent
in the world, and
and what is ‘going on at some distance from our bodies’, and the kinaesthetic consciously making
sense (what we feel in and through our body) is undervalued (Myers 1998: decisions based on the
102).18 Within community work, we strive to cultivate an intimate relation- acquisition of knowl-
edge felt through the
ship to our body through investigating kinaesthesia and to explore how our body.
perceptual knowledge of the world is greatly enriched through fostering a
5. High levels of indi-
sensitive and conscious engagement with proprioception and interoception.19 vidual expressive
Most contemporary practice is formulated through the concept of a sensibility and socio-
communal ‘holding environment’ where the body is nurtured through political reflection
define individual
models of self-reflexivity, non-judgment, and open-ended processes of self- praxis, contributing to
discovery.20 The holding environment works to eliminate habitual pat- the development and
terns of judgment, competition, and humiliation, as well as interactive uniqueness of the field
across continents.
communications based on attack and defence, all of which are viewed as Please see ISMETA to
antithetical to health and well-being.21 It is a philosophical framework of view the individual-
bodily support, self-education, and positive growth. Educators work ity of programme
directors, their
through practicing curiosity, which explores care for the body, care for political and spiritual
life, and care for another. In relation to the above, community practice is standpoints, and the
by nature compassionate, life-affirming, and self-reflexive – a kind-hearted uniqueness of their
programmes. ISMETA
presence and considered appreciation for the body marks the discipline. acknowledges the
Many of these human qualities and socially reflective aspects of praxis cross-pollination
remain undefined or peripheral to our understanding of the field. of practice – the
organization supports
unique development
through cross-polli-
Formative support nation and personal
creativity, while advo-
cating the importance
We are sensate beings in a sensate world, constantly in sensate relationship of referencing lineage.
with the people and the environment surrounding us. It is through our bod-
6. A good example of
ies that we make and break contact with our sensate world. In the womb as difference in aesthetic
the body grows and develops[,] we perceive everything around us through form and pedagogical
our bodies. Our bodies are ourselves in this world; they are the source of our intent can be seen,
for example, in work
knowledge about ourselves and the world. of Daniel Leven
(Hayes 2007: 2) and Emilie Conrad.
Both ISMETA direc-
tors have developed
The beauty of somatic work is in its simplicity. Initially, formative support is unique somatic
fostered through simple, yet powerful, sensory-perceptual processes. The sen- processes which are
sate precedes perception and interpretation; it is valued as a site of change vastly different in
aesthetic form, but at
and deep release from fixed perceptual and interpretive patterns (McHose root share the same
and Frank 2006: 1).22 Encouraging people to move within the sensate invites concern for the body,
the possibility of change, and this is an important process which supports care of body and care
for the communal
and connects people to wider aspects of life. Many clients attend sessions body. For further
because they feel stuck. Moving in the sensate allows people to journey into details, see: http://
the pre-reflective, and it is here they can dream ‘the new’ or find positive www.ismeta.org/
leven.html and http://
sense-streams of experiential support. Educators invite clients to explore the www.ismeta.org/
sensory realm in order to widen perception, re-pattern perception, and/or continuum.html
gain more autonomy over perception (Tufnell and Crickmay 2004, McHose 7. Anna Halprin,
and Frank 2006). Attention to breathing, sensing, grounding, and connec- founder of the
tivity are also considered vital experiential processes – such processes help us ‘Halprin Process’, is

Figure 2: Rebecca Weber Reflective Drawing after Moving Photo: AnneMarie Nissen.
the forerunner of this to connect to the external environment and with the internal body (Brodie
particular strand of
community practice.
and Lobel 2004).23 Focusing on the breath, blood, and heart are other key
Her groundbreaking experiential processes offered as formative support and used to cultivate con-
work uses dance as nective presence (Hayes 2007: 8). Further to this, support is explored via
a healing art and
compassionate, inte-
invitations to experience a more conscious relationship to gravity, weight,
grative tool within mass, space, and flow (McHose and Frank 2006: 9–13). Educators encour-
community, and age an experience of anatomy and moving physiology as the ground of being,
has shaped the field
internationally. Daniel
our formative life support.24 Developing a felt relationship to body through
Leven, founder of interoceptive kinaesthesia (sensory-perceptual awareness of the internal
‘Shake Your Soul®’ body) is used to form the basis of ‘self support’ – an experience of support
and ‘The Art and Soul
of Healing through
encountered and sustained from within body-self. Giving the sensory life of
Movement’, is another the body attention, through gentle, slow interoceptive process, is central to
radical, innovative finding support.
practitioner cur-
rently developing
praxis in relation to
community, heart,
Biologic movement as support
positive interaction,
and healing. Emilie Our bodies, as our lives, are shaped by movement – from the changing pulse
Conrad, founder of
of our hearts, tides of our breath, to the movement of thoughts, feelings,
‘Continuum’, has
been instrumental in sensations, dreams. In each moment of life[,] we are touched[,] moved by a
developing movement myriad of impulses and stimuli, which the body registers and responds to,
focusing on fluid and
whether we notice it or not…. Movement informs us to how and where we
depth-connection with
self and earth. Mary are; without the sensation and stimulus of movement[,] we lose a sense of
Abrams, Director of what is going on within us.
Movingbodyresources
(Tufnell 2000: 9, 11)

Even more formative is finding support within movement itself. As Emilie and president of
ISMETA, is a key
Conrad points out, ‘movement is what we are, not something we do’ (Gintis figure, playing a
2007: 16; original emphasis). Whether we are conscious of it or not, we central role in the
are movement even at the most microscopic level of being, and an essen- development of
somatic work within
tial feature of what it means to be human is movement. However, Emilie’s community and
statement often eludes our general cultural awareness and certainly client-based work.
escapes our daily lived experience. There is a call by writers such as Bonnie 8. Educationally and
Gintis to rediscover the instinct to engage with the ‘movement that is at philosophically,
the core of our biologic identity’, allowing ‘the motion that is already ISMETA programmes
are informed by the
present to be augmented’ (Gintis 2007: 16). Across the field, support is following ‘scope
explored through attentive movement explorations which contact the of practice’: The
micro-movement present within fluid systems (see Conrad 2007, purpose of somatic
movement educa-
Bainbridge 1993, Hartley 1995). ‘We can find endless amounts of support tion and therapy is
through the moving body’, particularly when we are invited to move in to enhance human
response to ‘the motion that is already present’ within us (Abrams inter- processes of psycho-
physical awareness
view 2008, Gintis 2007: 16). Proposing that we can find support through and functioning
movement, and within the rhythms of fluid, can be life changing when through movement
the idea becomes experientially felt. Coupled with greater degrees of learning. Practices
provide the learning
kinaesthetic awareness (the ability to feel ‘you’ moving through space and conditions to: focus
know where ‘you’ are), produces an integrated experience where the outer on the body, both as
body is moved by its own internal fluid flow – this is referred to as cultivat- an objective physical
process and as a sub-
ing depth-support-in-movement. jective process of lived
consciousness; refine
perceptual, kinaes-
thetic, proprioceptive,
Movement invites change and interoceptive
sensitivity that sup-
When made conscious, and when entered into as mindful expression, move- ports homeostasis
and self-regulation;
ment becomes a vehicle for insight and change. As creative and mindful
recognize habitual
movers, we are able to explore whatever rises to the surface, experimenting, patterns of perceptual,
opening up, and investigating ourselves in new ways. postural, and move-
ment interaction with
(Halprin 2003: 18)
one’s environment;
improve movement
‘As we mature, and our organism continues adapting to the physical coordination that
requirements of the stimuli in our gravitational world, we also adapt to supports structural,
functional, and
the affective-emotional and habitual requirements of our social world’ expressive integra-
(Abrams 2009: 2). Because movement is constantly evolving, never- tion; and experience
ending, altering, shifting, and unfolding, it is an exceptional site of an embodied sense of
vitality and extended
change – a site where new perceptions are formed, re-formed, and/or capacities for living.
altered. Infinite possibilities are called into play where newly experienced See http://www.
movement articulation creates insight, widens our perceptions and ismeta.org/about.
html#scope
invites change. Educators help people to ‘unlock the shapes everyday
life has enforced upon them’ (Tufnell practice observation January 9. The application of
somatic movement
2009). Praxis, which offers the possibility of perceptual epiphany illu- systems to Dance
minating how body-self orientates in the world, is a central feature Studies explores how
within community practice. Open-ended processes of self-discovery are applied experiential
knowledge enhances
taught through somatic movement improvisations which help clients performance, tech-
learn new patterns and perceive new sensations – ‘[i]n improvisation, nical training, and
we can try things out, make discoveries, take risks, do it again’, and ‘[f] teaching methodolo-
gies. Applied somatic
eelings and experiences are transformed through this dynamic use of movement education
creativity’ (Halprin 2003: 19). within the dominant

Figure 3: Susanna Recchia Finding Ground Photo: AnneMarie Nissen.
paradigm of Western Relaxational support

Theatre Art Dance
explores how somatic Support is fostered through relaxation and particularly through exercises
education supports which contact the parasympathetic nervous system.25 Practice designed
performance, around relaxation, focusing on parasympathetic processes, is a strong
shapes aesthetics,
and contributes to feature of community work and contemporary practice. Somatic educators
positive life-affirming use parasympathetic processes to support ‘self-reflective, digestive, recep-
teaching methods. tive, and process-orientated’ experience (Hartley 1995: 253). As Julie Brodie
See key theorists,
such as Batson and and Elin Lobel (2004: 80) note, ‘[s]hifting the focus from product (skill
Schwartz (2007a, acquisition) to process (what is actually happening in the body)’ is a funda-
2007b), Brodie and mental principle in dance pedagogy which utilizes somatic awareness.
Lobel (2004, 2006),
Ahearn (2006), and Rather than achieving anything, somatic work may simply focus on para-
Eddy (2006). See, for sympathetic processes, such as attention to the felt and lived experience of
example, Coventry breathing. A gentle reanimation into felt-life through the ‘silent sensing of
University, De
Montfort University, breath’ is often central in community practice (Hayes 2007: 8). Attention
and John Moores to the parasympathetic using meditative processes creates a spatiality of
University for excel- presence, an embodied experience of spaciousness, and a spatiality of being. In
lent examples of the
integration of somat- part, educators encourage a release into what I term our biological or phys-
ics into university iological temporality, meaning that feeling and experience is deeply felt
dance curricula. within the rhythms of the body rather than through the abstraction and
Please see Martha
Eddy (2006, 2002), pressure of clock-time. In relation to this, the discipline forms and contrib-
Jill Green (1999), utes to what Tom Myers has termed the bodywork relaxational paradigm
and Sylvie Fontin (1998: 111).26 ‘Somatic methods rely largely on augmented sensory proc-
(1995), who are
key authors in the esses (in stillness [and] movement). In other words, more time is spent
application of somat- attending to slow, gentle, quiet movement or body scanning at rest’ (Batson

and Schwartz 2007b: 71). Slowing down is a key aspect of support, and the ics to Dance Studies
and Education.
concepts of self-care and self-nurturing are important aspects in this work –
slowing down, resting, and relaxing are essential elements of practice.27 10. For further discus-
sion, please see Jill
The development of somatic movement processes which orientate the Green (1999), who is
body towards deep rest and anatomical ease is of increasing importance a key theorist writing
among the international community. Kinaesthetic awareness is often about dominant cul-
tural values, agency,
fostered in order to locate what I term sense-streams of experiential support, and autonomy. Her
which in turn maximizes pleasure and alleviates stress within the organ- work is groundbreak-
ism. A central therapeutic aspect of this work is an experience of inner sup- ing in relation to
understanding dance
port felt through the pleasure of discerning what feels good, restful, and/or and discourses of
invigorating through movement. For example, listening to how ‘the organ- power.
ism seeks to maximise its experience of vitality in any given moment’
11. See Daria Halprin
through sense streams which provide information about what is not feeling (2003) and Anna
very well and shifting the body ‘toward affective pleasure and ease’ (Abrams Haplrin (2000) for
interview 2008). Support is realized through an affective experience of writing on the possi-
bility of social change
pleasure and sensory comfort, which in turn creates an immediate sense of through community
well-being and joyful, attentive connection with body-self. praxis developed
through somatic
awareness.
Heart-felt connections and inter-connective support 12. Within ISMETA and

across the wider
contextual paradigm,
The heart is a powerful muscle that pumps life-sustaining blood throughout Daria Halprin (2003)
the whole body. It is the central organ of the circulatory system. A special is one of the most
vocal writers about
artery, the ‘coronary’ artery, the vessels of which literally ‘crown’ the top how the body is
of the heart, carries freshly oxygenated blood first to the heart itself. The impacted by cultural
heart first nourishes itself so that it may nourish the rest of the body. By values.
nature[,] we must too nourish and nurture ourselves first in order to sustain 13. Educators are aware
the resources with which we can nurture others. of post-Jungian
psychology, mod-
(Hartley 1995: 203) els of Dance and
Depth Psychology,
Developing an easeful relationship with body-self, using somatic processes Psychoanalysis in
movement, and
based on experiencing the kinetic and material presence of the heart, is a Somatic Psychology
strong feature and growing area of experimentation, both nationally and analytical models.
internationally.28 Cultivating a resonant and lived connection to the heart is Educators consciously
choose to work in
encouraged in dyadic process in order to counter experiences of feeling a manner which
alone, disconnected and alienated. Interoceptive awareness of heart sup- doesn’t impose knowl-
ports a self-directed reorientation towards life with passion and greater edge or hold a fixed
truth about the body
degrees of well-being, both personally and socially. A heartfelt connection to or health. See Pallero
others is fostered through talking and moving while staying in resonant (2003) and Hayes
connection with the heart. As Linda Hartley notes, ‘The heart expresses (2007) for Dance
Movement Therapy
both our human sensibility and our potential for wholeness. It concerns and Transpersonal
sharing in a deep sense, the giving of and receiving into ourselves’ (Hartley practices which
1995: 203). Within this work, connection to the heart is nurtured in order use theoretical
frameworks.
to explore a quality of humanness and companionship with heartfelt pres-
ence. Heartfelt connections are developed through experiencing heart-in-self 14. This paradigm is best
viewed through The
and self-as-heart, extending and connecting to another while maintaining a International Somatic
sense of one’s own vitality, ground, and felt substance. Connection to the Movement Therapy
heart is encouraged through interoceptive listening, and in particular, and Education
Association (ISMETA).
through locating physiological support in the breath, blood, and heart – the Many of the key
‘silent sensing of breath and blood’ (Hayes 2007: 8). figures in the field,

Figure 4: Francis Angol Talking Heart Photo: AnneMarie Nissen.

Big heart: strong legs such as Anna Halprin,
Emilie Conrad, Daniel
‘If you’re gonna have a big heart, you’d better grow strong legs’ (Abrams Leven, and Sondra
practice observation 2008). Legs carry our hearts through the world, and Fraleigh run training
heart likes to grow roots, e.g., to know its ground and its resonant belonging programmes through
ISMETA. Connection
to earth (fluid, spirit, breath). However, the heart also carries the legs through and support under-
the world. The heart, if deeply sensed, can orientate the entire body: the heart pins the ethos and
knows where it wants to go, and listening to the kinetic presence of heart re- curricular design of
many of these train-
orientates the body-in-world. Feeling dissonance, brokenness, and absence of ing programmes. For
heart is common in human experience, but feeling the kinetic presence of good examples of
heart through a deeply sensed and dialectal relationship with the reality of its training programmes
exploring depth-
organismic functioning can alter and reshape life with heart. Conscious connection with body
awareness of the heart, positioned deeply within the core of body, moving life- and community,
blood throughout and to the peripheral body, harmonizes dissonance through see Daniel Leven’s
‘Leven Trainings in
internal connectivity and awareness of life-sustaining energy. Consciousness Movement Therapy’,
of core/distal interconnectivity, through a felt experience of the oxygenation Anna Halprin’s
of blood, supports moments of homeostasis. The heart has a function, and it is to ‘Tamapla Institute’,
and Amanda
move towards and into life with greater degrees of courage and clarity. Giving Williamson’s cur-
people the permission to focus on their heart is perhaps one of the most pro- ricular design of
ductive and life-affirming offerings in this work. Languaging the heart through the Masters pro-
gramme ‘Dance &
poetic and mytho-poetic reflections, via an awareness and lived relation to the Somatic Well-being:
existential reality of heart, is an emerging theme across continents. Connections to the
Living Body’.
15. In good practice,
Models of self-discovery and the imagination somatic movement
exercises should
always be accom-
We contemplate sensate experience and we meditate upon, empathise with, panied by reflective
and imagine sensate experience. Our impressions of life are received through dialogical processes –
the channels of the senses, and memory and the imagination seem to be able these are processes
where clients talk
to re-conjure and enhance sensual and emotional experience. about their moving
(Hayes 2007: 10) experience with a
companion. Within
the field, we work to
The field is based on the belief that we have the capacity and personal balance the verbal
agency to direct and/or redirect our lives through gentle self-reflexive proc- with the non-verbal
esses; these processes help us to actively participate in the world, discover and the pre-reflective
with the reflective.
more about ourselves, and make change if called to do so. Self-reflexive
models are somatic processes that do not use any analytical or advisory 16. Miranda Tufnell is
a key practitioner
framework, but rather encourage subjective reflection with the support of a working in the UK
heart-full companion. In doing so, they aim to gently support people through within the context of
self-realization. Models of self-reflexivity are best understood as open-ended client and community
practice. She is one of
processes of self-discovery, where people are given the time and space to the seminal authors
subjectively experience their body moving and then reflect on their moving and practitioners
experience, usually with a companion. The way we move reflects our feel- contributing to the
connective paradigm
ing-state and such processes offer an excavation of feeling-state which is in community and
often habitual – these processes offer support at the level of locating habit client practices,
and instigating change. Often, processes shift from deep body listening into exploring how health
is improved when we
pre-reflective moving time (moving in the sensate prior to reflection or inter- feel connected and
pretation). This is followed by a reflective period of drawing and/or writing, supported.
culminating in talking and dialogical companionship. People are encour- 17. Experiential practice
aged to gently explore the possibility of change through attending to them- which contacts our
selves within and through their own lived sensory experience. moving physiology
was initially

developed by Bonnie The experience of awareness: embodied imagination provides clarity by
Bainbridge Cohen revealing the myths we live by. It lets soul speak through metaphor and so
(1993) and Emilie
Conrad (2007). reconnects us with our inner life. It is in moments of symbolic authenticity
Cohen is one of the that soul is stirring. This brings strength and direction.
founding figures of (Hayes 2007: 14–15)
Somatic Movement
Education and created
movement explora- Across the field, the imagination is viewed as an extension and expression
tions contacting the of sensate experience. The imagination is dependant upon the body and
following fluid sys-
tems: arterial/venous; sourced through sense perception – we sense, we perceive, we imagine. It is
synovial; cellular; utilized as a primary and very real support. It is not viewed as irrational,
inter-cellular; lymph; but rather as an integral tool in developing self-awareness and a major
and cerebrospinal.
Conrad developed a initiator of change. Given this, the imagination is an incredible source with
system based on the which to language and express our most fundamental level of existence,
fluid intelligence of the sensate. Within sensory imaginal models, the sensate is explored
the body, and fluid
resonance with earth/ through moving, drawing, and writing, and is given visibility through met-
universe – a deeply aphorical, symbolic, and sometimes mytho-poetic reflections. Some theo-
connective practice rists refer to this as ‘embodied imagination’, and it is used to support people
based on fluidity. She
developed the term in finding ‘strength and direction’ (Hayes 2007: 14–15). Internationally
‘Oceanic Ancestry’ to within community work, the use of metaphor and symbol is used to lan-
refer to the idea that guage the body beyond the anatomical and functional, facilitated widely so
we have developed
from a single-celled people gain a deeper understanding of how their movement reflects wider
organism into a aspects of life.29 As Daria Halprin points out, ‘movement as metaphor
multi-cellular fluid imparts a knowledge of the body and gives us the tools we need to see all
organism (2000).
the ways in which movement reflects who we are’ (2003: 20). In order to
18. Please see Tom Myers’ develop movement articulations, deepen sense-streams, and articulate
groundbreaking
article, ‘Kinesthetic depth of feeling, shape-shifting within symbolic and metaphorical move-
Dystonia’ (1998). ment processes is an essential ingredient of community work.
19. Proprioceptors are
generally understood
as internal receptors Connectivity: an international concern
sensed in the skin,
joints, muscles, and
tendons enabling us [T]he experience of connection: through breathing and sensitive contact
to know where we with the bodies of others and with earth[,] it is possible to relinquish our
are in space and the
position of the body in fearful investment in separateness to connect deeply with other people and
space. Interoception with nature. This connection brings nourishment; it lightens heart.
enables us to feel the (Hayes 2007: 15)
internal and innate
functioning and life
of the body, such as Our body is present and active in every moment of our lives. To ignore its
sense-streams from centrality discounts our materiality, our engagement in a material world,
internal organs and
internal systems of our body substance – ultimately, to disregard the body negates our human-
support. ness. Re-inhabiting and reconnecting to the body is a central feature of
20. Self-reflexive models community practice; in essence, practices of connectivity orientate the field
are somatic processes internationally. Words such as ‘interconnection’, ‘connectivity’, ‘matrix’,
which do not use any and ‘reconnection’ contribute to a shared discourse, which seeks to support
analytical or advisory
framework, but rather and offer alternatives to feelings of disconnection and alienation.30
encourage subjective Advancing the health benefits of depth-connection to body through a felt dia-
reflection with the logue with the blood, breath, heart, fluids, bone, and tissue are important
support of a heart-full
companion. Educators processes that deepen connection with body and materiality. Furthermore,
choose their language perceptual feelings of disembodiment and fragmentation are often remedied
carefully, noticing through practice which explores the integration of body with community,

Figure 5: Rebecca Weber Reflecting and Drawing Photo: AnneMarie Nissen.
earth, and/or the inter-dependence of life.31 Experiential processes which how language shapes
the quality of peo-
offer a deeper understanding of evolutionary bio-morphic development, ple’s experiences.
acknowledging the lived intelligence of body and its profound relationship Language is used to
to earth, also shape the field.32 Awareness of biological intelligence devel- support reflection and
actively shapes open
oped through a felt relationship to our deeply material earth-body-substance frameworks and mod-
invokes a greater sense of ‘belonging’ – belonging to earth, being-of-earth, els of self-discovery.
crafted and shaped by the stuff of the earth. There are many vocal writers For example, words
such as ‘invite’,
and practitioners working with these concepts. Influential practitioners, ‘encourage’, ‘offer’,
such as Anna Halprin (2000), Daria Haplrin (2003), Miranda Tufnell and ‘explore’ are not
(2000), Tufnell and Crickmay (2004), and Daniel Leven (2009), are shap- too directional or
invasive. ‘Language
ing models of connectivity. There is a call for a heartfelt, blood-full recon- styles profoundly
nection to body and community. Anna Halprin writes extensively on the affect our picture of
‘personal and cultural abandonment’ of the body and how this has created the world’ – within
community work, we
personal and communal alienation (Halprin 2000: 21). This estrangement explore how a gentle,
creates what educators may refer to as alienation from the sensate, leading to non-invasive use
perceptual experiences of bodily fragmentation and disintegration. of language invites
and supports change
(McHose and Frank
Academic discernment: practices of active participation 2006: 2). Exploring
in the world and investigating the
language we use in
The concept of ‘active participation’, rather than passive structured learn- sessions is another
ing, sets Somatic Movement Dance Education apart from movement prac- key skill and essential
tices which appear somatic to the general public, such as yoga, but in fact pedagogical precept.
are radically different.33 It is worth mentioning here also that Somatic 21. Daniel Leven (2009)
Movement Dance Education is not a body-beautiful or quick-hit, feel-good is a key theorist in

this area – his work health modality. In contrast, this discipline seeks to develop a dialectally
addresses habitual
patterns of judg- lived relationship to the existential mystery and vitality of life energy
ment, competition, acquiescing within body. Depth-connection to mystery shifts our cultur-
and humiliation, and ally constructed perceptions of external beauty to a far deeper and more
raises consciousness
about interactive mysterious ontological enquiry. Structured movement systems that reor-
communications ganize the body via an exterior person or impose a set of prescribed exer-
based on attack cises through spiritual classification, or body typology, are vastly different
and defence. An
essential ingredient in pedagogical intent and philosophical standpoint to what I refer to as
which creates such pure and deep ‘somatics’. Through experiential anatomical improvisa-
an environment is tions, deep somatics allows people to journey into the sensate, the
attention to the para-
sympathetic nervous pre-reflective, and sometimes into pre-cultural realms – certainly we see
system; educators moments of movement which are often beyond cultural recognition,
tend to focus on where the intention is to move within the fluid nature of physiology and
somatic movement
meditative processes primordial aspects of biology (non-stylized, improvisational biomorphic
which stimulate deep journeys).34 Re-visioning life through the courage to let go of prefixed and
rest, addressing pat- culturally recognizable movement invites the possibility for new meaning
terns of flight and
fright in order to and radically unique perceptions of moving body to occur. Active participa-
balance the nervous tion in positive meaning-making processes, and the possibility of making new
system. Some of the meaning through deep somatics, defines contemporary practice. Structures
ingredients of the
holding environment imposed upon the body from rarefied sources are definably different from the
are non-judgemental intricacies and subtleties pertaining to the discipline at large. Academic dis-
witnessing, heart cernment tends to find clear expression and delineation between the noun
presence, release and
rest, and being rather ‘somatics’ and the adjective ‘somatic’– the former guiding, shaping, and
than excessively demarcating the philosophical standpoints inherent within the field.35 The
doing. use of the noun ‘somatics’ specifically refers to ‘the field which studies the
22. McHose and Frank soma: namely, the body as perceived from within by first-person perception’
(2006) are key (Hannah, as cited in Johnson 1997: 9–10). It is from this standpoint that we
theorists writing in
the area of sensory-
contemporarily find very radical departures from pre-fixed meaning-making
perception and structures and rarefied movement systems. Furthermore, Thomas Hannah’s
interpretation. definition of the noun, by logical deduction, points to the possibility of active
23. Please see Brodie and participation fostering self-education, i.e., how valuing the uniqueness of
Lobel (2004) for a subjective experience sourced through ‘experiential learning’ and ‘experien-
very clear explana-
tion of some of the
tial sensitivity’ supports agency, new perceptions, and conscious decision
most important making in the world (Hannah 1970, Bauer 1999, Eddy 1992).
practices fostering
connectivity interna-
tionally.
Accumulating positive experience: practices of clarity
and re-visioning
24. Emilie Conrad (2007)
is perhaps the most
Educators work with the concept of connection using processes which sup-
vocal writer about port active participation in one’s own health, such as attentive listening
how our fluid physi- and moment-by-moment depth-connection to body-self. Using spacious
ology is intrinsic to
our health and how
practices of positive accumulation, which re-pattern the body using biologic
fluidity supports life. temporality, is a key pedagogical method – accruing enough restful, con-
nected experiences within the body gently over time, in order to balance
25. For an explanation of
the nervous system experiential discomfort, dissonance, dis-ease, and aloneness. Practices and
in relation to somatic dialogical processes which orientate the body towards passion, clarity,
movement work, vision, freedom, and intuitive knowing, as well as love and joy, are inherent
see Linda Hartley
(1995: 250 – 266). within praxis. Re-orientation into life through positive experience is encour-
Attention to the para- aged through learning to rest, yield, and acquiesce within the rhythms of
sympathetic increases the body, and aloneness is addressed through the accumulation of attention
‘the blood supply to
and activity of the to subtle, moment-by-moment inter-connections, within and between

bodies. Sense perception has a positive trajectory – i.e., bodies like to feel digestive organs’: it
slows ‘down the heart
good. Moving within biologic temporality, gently listening, and attentively beat and rate of res-
sensing re-orientates the body towards a quality of restful vitality and the piration, decreasing
potential for moments of sensory homeostasis. In community work, the muscular readiness
for action, lowering
‘whole’ self is called into play where differing aspects and expressions of the alertness of the
body-self are given voice and visibility, however it is particularly the inte- externally-directed
gration of the deeply-sensed imaginal into mundane aspects of life which cli- senses, and decreasing
activity at the body
ents enjoy and value. The work helps people to language sense-perception, periphery’ (Hartley
making visible and giving creative voice to the deepest aspects of ourselves; 1995: 251). In com-
this, in turn, orientates body-self in the world with greater degrees of ease- munity work, the
parasympathetic
ful autonomy and a restful sense of connected belonging, clarity, vision, nervous system is val-
ingenuity, and imagination. ued because it helps
people to slow down
Works cited and experience a dif-
ferent temporality.
Abrams, M. (2009), Health and Continuum Movement, New York: Moving Body
Resources. 26. Tom Meyers (1998)
notes that bodywork
Ahearn, E. (2006), ‘The Pilates Method and Ballet Technique: Applications in the and movement
Dance Studio’, Journal of Dance Education, 6:3, pp. 92–99. approaches can be
Bainbridge Cohen, B. (1993), Sensing, Feeling, and Action: The Experiential Anatomy divided into three
‘paradigms’, or three
of Body-Mind Centering, USA: Contact Editions. educational ‘pat-
Bartal, L. and Ne’eman, N. (1993), The Metaphoric Body: Guide to Expressive Therapy terns of premise and
through Images and Archetypes, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. intent’, and offers
the following cat-
Batson, G. and Schwartz, R. (2007a), ‘Revisiting the Value of Somatic Education egories to help us
in Dance Training Through an Inquiry into Practice Schedules’, Journal of to discern the field:
Dance Education, 7:2, pp. 47–55. relaxational, reme-
dial, and integrative.
Batson, G. and Schwartz, R. (2007b), ‘Revisiting Overuse Injuries in Dance in Somatic Movement
View of Motor Learning and Somatic Models of Distributed Practice’, Journal of Dance Education is
Dance Medicine & Science, 11:3, pp. 70–75. both relaxational
and integrative. It
Bauer, S. (1999), ‘Somatic Movement Education: A Body-Mind Approach to is not directly reme-
Movement Education for Adolescents Part 1’, Journal of Somatics, 15(2), dial – it does not
pp. 38–43. seek to cure people
or resolve a specific
Brodie, J. and Lobel, E. (2004), ‘Integrating Fundamental Principles Underlying anatomical problem,
Somatic Practices into Dance Technique Class’, Journal of Dance Education, 4:3, but rather supports
pp. 80–87. people in creative
spaces of well-being
Brodie, J. and Lobel, E. (2006), ‘Somatics in Dance – Dance in Somatics’, Journal of where disparate and
Dance Education, 6:3, pp. 69–71. fragmented body
experience can be
Chodorow, J. (1999), Dance Therapy & Depth Psychology: The Moving Imagination, reorganised, re-
London: Routledge. integrated and given
Conrad, E. (2007), Life on Land: The Storey of Continuum, California: North Atlantic expressive form. For
further information,
Books. see Daria Halprin
Conrad, E. (2009), ‘The International Somatic Movement and Education Therapy (2003). Please
Association, http://www.ismeta.org/continuum.html. Accessed January 9th see Hanna, Lynne
(2006), for a wider
2009. context in relation to
Eddy, M. (1992), ‘An Overview of the Science and Somatics of Dance’, Kinesiology dance, relaxation and
and Medicine for Dance, 14:1, pp. 20–28. stress.
Eddy, M. (2002a), ‘Dance and Somatic Inquiry in Studios and Community Dance 27. For an excellent
Programs’, Journal of Dance Education, 2:4, pp. 119–127. article on slowing
down and the balance
Eddy, M. (2002b), ‘Somatic Practices and Dance: Global Influences’, Dance Research between rest and
Journal, 34:2, pp. 46–62. activity, see Batson,

G. and Schwartz, R. Eddy, M. (2006), ‘The Practical Application of Body-Mind Centering in Dance
(2007a). Pedagogy’, Journal of Dance Education, 6:3, pp. 86–91.
28. Daniel Leven’s Enghauser, R. (2007), ‘The Quest for an Ecosomatic Approach to Dance Pedagogy’,
‘Movement Therapy’ Journal of Dance Education, 7:3, pp. 80–90.
programme in the
USA is a ground- Fortin, S. (1995), ‘Towards a New Generation: Somatic Dance Education in
breaking training, Academia’, IMPULSE. The International Journal for Dance Science, Medicine, and
focusing partly Education, 3, pp. 253–262.
on heart-centred
education and the Fraleigh, S. (1987), Dance and the Lived Body; A Descriptive Aesthetics, Pittsburgh,
re-formation of PA: Pittsburgh University Press.
communities with
heart (2009). Other Gintis, B. (2007), Engaging the Movement of Life: Exploring Health and Embodiment
practitioners, such as Through Osteopathy and Continuum, California: North Atlantic Books.
Miranda Tufnell, have
Green, J. (1999), ‘Somatic Authority and the Myth of the Ideal Body in Dance
developed metaphori-
cal and experiential Education’, Dance Research Journal, 31:2, pp. 80–100.
praxis around heart. Halprin, A. (2000), Dance as a Healing Art: Returning to Health with Movement and
In terms of ‘Body-
Imagery, USA: LifeRhythm Energy Field.
Mind Centering’ and
‘Somatic Psychology’, Halprin, D. (2003), The Expressive Body in Life, Art and Therapy: Working with
Linda Hartley (1995, Movement, Meaning and Metaphor, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
2004), presents some
of the most lucid writ- Hanna, L. (2006), Dancing For Health: Conquering and Preventing Stress, USA:
ing on the heart and ALTAMira.
the way in which
we metaphorically
Hannah, T. (1970), Bodies in Revolt: A Primer in Somatic Thinking, USA: Holt,
articulate the heart. Rinehart, and Winston.
See Jill Hayes’ (2007) Hartley, L. (1995), Wisdom of the Body Moving: An Introduction to Body-Mind
work for a beautiful
Centering, California: North Atlantic Books.
exploration of somat-
ics and transpersonal Hartley, L. (2004), Somatic Psychology: Body Mind and Meaning, London: Whurr
movement modalities, Publishers Ltd.
exploring connection
through empathy and Hayes, J. (2007), Performing Your Dreams, UK: Archive Publishing.
compassion. ISMETA (2009), The International Somatic Movement and Education Therapy
29. Please see Daria Association, http://www.ismeta.org/. Accessed: January 9th 2009.
Halprin (2003) and Johnson, D. (1995), Bone, Breath, & Gesture: Practices of Embodiment, California:
Anna Halprin (2000),
as well as Bartal and North Atlantic Books.
Ne’eman (1993) for Johnson, D. (1997), Groundworks: Narratives of Embodiment, California: North
leading examples
Atlantic Books.
on movement and
metaphor. Leven, D. (2009), ‘The International Somatic Movement and Education Therapy
30. Anna Halprin (2000)
Association’, http://www.ismeta.org/leven.html. Accessed: January 9th 2009
and Daria Halprin Macnaughton, I. (2004), Body, Breath, & Consciousness: A Somatics Anthology,
(2003) are the most California: North Atlantic Books.
vocal writers and
practitioners in terms McHose, C. and Frank, K. (2006), How Life Moves: Explorations in Meaning and Body
of developing dance Awareness, California: North Atlantic Books.
as tool for commu-
nal healing through Myers, T. (1998), ‘Kinesthetic Dystonia: What Bodywork Can Offer a New Physical
models of connectiv- Education, Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 2:2, pp. 101–114.
ity. Both writers and Olsen, A. (2002), Body and Earth: An Experiential Guide, USA: Middlebury College
practitioners are also
central theorists in Press.
the development of Pallero, P. (ed.) (1999), Authentic Movement: Essays by Mary Starks Whitehouse,
earth connection and Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
interconnection to
earth through ritual Pallero, P. (ed.) (2007), Authentic Movement: Moving the Body, Moving the Self, Being
and nature. In the Moved: A Collection of Essays, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
UK, Miranda Tufnell
(2000; Tufnell and Roth, G. (1999), Sweat your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice, Gill &
Crickmay 2004) and Macmillan.

Tufnell, M. and Crickmay, C. (2004), A Widening Field: Journeys into the Body and Jill Hayes (2007)
the Imagination, UK: Dance Books. are key practition-
ers and theorists
Tufnell, M. (2000), ‘Beneath Our Words’ in P. Greenland (ed.), What Dancers Do foregrounding con-
that Other Health Workers Don’t…, Leeds: JABADO. nectivity. Please also
see Gabrielle Roth
(1999), another
Interviews key activist in this
Abrams, M. (2008), interview, 14 November. area, who is work-
ing within a cognate
Abrams, M. (2008), practice observation in teaching practice with MA students, strand of dance and
UCLan, 16 November. community practice.
Tufnell, M. (2009), practice observation in teaching practice with MA students, 31. Please see Anna
UCLan, 31 January. Halprin (2000), Daria
Halprin (2003),
Research Assistance: Rebecca Webber
Andrea Olsen (2002),
and Bartel and
Suggested citation Ne’eman (1993) for
excellent literally
Williamson, A. (2009), ‘Formative support and connection: somatic movement dance
examples of praxis
education in community and client practice’, Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices exploring the inter-
1: 1, pp. 29–45, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.29/1 connection between
earth and body
within this wider
Contributor details paradigm.
Amanda Williamson is the course leader and founder of MA Dance & Somatic
32. The study of bio-
Wellbeing: Connections to the Living Body (UK). She is currently developing the
morphic evolutionary
Masters programme in NY (Manhattan) at MovingBodyResources with Mary interconnectivity
Abrams (President of ISMETA). Her research is in New England – she is currently through cellular and
writing on the integration of the sensory imaginal in somatic movement modalities fluid resonance is
and re-visioning processes of social and personal change. best seen in the work
of Emilie Conrad
Contact: University of Central Lancashire, School of Creative & Performing Arts, (2007). ‘Continuum’
has a contextual
Preston PRI 2HE UK.
framework grounded
Tel: 01772 201201 ext 5943 in the notion that
E-mail: acwilliamson@uclan.ac.uk we are bio-morphic
beings – this tends
to means we include
Notes and retain the
33. Please see Susan Bauer (1999) and Martha Eddy (1992) for good examples of how active cellular and skeletal-
participation is central within Somatic Movement Dance Education. Please see Batson muscle memory of all
and Schwartz (2007a) and Myers (1998) for detailed explanations of external author- life forms within our
ity and the imposition of structured systems in relation to the development of Somatic body. This is termed
Movement Dance Education and Kinaesthetic Education. ‘species inclusion’
and refers to the way
34. Developed by Conrad (2007), the term ‘primordial anatomy’ refers to the idea that we any creature’s evo-
have developed from a single-celled organism, bathed by a saltwater environment, into lutionary biological
a multi-cellular organism containing both saltwater and fresh water; i.e. we have a bio- heritage encompasses
morphic anatomy, which contains bio-information from all developmental stages, and as that of all living
such, we are deeply and inextricably linked to all creation, creatures, and the universe. creatures, past and
This theory creates a sense of being connected and interconnected to creation, and this is present (Conrad
one of the underlying premises of somatic education, when understood through a ‘heart- 2007: 3).
centred’, ‘earth-centred’ paradigm.
35. For a good and further explanation of the etymology, history, and distinctions between
somatic and somatics, see Johnson, D. (1997).

The experience of discourses in dance

and somatics
Sylvie Fortin Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Adriane Vieira Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
Martyne Tremblay Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
Abstract Keywords
An action research consisting of somatic education classes within a bachelor pro- health
gram in dance has showed how dancers negotiate the dominant dance discourse Foucault
and the marginal discourse of somatic education in relation to the complexities of Feldenkrais Method
body and health issues. More specifically, the students appreciated the approach of action-research
the Feldenkrais Method that favoured a pedagogy compatible with health concerns
and with Foucault’s concept of technologies of the self.
Introduction
I will remember this action-research because it was an opportunity for me 1. This study has been
to question myself about my dance practice in day to day life and its effect partially published
in French by Fortin,
on my health and wellbeing. It raised many questions and also allowed me Vieira, A. and
to stand up and make clear choices. I realize again that I resist change or Tremblay, M (2008).
what is new when the results are not immediate. My vision of the body has
changed. I have been able to take a personal position, but I’ve also had the
opportunity to better understand and to perceive the milieu in which I am
entering.
(Claudine)
These words express one student’s reaction at the end of an action-research

with a group of pre-professional contemporary dancers.1 The action-research
was initiated because our previous studies revealed the extent to which the
pursuit of an ideal body, and the pressure of infallible performance, can pro-
voke great challenges for undergraduate dance students in terms of their
health management. Though many authors have shown that the body is
constructed by means of different dance practices, few have attempted to
understand how dancers negotiate these practices in relation to the com-
plexities of body and health issues. The action-research took place within a
bachelor program in dance and consisted of somatic education classes in
which we included discussions about the results of empirical studies on
dancers’ health. As such we hoped to offer a platform to challenge students
since we believe that dance students are active participants in the
JDSP_1.1_04_art_Fortin.indd 47 6/8/09 10:22:24 AM

2. We hesitated between construction of their body, provided they have access to different discourses
using the word
‘body’ or ‘soma’.
and the various possibilities that these can offer.2
The later refers to According to Foucault (1963), discourses are systems of thoughts com-
the body from a first posed of ideas, attitudes, beliefs, courses of action and practices that enable,
person perception
and encompasses
just as they constrain, what can be said or done at particular times and
the various aspect of places. Discourses construct current truths and what power relations they
our living experience carry with them. For example, we can distinguish both a dominant dis-
(physically, psycho-
logically, socially,
course and a marginal somatic discourse in dance training. Each discourse
intellectually, spiritu- proposes different perceptions of the body and training modalities. In gen-
ally, etc.). Although eral, the dominant discourse of dance values an ideal body where aesthetic
it better reflects our
positioning, we hesi-
criteria of beauty, slimness, virtuosity, devotion and asceticism prevail. On
tatingly decided to the other hand, the somatic discourse promotes body awareness to allow
keep the former word individuals to make choices for their own well-being, thus counteracting
of body to maintain
consistency; it would
the fantasy of an ideal body, which is so often removed from the concrete-
have been clumsy ness of the lived body. However, these different and sometimes opposing
and confusing to discourses may be confusing in the student’s experience. In order to under-
continually swap the
word body in the con-
stand this in more depth, in the first part of the article we will briefly exam-
text of the dominant ine Foucault’s idea of discourse, this will help to understand, in the second
dance discourse, with part, why some elements of the discourses are used and others rejected.
the word soma in the
context of the somatic
discourse. Experience Foucault’s notion of technologies of domination
is produced in lan- and technologies of the self
guages and it is not
an easy task to step
In his first works, Foucault has demonstrated how institutions can discipline
away from a binary individuals into docile bodies, through surveillance and auto-surveillance.
view of the human He developed the concept of technologies of domination, which refer to
experience. Elsewhere
I have exposed my
modes of knowledge production and organization that determine the con-
attempts to overcome duct of the individuals and limit their choices in such a way as to foster
this binary view activity and productivity towards a continually increasing profitability. In
in the context of
integrating somatic
such situations, power relations are rather immovable, spaces of freedom
education within are constrained and an objectification of the subject predominates. At the
dance technique end of his life, Foucault recognized that he had insisted too much on the
classes (Fortin, S.,
Long, W. and Lord,
technology of domination and power, and he became interested in how
M., 2002). individuals act upon themselves.
In his last writings, he developed the concept of technologies of the self by
which individuals constitute themselves and recognize themselves as subject.
The technologies of the self, made up of attitudes and bodily practices,
permit individuals to effect, by their own means or with the help of others,
a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls, thoughts,
conduct, and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a
certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immortality.
(Foucault, 1988: 18)
These operations that individuals may draw upon in their self-construc-

tion make a greater state of autonomy possible, enabling them to resist
domination. However, self-construction does not happen in a vacuum –
unfettered by context and the constraints of the surrounding discourses.
Technologies of domination and technologies of the self are always
interrelated, and contribute to our constructions, deconstructions and
reconstructions of ourselves in the world.
48 Sylvie Fortin, Adriane Vieira and Martyne Tremblay

Dominant discourse in traditional western theatrical dance
Dance authors have explored the applications of Michel Foucault’s ideas.
Although, dance practices can differ drastically in their underpinning
assumptions about the body and may emphasize different processes of
objectification or subjectification, dance is usually a site where the sub-
ject has been traditionally objectified and health issues dismissed in favour
of the aesthetics of the art form. According to Huesca (2005), classical
ballet, as a historically institutionalized practice, offers many examples of
technologies of domination, whereas contemporary dance allows dancers
more possibilities for creative construction of the self. Dance ethnograph-
ers have challenged this point of view, showing that even in contempor-
ary dance, there prevails a view of the body as being alienated from the
self, something to be subdued and managed. For example, Long (2002)
has examined the power/achievement aspect of dance teaching and
learning in contemporary dance classes. Green (2001) has addressed how
dance practices impose an ideal body image on women’s bodies through
unattainable aesthetic. Fortin and Girard (2005) have described the
experience of professional contemporary dancers applying a somatic prac-
tice to their dancing. While describing aspects of the dance culture, these
authors have shown that choreographers, teachers as well as dancers,
are seeking distance from the dominant vision of the body as object. They
are looking for approaches where the subjective sensorial experience can
be used to reduce the emphasis on the external form of dancing bodies,
which so often have a negative impact on dancers’ bodies. As such, som-
atic education practices can participate fully, where dance students’
health and well-being are concerned, in encouraging an empowering
practice for the dancer.
Somatic education as a technology of the self

From diverse origins outside the field of dance, a variety of somatic
education practices have made their way into the dance milieu.
Guimond contends that somatic education proposes ‘a new relationship
to oneself and to others: sensing one’s actions, knowing one’s feelings,
no longer considering oneself as an object, but as a creator of one’s own
life’ (1999: 6). For Feldenkrais (1972) human movement is the founda-
tion of the thoughts, emotions and sensations of a person; therefore, it
offers the best means for concrete changes in life. According to Moshe
Feldenkrais, individuals cannot experience freedom and be fully crea-
tive unless they are able to recognize their perceptual habits and act
upon them.
For Johnson (1983), somatic practices should not be looked at solely
through an individualistic lens, outside of the discourses surrounding
the individual, since there is always a reciprocal play between the
micro and macro. To him, a mind-body split in society resulted in a
sensory disconnection affecting all aspects of our life. The dominant
values of our culture’ he writes, ‘insinuate their ways into our muscu-
lar responses, shaping our perceptions of the world. Altering the mor-
bid dynamics of our culture requires us to loosen their hold on our
flesh’ (Johnson 1983:14). In retrieving the capacity to feel and observe
what was escaping their critical consciousness, individuals can allow
The experience of discourses in dance and somatics 49

3. Authors such as themselves to resist technologies of domination. This idea is also found
Green (2001) and
Long (2002) seem to in Shusterman: ‘If it is true that oppressive relations of power impose a
use the terms ‘inter- weighty identity encoded in our very own body, then these relations of
nal authority’ and oppression can be put into question by marginal somatic practices’
‘somatic authority’
interchangeably. (1992: 68).
That does not mean that somatic practices, considered as technolo-
gies of the self, are not unproblematic, since all body practices can be
potentially emancipatory or oppressive (Markula 2004). What somatic
practices offer is an alternative ‘game of truth’ to that which is pre-
dominantly validated. Games of truth are linked to accepted consensus
about what is sound knowledge and the accompanying hegemonic pro-
cedures that legitimate power relations. Foucault (1988) contends that
games of truth are unavoidable, but he emphasizes that the practice of
the self allows us ‘to play these games of power with as little domination
as possible’ (1988: 40). In talking about pedagogical institutions, he
states that;
I see nothing wrong in the practice of a person who, knowing more than
other in a specific game of truth, tells those others what to do, teaches
them, and transmits knowledge and technique to them. The problem in
such practices where power – which is not bad in itself – must inevita-
bly come into play is knowing how to avoid the kind of domination effects
where a kid is subjected to the arbitrary and unnecessary authority of a
teacher, or a student put under the thumb of a professor who abuses his
authority. I believe that this problem must be framed in terms of practices
of the self and freedom.
(Foucault 1988: 40)
Somatic education as technologies of the self in dance

In the recent International Handbook of Research in Arts Education, Green
(2007) presents a review of somatic dance research. From it, we can see
that some researchers have chosen to address how dance is taught somat-
ically while others have chosen to study somatics as an adjunct to dance
training. What these different uses of somatics have in common is a recog-
nition of the value of somatic practices to a dancer’s training; these prac-
tices can refine bodily perceptions, which can contribute to improvement
of technique, aid the development of expressive capacities and prevention
of injuries. The subtext is that somatic education can defy the dominant
discourse in dance, a discourse which promotes an ideal body, supposes
an attitude of docility, maintains a normalisation of pain and endorses the
external authority of the professor/choreographer as the primary holder of
power and knowledge. In contrast, the somatic education discourse sup-
ports the development of an internal authority which refers to the capac-
ity to make decisions based on sensory discriminations that accentuate
the singularity of one’s body.3 Looking inward can help dancers to con-
struct self-knowledge and create more satisfying states of health and well-
being. In this way, somatic education can be conceived of as a technology
of the self that counteracts the dominant discourse and supports a trans-
formation of the power relations in dance.

However, over the years of our career as teachers of somatic educa- 4. Other research-
ers have focussed
tion, we have been confronted with the phenomenon that some students, on subjectification
despite living out their internal authority and experiencing the benefits processes through dif-
of somatic education, reintegrate the dominant discourse relatively ferent body awareness
practices, notably
quickly after the end of the structured somatic classes. They return to in the martial arts
their ‘old habits’ of aligning themselves with the hegemonic norms of (Boudreau Folman
the dominant discourse, where fatigue, pain and injury are accepted and Konzak, 1992),
in postural education
silently on a daily basis. This shows how strong the dominant discourse (Vieira, 2004) and in
is. Fortunately, Markula (2004) allows us to better address this phenom- physical conditioning
enon. She explains that new bodily experiences are necessary but insuf- (Markula 2004).
ficient in the development of practices that constitute a technology of the 5. We express our
self able to resist the technologies of domination. For the technologies of heartfelt thanks to the
twenty-four students
the self to be liberating, she asserts that the person must do three things: who participated in
(1) foster a self open to change and constant re-creation, (2) increase the study. The reflec-
critical awareness of the dominant discourse, and (3) develop an ethical tions of eighteen of
them appear in this
care of the self that translates to ethical care of others. article. With the
Thus, it became essential that our action-research address these issues, exception of two indi-
since we wanted to find out how the action-research would encourage viduals identified by a
pseudonym, they are
(or not) a subjectification process that allows one to be less vulnerable to identified by their first
the effects of the dominant discourse.4 By adding discussions based on names because they
dance research to the somatic classes, we hoped the students would increase asked for it. Where
some participants
their critical thinking and connect self-care issues to a larger perspective of shared a same first
the dance world. name, the first letters
of their family name
were used to distin-
Methodology guish them.
For ten weeks, the action-research took place as part of a bi-weekly com-
pulsory course in somatic education for the second year students of the
B.A. program in dance at the University of Quebec (UQAM) in Montreal,
Canada. The study was a ‘professor’s action-research’ since it was initia-
ted by the three authors and not by the students (Gomez, Flores and
Jiménez 1996). Taggart (1998) claims that reflective pedagogical appro-
aches, that focus on individual emancipation, integrate well into the objec-
tives of an action-research. For Lather (1991), the objective of raising
awareness can defy the dominant discourse by opening up the space for
recognizing other discourses.
Of the bi-weekly somatic classes, one class was devoted to theoretical
discussion while the other class was focused on the practice of somatic
education. The participants in this action-research were twenty-four
French speaking students, of which twenty-two were women and two
were men, with an average age of twenty-two years. They had a wide
range of dance experience in terms of years (from two to fifteen years), as
well as in terms of dance styles (ballet, contemporary, social dancing, hip
hop) but for many of these students, coming to university coincided with
their first introduction to somatic education. In conforming to the ethical
code of UQAM for research with human beings, we handed out individual
consent forms to each of the participants.5
As Table 1 indicates, the weekly theoretical classes, of one hour and
forty minutes, encompassed the following: exchange of ideas about dance
research results; discussions on ideal bodies; sharing of individual stories;
and participation in drawing-up an institutional guide to injury management.

The weekly practical classes, also of one hour and forty minutes, took the
form of ‘Feldenkrais Method Awareness Through Movement’ lessons (ATM),
inspired by the original writings of Moshe Feldenkrais and his close collabor-
ators. The Feldenkrais Method is an educational system centered on move-
ment, aiming to expand and refine the use of self through awareness. In
some countries, the Feldenkrais Method is included under the umbrella term
Theoretical sessions Practical Feldenkrais lessons
1.1 Welcome 1.2 Body type assessment
2.1 Constructions of health 2.2 Pressure through the foot and

among pre-professional how it relates to the knees and
dancers the pelvis
(Fortin, Cyr and (Alon 1996)
Tremblay 2005)
3.1 Harmonious and obses- 3.2 Movements of the pelvis

sive passions (Feldenkrais 1972)
(Rip, Fortin and
Vallerand 2006)
4.1 Professional dancers’ 4.2 Breathing process

construction of health (Feldenkrais 1972)
(Fortin, Trudelle and
Rail 2008)
5.1 Ideal body 5.2 Use of the arms in turning

(Vieira 2004) (Shafarman 1997)
6.1 Sharing written weekly 6.2 Crawling

reports (Wildman 2000)
7.1 Choreographer-dancer 7.2 Eye movement and how it con-

relational dynamics tributes to rotation
during the creative (Feldenkrais 1972)
process
(Newell and Fortin
2008)
8.1 Class cancelled 8.2 Standing on hands and feet

(Joly 1980)
9.1 Institutional guidelines 9.2 Twist

for injury manage- (Feldenkrais 1972)
ment
(Girard and Fortin
2006)
10.1 Discussion about the 10.2 Changing body tone with rolls
ATM and IF (Alon 1996)
Table 1: Theoretical sessions and practical Feldenkrais lessons.

‘alternative and complementary medicines’. However, the members of the 6. Association
Feldenkrais Québec :
Association Feldenkrais Québec (AFQ) do not regard it as a therapeutic http://www.feldenk-
intervention because they are not working from the medical model.6 raisqc.info/
Maintaining that there is no separation between mind and body, they are 7. For a compilation of
teaching students how to move better and how to improve their overall Feldenkrais research:
well-being. http://www.psych.
utah.edu/feldenkrais/
In the group classes, the teacher of the Feldenkrais Method (who is research.php
the main author of this article) verbally directed students through
8. Most of the corpus
movement sequences and various foci of attention to enable discovery of data was part of
of new choices. In addition to the group classes, each student also bene- the students’ assess-
fited from two individual lessons given by certified Feldenkrais practi- ments since the
action-research took
tioners. In the individual lessons, called ‘Functional Integration’ (IF), place in the context
the practitioners use their hands to guide the movement of the student of a mandatory uni-
with the aim of learning how to eliminate excess effort and move more versity course. Well
aware that there was
easily. no perfect solution
The Feldenkrais Method of somatic education was chosen for many to the constraints
reasons. Firstly, the authors have a solid experience in this method. of conducting an
action-research in
Secondly, there is literature supporting the method’s contributions in an academic setting,
dealing with health and dance issues.7 Finally, the method has been and in order to lessen
examined from a post-structuralist point of view and it has been sug- the possible conflicts
arising out of using
gested that it contributes to a process of subjectification (Wright the students’ work for
2000). both the action-re-
Data collected from the students included five elements: (1) individ- search and the course
assessment, we dis-
ual written descriptions of their own ‘body history’, (2) a weekly report cussed the situation
of their experiences related to body and health issues, synthesized at with the students,
the half-way point and at the end the action-research, (3) weekly who decided that
the grades would be
answers to an open question relating to the theme of the ATM lesson, based on a formative
(4) transcriptions of group discussions in the theoretical classes, and assessment includ-
(5) the researchers’ notes of each class based on video or audio recording self-assessments
throughout the fifteen
ing.8 The data was analysed according to an adaptation of grounded weeks of the semester.
theory (Paillé 1996). The entire corpus of data was analyzed induc-
tively by multiple readings and discussions between the researchers in
order to allow categories to emerge out of the data, rather than having
them imposed prior to data collection and analysis. Trustworthiness of
the results is linked to triangulation of the multiple sources of data
and to the debriefing of the researchers on a weekly basis. The results
are presented in two sections; first, the student’s appraisal of the action-
research process, and second, the students’ ways of negotiating the
dominant discourse in dance and the marginal discourse of somatic
education.
Appraisal of the action-research process

The practical Feldenkrais lessons
At the beginning of the action-research, in the Feldenkrais lessons, some
students experienced moments of discomfort and pain which slowly
progressed into moments of discovery, comfort, and feelings of connected-
ness. Here is Caroline Ca’ experience:
At the beginning, I was exhausting myself by putting so much effort into

it […] Through time and everything we were discussing in class, I started

to listen to myself more and I learned to take breaks and to take the time I
needed so that I could benefit. I think you have to persevere.
As researchers, we interpreted students’ signs of agitation and discom-

fort as an attempt to find their habitual physical references. This ten-
dency lessened and, later we observed more calm, a greater acceptance
of new sensations, and a growing capacity to pay attention to oneself. It
is important to note that the pedagogical strategies of the somatic educa-
tion are mostly opposed to those traditionally found in a dance class
(Fortin 1995; Fortin, Long, and Lord (2002). For Claudine, the
Feldenkrais Method offers a welcome counterpoint to usual teaching
practices: ‘Feldenkrais sometimes contradicts the teaching that we get in
other classes, but I find that therein lies its strength’. In many somatic
approaches, no demonstration on the teacher’s part, slow rhythm and
reducing effort in the execution of movements are indeed considered
teaching priorities in order for the students to develop the ability to dis-
criminate between physical sensations. This unusual approach awak-
ened reactions such as this one of Caroline Ch’s:
I dance now with more respect for my body. In Feldenkrais, the goal is explo-
ration and not performance. By applying these principles elsewhere, I realize
how my stress is reduced, and how I approach events with more calm. I per-
ceive them less dramatically.
The theoretical classes

For many students, the theoretical sessions were destabilizing moments as
Lea expressed:
The discussions were very satisfying and useful to my personal understand-

ing. All the subjects raised led us to reflect and question our beliefs in very
important ways. (In dance) taboo subjects are avoided and we try not to
worry about them, even though they’re still very present. Sometimes I didn’t
want to go to class on Tuesdays out of fear that I would leave too shaken up
by all sorts of self-questioning […] The discussions always brought me back
to an awareness of the dance milieu in which I grew up and I questioned
myself on my future path as well as on my past process.
This kind of comment reveals ambivalence between, on the one hand, the
desire to become aware of current situations in the dance milieu and, on the
other hand, the discomfort that this causes. As Geraldine wrote, even when
the theory classes raised known issues, the students appreciated the oppor-
tunity to position themselves:
When I am in this class, the subjects raised are never new to me. Nonetheless,
what I draw from them always is. To listen to others express themselves on
these topics that touch me helps me crystallize my opinions. Often this period
helps to clarify my thoughts by giving them weight or instead completely
bringing them into question. It is up to me to make the effort to sort through
the information and to hold onto what really speaks to me.

The theoretical sessions offered the opportunity to ‘break the silence’ as
noticed by Emilie P., a student who already had completed a BA in theatre:
I am sure that my reflection would have been totally different if dance had
been the first medium I had come in contact with. It is surprising to see all
the sacrifices that a dancer makes without ever complaining. The law of
silence, this is what we call it in the milieu […] I was half-surprised when
I heard that some women in third year were asked to lose weight to par-
ticipate in a student show. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had
been asked this. I’m sure that I would have asked (the choreographer) if
he thought he was God, to ask me something like that. The quest for the
perfect body with dancers is so deeply anchored that it becomes almost
abstract for them that a person with a non-perfect body could be proud
of it or at least could be accepting of it. Here’s an anecdote to illustrate
what I’m saying: last year, a teacher thought that I didn’t dance with my
torso because I didn’t accept my weight. It didn’t matter how much I told
her that I didn’t have a complex about my weight, there was nothing to
change her mind.
Before turning to the next section, it is interesting to note that many stu-
dents, as Caroline D., mentioned the consistency between the theoretical
sessions and the Feldenkrais lessons:
These two ways of learning come to one and the same thing: becoming
aware. I really appreciated this whole philosophy (of Feldenkrais). I under-
stood that there are many different paths to reach one goal. The choices that
we make should empower us, not only physically. One should never neglect
one’s own power and freedom.
Students ways of negotiating different discourses

Towards the status quo
Our analysis of the data highlighted three main nonexclusive tenden-
cies, each of equal importance. We spontaneously called them: (1)
towards the status-quo, (2) between the status-quo and change, and (3)
towards change.
Tracing back the process of each student, we estimated that at the begin-
ning of the study about two thirds of the students were geared toward the
first category, which is aligned with the dominant dance discourse. In their
first talks and writings, we noticed that much importance was given to the
teachers’ and choreographers’ authority and the right way to achieve an
ideal body was valued without much regard for the consequences.
As mentioned before, for certain students the theory sessions presented
‘no great revelation’, for others, it ‘spoiled their little girl’s dream’. Our
analysis revealed that the upheaval caused by the theoretical sessions was
most frequent in this group. Here are Marie-Pière’s words:
Sometimes I would leave the class completely depressed. I am very sensitive

to those realities that I don’t want to face because I’d rather continue to
think that everything is going to be great for me.

The students of this first group were indeed the most disturbed by the
theoretical session that consisted in presenting the results of a study
addressing the relationships between passion and injury in dance stu-
dents (Rip, Fortin and Vallerand 2006). They identified themselves spon-
taneously with the obsessive passion rather than the harmonious
passion. The students mentioned the ‘harshness’ and the ‘perfectionism’
that they impose on themselves. Many underlined that the high require-
ments of the BA program ‘forced’ them towards an obsessive-type pas-
sion. Because they saw no alternative, students in this group stayed
somewhat passive when facing situations that they found deplorable.
This is consistent with technologies of domination that, more often than
not, reproduce the status quo. At the end of this theory session, Marie-
Pière wrote in her weekly report:
I have so little time for myself I am exhausted and depressed. I have no time
to spend with my family and my boyfriend […] But there’s nothing I can do!
I have to go to school and work. And later, if I work for a choreographer and
I have rehearsals every day, it’s going to be the same thing. I won’t be ask-
ing him for fewer rehearsals unless I’m injured or really sick.
In this group, pain and fatigue were often perceived as signs of hard work
and serious commitment. The students usually didn’t see that these feel-
ings may indicate overwork predisposing them to injury, although Audrée
shows a transformation in her way of thinking:
I realized that my injury was there before my feeling sick on Thursday.

I thought back to Friday’s class in which I had noticed a pain in my left
shoulder and I realize now that I should have taken more time to lis-
ten to this pain. Now, I’m on forced-leave. This injury makes me realize
that I have to develop more awareness of my body to prevent this kind of
injury.
Interestingly, the students in this group committed themselves fully to the

Feldenkrais lessons. For the most part, they used the proprioceptive explor-
ations from the ATM lessons to solve physical problems they had at the
time of the action-research. However, they didn’t use the opportunity
given to them to question larger bodily issues. Patricia’s words about som-
atic practice offer a good illustration of this tendency:
It’s about living with discomfort and determining techniques that are favo-
rable to lessening this situation […] What’s important is to find one’s own
solutions. You’ve got to understand that pain and discomfort are part of this
profession. Might as well tame them!
Between status-quo and change

A second group emerged from the analysis of the data. Unlike the students
in the first group, they benefited more from the theory sessions than from
the practical Feldenkrais classes. Their writings contained many indications
of a sustained interest in the theoretical sessions as opportunities to

formulate opinions. Pascal’s comments during a group discussion offer an
excellent example:
I am surprised that some still view the body of a contemporary dancer in

the same way as that of a ballet dancer. They’ve got to injure themselves,
they’ve got to be skinny, they’ve got to be perfect, with no tattoos. I went
into contemporary dance because I thought this mentality was over. When
I found it’s still here, I just about climbed the walls. Does this mean that
people like me and Emilie have no place here (because we don’t have the
stereotypical body)?
Many students grumbled about the ideal body in the dance world. They
believed that it was possible to change the way one constructs an ideal
body, whereas in the first group students held the opinion that it was
unfeasible. For many dancers in this second group, the ‘ideal body myth’
is unattainable and the way dance is taught has to be questioned as well.
As the weeks went by, students in this group enlarged their criticism of the
dominant discourse. The writings of Emilie P. demonstrate this dimension:
The choreographers will try to impose their ideal body type on all the
dancers […] who try and risk everything for the creative process and the
choreographer. It becomes a vicious circle. The dancers want to live their
passion, so they push their bodies until it’s perfect enough to be hired in
the professional milieu. Often, during the creative process, it’s not enough;
so the dancers will go even further. They won’t complain out of fear that
the choreographer might dislike them and then not rehire them. The cho-
reographers therefore feel fine in asking for more because they don’t meet
any resistance from the dancers. The dancers end up not listening to their
own sensations anymore.
While this group was called ‘between status-quo and change’, the desire
for change was traceable more on a theoretical level than on a practical
one. The students did not act in a concrete way when facing situations
they deemed problematic. We noticed many ‘I must’ statements compared
to ‘I do’ statements. In the next quote, Luc questions the external criteria
of the ideal dancing body. He revealed a desire to invest himself in proprio-
ceptive explorations, which would guide him towards what we could
qualify as a ‘better feeling’ rather than a ‘better looking’. However, his
desire remained at an intentional level.
I must change my behaviour. I want to change my habit of doing things

right, just for the form (the shape). I am enormously influenced by our soci-
ety that values performance. I see my obsession of wanting to be perfect as
an obstacle since I’m criticizing the movement instead of feeling it.
Eveline’s comments, about the appearance of the ideal dancer’s body, also
help us understand this idea:
In Feldenkrais’ book, Awareness through movement, there are certain exercises

that work with an arching of the lower back and a release of the abdominal

muscles […] This intention goes so completely against what we learn that
I would find it difficult to do it in front of my peers. To give myself the right
to have a soft and round belly would change my perception of myself and
even change the perception that others have of me. We are so conditioned
to pull in one’s stomach that we notice big bellies right away. As a dance
student, I’m so used to being surrounded by pretty straight and thin bodies,
my vision becomes skewed when I get into the metro at night and face the
reality.
We can see in Eveline’s comment a capacity to think critically about

body image even though she feels uncomfortable about changing her
behaviour. If she would give herself the right to do otherwise, she would
experience the discourse of somatic education. By seeing the ‘games of
truth’ at play in the dance studio but not opposing them, the students
in this group are positioning themselves in an in-between space with
regard to Foucault’s technologies of domination and technologies of
the self.
Towards change
A last group brings together students whose comments express a certain
resistance to the dominant dance discourse. These students manifested a
facility in making links between their bodily experiences and their under-
standing of the dance milieu. As expressed by Emilie S.:
I became aware that my past training did not really take into account
the internal sensations of the body. I really appreciate the fact that I have
become more critical in the face of pain. I realize that I have to change those
pre-conceptions that I have about the dancer’s body. I believe that many
dancers themselves still have preconceptions about their own bodies. This is
why I am so grateful for the conversations that allow me to put things into
question and become more critical. Of course, dance is steeped in a world of
sacrifices but I think that changes begin inside our own internal worlds. I
love the idea of developing an ‘internal authority’ that dictates the path to
follow.
Students of this group talked about changes they made when facing situa-
tions they identified as problematic. Virginie, for example, talked of her
decision to consult an osteopath:
I realize to what extent I neglect myself. Throughout the class, I couldn’t

stop telling myself that I should pay more attention to my repetitive injuries.
The procrastination of my visits to the osteopath is often due to my financial
situation. But immediately after this class, I jumped on the phone to make
an appointment without delay. Better late than never […] The Feldenkrais
class develops my thinking and brings me closer to a mentality that resem-
bles me.
It is important to underline that it was with these students that we noticed

the weakest affiliations to the dominant dance discourse at the beginning
of the action-research. Some were already engaged in a critical thinking

and have had experiences in somatic education. This was the case for
Marie-Josée who wrote:
I feel divided. I can understand and accept the choreographer’s authority

but the way in which he directs me is very important; I am not an object.
I love to participate in the creative process but I find it interesting to learn
someone else’s movement. I feel that the choreographer is neither above nor
below the dancer. For example, there is a choreographer who asks us for a
lot of time outside of class, but I accept because I find the time for it and I
love his material and I see it as part of my personal evolution.
Marie-Josée is referring to a guest-choreographer invited to give a fifteen-

week class culminating in the performance of an original piece. An anec-
dote recounted by Marie-Josée deserves to be mentioned because it
illustrates the negotiation at work between marginal and dominant dis-
courses. A third of the way through the action-research, the choreogra-
pher asked the female students to lose weight, something which
Marie-Josée found inappropriate (even though later the choreographer
explained that what he was really after was more commitment from the
students and not weight loss). This same choreographer asked the stu-
dents to rehearse during periods that are usually free such as lunch hours
and weekends. Seeing this request as excessive, the students presented a
united front by drawing-up a schedule together of extra rehearsal time
that they could all manage. To do so, they took into account their differ-
ent family situations and the loss of income they would suffer from being
less available for their weekend jobs. Marie-Josée said that she felt divided
between a reaction of resistance to his demands and one of acceptance
because ‘this choreographic project also allows me to access something
unique in my interpretation’. This anecdote illustrates that students may
cooperate, at least in part, with situations of domination, because the
advantages are greater than the sacrifices they would experience. Engaged
in a reflective thinking process, Marie-Josée contextualizes the choreogra-
pher’s demands:
He’s afraid that the piece won’t be any good. He’s scared that we don’t have
enough time. His reputation in Montreal is not my problem. But we’re working
together on this and I will do what I can to make the piece good […] This has
clarified what I want to do in life. I want to dance but that’s not all I want. I
don’t think I have the strength. I would like to do some projects with young cho-
reographers, do some dance-theatre, have kids, do massage therapy, travel.
In her two-sided position in the face of the choreographer’s excessive

demands, Marie-Josée shows clear-sightedness with regard to the ‘games
of truth’ of the dominant discourse. Despite institutional constraints,
she was able to make choices inspired by an ethic of care for herself and
the other dancers. During our discussions, some students, like Marie-Josée,
mentioned that body and health management is a creative challenge. If
health is defined in relation to what a group accepts as normal, it can just
as easily be redefined. Dancers can envisage the possibility of instituting
new norms rather than perpetuating those already in existence.

Discussion and conclusion
The three emerging categories – towards the status quo, between the sta-
tus quo and change, and toward change – echo Foucault’s positions
relative to the dominant discourse – appropriation, accommodation and
resistance – in an astonishing manner that we had not anticipated.
According to Foucault, power can only be wielded on free subjects and
insofar as they are free, they may:
• identify with the dominant discourse and internalise it

• adapt to it without accepting it
• thwart it
The students that make up the first group had appropriated the dominant
discourse in dance, which they considered inescapable and even essential
in building a dance career. Therefore, these students believed they had to
know how to play by the rules of the game. As such, their bodily experi-
ences in the somatic classes did not serve the purpose of improving well-
being but were subverted and used to work towards what was important
to them: pushing the limits of their performance. While this approach can
bring great fulfillment, it can also bring pain and injury since, for the
majority of the students, the ideal dancing body is next to impossible to
attain. What they learned from the marginal discourse of somatic educa-
tion was used to lessen the negative health impacts of the dominant dance
discourse. In other words, somatic education was used to recuperate or
repair one’s tired or damaged body in pursuing the quest for perfection. In
summing up, the participants in the ‘towards the status quo’ group did
not show a subjectification process, since what was learned from the
somatic education classes served the dominant discourse.
The students in the second group adopted a position of accommoda-
tion towards the dominant discourse. On the one hand, they manifested
critical thinking in how they verbalized their reticence about certain
aspects of the dominant discourse; on the other hand, they did not seem to
physically experience the changes that they professed verbally. One must
develop critical thinking in the face of the dominant discourse but, as
Markula (2004) suggests, in order to develop a practice of the self which
constitutes a technology of the self and a practice of freedom, one must
also consciously build the alternative discourse by making concrete chan-
ges to the way one uses oneself physically. This was a step that had not
been taken by the students of this group by the time we ended our action-
research. In this group, the process of subjectification appeared as a ‘brico-
lage’ borrowing from both the dominant and marginal discourses.
Sensations, ways of being and doing, were integrated into their daily activ-
ities, insofar as they were compatible with elements of the different dis-
courses to which these individuals adhered to.
It is therefore with the students who manifested both critical thinking
in the face of the dominant discourse and a capacity to make connections
with their bodily experiences that we observed the fullest subjectification
processes. The experience of the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education
allowed these students to develop an internal authority which made them
less vulnerable to the health impacts of the dominant dance discourse.

They made choices based on their intimate experiences, respecting the
limits of their own bodies. For the students in this group, the normality of
pain or certain pedagogical practices was no longer so blindly tolerated or,
if so, it was only under certain conditions and for a limited period of time.
When a proprioceptive awareness is coupled with reflective thought, the
threats to the body that were once deemed acceptable in the life of a dan-
cer now become unacceptable.
For all the students, this action-research provided an opportunity to
cast doubt on the ‘games of truth’ of the technologies of domination. The
students of the first group were, for the most part, less inclined to question
the dominant dance discourse but when given the opportunity to discuss
its various issues, they found it to be a viable exercise. In the dance training
milieu, there is a certain amount of consenting to training or choreographic
demands that are sometimes violent, and physically or psychologically
abusive. Power, as explains Foucault, is not the result of the imposition of
external constraints on the person but is rather an internalization of norms
and productive goals by the person. Of course, dancers cannot abandon all
disciplinary practices throughout their training and career, but they can
critically think about the benefit or cost of participating in different body
practices that inevitably have consequences on their health.
On the whole, this action-research offered the possibility of investigat-
ing how the dominant dance discourse, and the marginal one of somatic
education, participate in students’ reappraisal of the body, art and health.
In the course of their previous training, some students had registered cer-
tain ‘truths’ from which they did not stray if they were to succeed in
attaining the physical perfection that they so desired. The action-research
questioned the rules of the game by presenting the dancers with a peda-
gogical approach compatible with health concerns.
Somatic approaches represent a definitive development for contempo-
rary dance but they should also be contextualized and looked at critically,
since we cannot look at somatic approaches outside the historical and
artistic discourses from which they are practiced. Dancers construct them-
selves and are constructed in many ways by various, and sometimes com-
peting, discourses, which operate at any given time, each of them with
different games of truth. While recognizing the possibility for satisfaction
resulting from the different ways of practicing dance, our focus through-
out this action-research was on a broad notion of health, one that con-
nects with Foucault’s concept of technologies of the self. In a short period
of time, the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education, tied to a reflective
thinking process about health issues in dance, has confirmed its potential
as a technology of the self. What will be the long term effects of the action-
research on the students’ negotiations of dominant and marginal dis-
courses in dance is unknown.
Through this action-research we invited the students to engage them-
selves in different ways of knowing. While we do not support a position
that theoretical and practical knowledge necessarily leads to changes, we
would argue that knowledge is a prerequisite. For change, dancers need to
raise their consciousness about the dominant discourse and how it con-
structs dancing bodies. Unless the dominant discourse in dance changes,
or marginal discourses are given a more prominent place, changes in

dancers’ health and well-being will remain limited. While this action-
research was realized in a contemporary dance training institution using
the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education, we believe that other
somatic approaches, particularly those that support a pedagogy valuing
sensorial experience and a critical approach, could also be successfully
applied to other dance forms for the benefit of students who consciously
learn to negotiate between different discourses.
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jdsp.1.1.47/1
Contributor details
Sylvie Fortin, Ph.D., is associate professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal,
Canada, and director of the graduate programs in dance and somatic education.
She is well known as a somatic practitioner and prolific author of body-related
issues in the arts. Sylvie is currently involved in a series of funded research projects
focusing on the constructions of health. She is part of CINBIOSE (Centre for the
Study of Biological Interactions on Human Health) and ‘Invisible That Hurts’, two
interdisciplinary research groups that favour an interdisciplinary and feminist
approach.

Adriane Vieira, Ph.D. in Human movement science is full professor at the
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and is invited teacher at Universidade
do Vale dos Sinos. She works in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Adriane is physiotherapist
and known as an expert in back school and somatic education. She is part of the
Riograndense society of psychosomatics medicine. She is member of the research
group Body posture and movement quality at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
do Sul.
Martyne Tremblay is a Ph.D. student in Arts at the Université du Québec à

Montréal, Canada. For her doctoral thesis, she is studying the health represen-
tations and corporeal habitus of university students in contemporary dance. She
completed her Masters in dance at the same university, investigating the link
between dance and spirituality as lived by contemporary dancers. Martyne is part
of the research group on the constructions of health directed by Sylvie Fortin.
Contact: Département de danse, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, succ.
Centre-Ville, Montréal (Québec) CANADA, H3C 3P8.
Tel: (514) 987-3000, poste 3499
Fax: (514) 987-4797
E-mail: fortin.sylvie@uqam.ca

Enskinning between extended voice

and movement: somatics, touch,
contact and the camera
Yvon Bonenfant University of Winchester
Abstract Keywords
This article has two parts: a prelude, or prosaic introduction to its artistic research performance as
content, and the body of the work, which explores through metaphor, rhythmic research
wordplay, description, and still image, the making of the 2008 music-video-dance practice-led research
experiment Intimacies. The article uses an adapted performance-writing style choreography
to explore the results of a somatic process that yoked together interests in touch, extended voice
membrane and emotion, with a studio process exploring the notion of intimacy, documentation
intensity, contact and the skin. Intended as an immersive experience in the subjec- artist writing
tive memory of a creative process, it celebrates encounter.
Prelude
The writing that follows this prelude is an auto-poetic account of a crea- 1. See Bonenfant (2006)
tive research process. This process in question is the making of the video- for an explanation
of the intersection
dance piece Intimacies (2008). between body
The piece Intimacies has now been workshopped and developed into psychotherapy and
two distinct forms. Indeed, one might say that I could begin use the title stage practice from
my perspective. More
Intimacies to refer to a developing working methodology rather than to a information is also
specific artistic product. A scholarly-reflective artistic account of the mak- provided later in this
ing of the first version of the piece (in 2006) was published in Studies in prelude.
Theatre and Performance in January 2008 (Bonenfant 2008a), and focused
on how one might ‘de-discipline’ the body to create a certain kind of live-
art derived, musi-dance performance. Moving between a poetic and a
more traditional academic voice, the article documents the process and
product of voice-movement collaboration among two extended vocalists
and two dancers. The article contextualizes the work through explaining
that I use what I call a kind of emotional somatics – somatic work derived
from certain aspects of a body psychotherapy technique I am trained in1 –
to source material for performance in the studio. The project threw up
many challenges and questions. Primary among them was how one might
bring the intimate and personal experience of the performers to audiences
in other ways than the live, theatrical setting permitted. These other ways
might allow spectators to access an enhanced and intense vocal experi-
ence, as well as bring audiences a heightened visual experience of the inti-
mate encounters between performers and the intimate detail of their bodies.
I have attempted to explore some of this line of inquiry through this second
project, the Intimacies (2008) video-dance experiment.
JDSP_1.1_05_art_Bonenfant.indd 65 6/8/09 12:59:49 PM

2. Many readers of this Making a choice to refer to a specific set of somatic practices as ‘emo-
journal will be famil-
iar with Reich’s work,
tional’ somatics might seem controversial. In a thought-discipline that seeks
which was developed to study the body through body-mind interaction, or to view the human
out of psychoanalysis organism from a perspective that truly includes both the physical, organic
but which went in
radical directions later
body and the constellation of processes of self-awareness we might call the
in Reich’s life. Reich ‘mind’, attending to the emotional qualities of corporeality and mind-body
is a much-contested integration might seem a given. However, there is a body of somatic knowl-
figure. For more infor-
mation on Reich see
edge and practice that particularly emphasises the emotional qualities of
one of his most fun- somatic awareness and mind-body interaction, and that is concerned with
damental publications these qualities in such a way that all of the other corporeal properties are
Character Analysis,
and Bonenfant
worked with through an emotionally tinted lens. This work straddles the
(2006) and (2008a) worlds of traditional psychotherapeutic discourse and practice, particularly
for references to more as derived from humanistic and modified Freudian and Jungian models
writing about Reich’s
life and work.
(depending on the discipline in question), and mind-body awareness. This
might include techniques such as: Core Energetics; Bioenergetic Analysis;
3. In saying this, I
have summarized
Radix Body Re-education; and Medical Orgonomy (and many other off-
two entire fields of shoots, developments and refinements). These are practices largely derived,
operation and phi- in various ways, from the work of Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957),2 the founder
losophy in Boyesen’s
body psychotherapy
of western, psychoanalytically-derived body psychotherapy.
technique. The first My own training is in the field of Biodynamic Psychology, founded by
is her theory of tissue Gerda Boyesen (1922–2005). This second-generation, neo-Reichian body
armouring, whereby
membranes either
psychotherapy discipline has a number of particularities. What is relevant
stiffen and become to the idea of a somatic process of enskinning within Boyesen’s work is her
impermeable to fluid interest in the function and experience of membrane in mind-body systems.
transfer and create
tissue tendon, or are
Boyesen was interested in membranes (from cell walls right through to
too permeable and epithelial tissues) as containers of both literal (interstitial, lymphatic,
create hypotonic blood) and emotional fluid, and as the space of exchange among cells and
tissue (see Boyesen
1985: 46–57,
tissues (on an intra-corporeal level) and organisms (on an inter-corporeal
83–88). The second is level).3 Between bodies, this, of course suggests a strong emphasis on the
her interest in the link skin, skin being our outermost membrane and the primary (and primor-
between extremely
light touch and the
dial) place of sensual exchange and contact with other living, breathing
discharge of ‘stress human bodies.
energy’ in the smooth Body psychotherapy often uses various touch-inclusive techniques or
musculature sur-
rounding the intestine
physical interventions to intervene with breathing and consciousness in
(Boyesen 1985: order to stimulate certain kinds of emotional ‘flow’. These might include
64–75). palpations, massage, and contact that stimulates or supports various kinds
4. I have found that of movement (and are generally used carefully and judiciously). Perhaps
the most accurate because the interest in membrane is so central to the Boyesen approach,
and complete descrip- the Boyesen-derived work has developed a highly refined series of touch
tions of biodynamic
massage practice, its interventions that work with light touch on the outermost levels of skin,
choreographies and rather than necessarily intervening with deeper tissues. Very light, yet
its uses are described carefully constructed, choreographed and structured touch experiences
largely in literature
in French, as Boyesen are designed and used in therapy sessions under specific circumstances.4
was notorious for Without going into clinical detail, it is important to understand that these
not wanting to write choreographies of touch, these deceivingly superficial touch interventions
things down, and
many of the people play a central role in biodynamic theory and practice. The experience of
that did so were receiving this work as well as of practicing it forms the existential basis
second generation upon which the Intimacies experiments were developed, but are particu-
Boyesen therapists.
See the following larly emphasized in this second attempt to engage with the emerging
chapters in particular: Intimacies methodology.
66 Yvon Bonenfant

Aesthetically speaking, the primary personal expression of my somatic Besson (1992) and
Vaudaine (1992).
knowledge and practice is in the realm of holistic, embodied voice. This Interesting case stud-
underpins the Intimacies work, since the Intimacies experiments look ies can also be found
beyond the voice to other forms of corporeal interaction. As an extended in Nunnelly (2000a
and 2000b).
vocalist, with bel canto training but who has also self-developed particular
approaches to expanded vocal vocabulary, I come to the world of choreo-
graphic facilitation from a very particular perspective. Extending my own
preoccupation with skin and membrane – a preoccupation cultivated by
my training in body psychotherapy – into the aesthetic realm, I work with
what I might call the haptic voice, the voice that touches (for further infor-
mation see Bonenfant 2008b). A voice that touches implies some sort of
conscious relationship with membranes – with the soft skin tissue of the
eardrum and with skin and other surfaces. Vocal touch is a kind of social
touch: it reaches, extends, radiates toward the outside world and outside
bodies. I re-emphasize that this voice is intended to be more than an
abstract language: it is meant to engage concretely with the notion of
touch. But it is unlike skin-to-skin touch. Its sound waves distribute out-
ward in a radiant fashion, can include many, and thus can become
social.
This radiant quality of the social voice makes me interested in the
possibility of a radiant physical, touching gesture and thus gesture that
might also be perceived to touch even when manual touch is not liter-
ally occurring. I working from a trans-disciplinary perspective, rather
than interdisciplinary, for as Celine Roux (2007: 178) points out, the
word trans-disciplinarity implies that we move beyond distinct medias
and disciplines to embrace art that moves beyond the notion of discipli-
nary frontier. I am interested in how dancers might sing through ges-
ture, and how the notion of singing from and to skin might become a
notion of movement from and to skin. Perhaps this is partly because my
own radiant, sung practice feels so danced: creating the kind of sound
work I do necessitates a very developed relationship with kinaesthetic
awareness and with the gestural qualities of vocal sound. And most
recently, the central felt, somatic concept I have used as a starting point
to generate this haptic gesture is through techniques that focus on the
development of holistic inhabitation of that massive, important, incredi-
ble organ we all depend on: the skin.
Making this version of Intimacies involved undertaking studio processes
that were highly collaborative; I was facilitator and performer, there were
three other participant-performers, and there was a videographer who
was present for all portions of the process and acted as both a witnessing
eye and a tactile, aesthetic, touching eye-skin. This meant that the project
involved facilitating a relationship between performers and videographer
that allowed all to engage with that mysterious process we call improvising.
This improvisation was, of course, not totally free: it was in response to
stimuli. It is constrained by our technical capacities, the languages we
allow our organisms to ‘speak’, and the languages we have been taught.
We can, however, all engage with processes that extend these languages,
and this is precisely what the performers attempted. They were chosen for
their interest in, and ability to, respond idiosyncratically to corporeal stim-
uli, and for their professed interest in felt relationship. We therefore allowed
Enskinning between extended voice and movement 67

spontaneous material to emerge from exercises with contact: eye (or reti-
nal skin) contact; contact between skins of hands, of feet and of mem-
branes, using touch qualities derived from Boyesen’s work and other
exercises of my own. These qualities needed, of course, to be filtered
through, digested by, incorporated into and interpreted through the organ-
isms of the performing and video-capturing ensemble.
The place of the videographer in this process is intriguing, and she
occupied many different roles: witness; sometimes participant; outside,
objectifying eye; an eye attempting to render this process a subject,
attempting to move beyond the distant observation of the lens to capture,
in visuality, something of the essence of the exchanges taking place
between performers’ skins. The challenge was to allow this to create a
means of viewership that the theatrical audience spectatorship role could
not: to focus on proximity and detail in ways a viewer would not other-
wise access. This is why the stills you will see in this article tend toward
large images of detailed texture and body parts, rather than to the capture
of fast, acrobatic, ‘danced’ gesture. The material emerging from the bodies
was personal; we were touching each other and creating intimate fleshly
dialogues, and the videography meant to document some of these
moments. The images became a form of memory. Similarly, the final
soundtrack – for the product of Intimacies was in fact an extended voice
dance video – emerged from a score derived from processes of remember-
ing (indeed, perhaps re-enskinning) the lived, studio experience. The final
artistic product was made from remembered sound, remembered bodies,
and re-enskinned lived moments; these were scores and notes rendered
into a multi-tracked extended voice piece. The visual edit was created after
the sound recording, an editing process that dialogues with my own mem-
ory, and with the poetry of the re-enskinned, sung moment.
How can we make this process relevant to you? The reader of this jour-
nal may already have developed or participated in the ways mind-body
techniques can facilitate the emergence of alternative kinds of vocabularies
for dancers, yet it is unlikely many have done so focusing so particularly on
this sung, enskinned, en-membraned perspective. Artistic research is the
sharing of interiorities: I contend that the challenge of bringing readers into
a process that is both familiar to them and yet unfamiliar can be fruitfully
addressed through immersing the reader in an informed poetic engagement
with process, with an intense subjectivity, and with documented moments
of re-enskinning. I therefore choose a style of writing that shifts between dif-
ferent poetic registers, attempting to bring the reader into a process using
metaphor, description, musical wordplay, and poetic suggestion, and to
‘narrate’ stages in the making process that were somehow meaningful to
me as an immersed creative practitioner. The writing that follows is there-
fore a form of performance writing, but from what I would call a ‘somatic’
and sung perspective; in a sense, it tries to create the written word from the
remembered sung impulse. It does not communicate the result of the proc-
ess to you, but rather attempts to communicate metaphorically about the
experienced content. This creates stories of attachment, for bringing the
skin into this process, consciously using the membrane, created a love-like
joy in my own organism. I experienced this as artistic director of the project
and celebrate its emergence in this writing.
68 Yvon Bonenfant

This writing attempts to immerse you, to document a togetherness, to
explore somatic knowledges’ emergence in a creative context, to posit
states of experience and render some salient elements of them into another
form.
SECTION 1: DISCOVERY
1. Intention
To make a piece from vivid encounter. To make a piece from the most
essential encounter. To make a piece from skin. To make a piece with skin.
To make a piece of skin be a piece. To make a video of skin. To make skin
skin again in the eyes. To try to make eyes feel skin. And ears, enskinning,
singing the edges, singing the breathwork, singing the surface.
To make a piece from encounter: the home of encounter is membrane
cell walls exchanging oxygen air water (perhaps laughter) membrane, the
home membrane skin brushes rubs caresses exchanges cornea; eye skin
transparent rays flowing through eardrum; small warm nest of tambou-
rine sensing tiny air particle zinging
In the night the soft membranes sparking in the dry air

against the warm breeze of duvet twist
rushing with divine notions of contact
I want to feel you
In the day to day light of cold studios

and the grind of a slog against a body-hating world
where to find moments to touch. Not just touch
To touch a skin and feel it. To touch a skin and be enough there to be
there. To touch a skin and risk it. To touch a skin and marvel. Fronds of
ocean coral waving. To touch a skin and marvel at coral. Coloured coral
dancing up from a soft ocean floor, waving but to touch, to touch, rougher
than torn sponge. To touch a skin and feel it. To touch torn sponge, to
hold. To hold you. To hold me.
To make a piece from encounter and wishing. To make a piece from
encounter from lonely. To make a piece with hearts at the where. To make
a piece from the shy whole self. To make a piece from a skin-scented body.
To make a piece entirely alone. To make a piece with strong heart marks
imprinted. To make a piece like a cast iron grill. To make a piece with a
cast iron centre. To make a piece with a centre of bone.
And outward from the bone spirals

certain flesh and now the slowly, invisibly
shredding surface, cells dropping into dust,
nerves extending their tiny tentacles into the night air
it isn’t all silk and only silk. The skin calls me forward
After a night in the wondering alley. After a night with a dog wearing
pearls. After a night with a lonely poinsettia. After a night with a withering

grin. After a night with cold blade by the bedside. After a night of unwa-
vering fear. After a night of abandoned hard treasures. After a night of
just waiting for you. After a night of the worst kind of metal. After a night
of distance and maim. After a night of masked dreams in the mildew. After
a night of steep wandering lust.
There you are again, skin. An invitation.

For if we want encounter, if
we want to remember each other, we must actually
be in the surface. We must remember from the delicate
surface, the tough surface, the marked surface,
the static surface, the breathing surface, the wanting
surface, the needing surface, the largest surface. The skin of the
earth itself: crust floating on magma. The skin of the human
mind and soul: the fine spun silk, the breathing balloon, the
tattooed memory, fading ever and slowly, the last gasp
the last wrinkled place we might feel the others there
Figure 1: Still from Intimacies (2008), videography: Ludivine Allegue, choreographic direction: Yvon
Bonenfant, performer: Robin Dingemans. Copyright Yvon Bonenfant and Ludivine Allegue.
70 Yvon Bonenfant

when the rest has gone, the sounds, the light

in the last moment perhaps it is only that brain we feel
the skin brain
celebrating this, encounter,
2. Look
We stood and met. Eyes. First thing was just to look, to look into each oth-
ers’ eyes. The look of seeing, of waiting, of witness. This first skin, the
cornea will we let them in and through.
I remember Charlotte Bronte, always describing the eyes as giving off
light rather than taking it in … Mr Rochester’s ‘ray’ dropping on her shoul-
der … she could touch eye rays they were like lasers emitting emitting.
And so. Rays, reaching forward, to simply look, standing. To start to
make a world where we see. In this studio, we look into the eyes and then
breathe, and we look rather than see. To look is to reach, to see is to wait.
We look. The large brow-made eyes of the man with red hair, he is named
Robin, the red breasted bird. The seeking eyes of the soft mammal dancer,
her brown hair and melting corners become her Delphine. A large blink

and soft twitch, tiny twitch and a large twitch the marked twitch another
twitch always tiny with the big eyes Caroline.
We breathe and look and sometimes a camera is looking but it is okay.
We breathe and look and then we do this thing. The thing is the eye thing.
We follow the eyes like they’re brain. But it’s new, they lead, then some-
thing, then there’s a long time.
How to explain. Melt. This was just to melt, to melt, this was just to melt.
(Melt. The immobile fear, the hard hard tissue, the too hard tissue, the
needlessly hard tissue, the open marked tissue, the marvellous tissue, the
meek and excited tissue, the leftover murky tissue).
What is a hard cornea
What is a melted cornea
Oh look, look, I just want to look at you
And at a world of something
3. Explosion from eyes

He runs back and forth, then begins stomping. It is generous. How do we
know, it is generous, it is something expanding, it is generous not kicking,
not killing, it is something very real we are witnessing. It is not birthing but
it is like birthing, it is not release but it is releasing, it is letting something
out but it is not gratuitous. It is letting something out but it is not just let-
ting something out. It is impulse but refined. It is something very core. He is
giving us that thing. And so we all also want to give it. We all also want to
give it because if we didn’t give it we would just have nothing else, and
nothing else is not interesting to us. Nothing else can be interesting to us
and therefore we are here. Somehow we have gotten here where nothing
else is interesting to us. Thank you we say but we don’t say it, we do it.
What is a gift. A gift is something like thank you but it is not. It is something
else. It is gift it is not holy it is not sacred but it is something so strong tast-
ing. The words of the mouth must describe it, it is an honest flavour, a
strong flavour, a subtle flavour, a really marked flavour, it is not a preten-
tious flavour, it is a flavour of the soil of the land of the food. It is a flavour
like the tomatoes in Italy, like a pineapple in Hawaii, we can small the land
and it is the land that likes the fruit, the land has bounty, we welcome the
bounty, this is an explosion of bounty, we open arms and receive bounty.
4. Receive
To receive, to receive, she says, we must receive this bounty, this bounty.
She is right I think. There the bounty is and we must receive it or shut our
eyes. The membranes are touching. The cornea is letting in his rays, his
rays. He sings. Ohhh… the singing makes my knees tremble, it is such
powerful singing, I haven’t heard that before in the room with me, oh, she
is melting, her cornea is melting. This was the beginning of it, the opening
to it, the eyes. Then everyone’s eyes led to something, everyone’s eyes were
72 Yvon Bonenfant

Bonenfant, performers: Caroline Gill, Robin Dingemans. Copyright Yvon Bonenfant and Ludivine Allegue.
the place where something was giving and receiving, everyone was excited,
this space of encounter. So we touched and touched with eyes and then
after the explosion we lay down on the floor and our feet talked.
5. Feet
For feet to talk, feeling. For feet to feel talking, feeling, feet. First gentle
touching of everything, activating the skin, butterfly fingertips, stroking.
Then the feet, simply on the floor communicating, there they are. Talking
with feet. To make feet be the place talking happens, oh yes, to make feet
be the talkers and the ones with touching voices. A big foot a small foot a
socked foot. Who are you when you are only feet. Who are you when your
feet are feet. If you were only feet who would you be. It is wonderful to
know feet. It is wonderful to introduce feet to feet, with no bothersome
looking and drawing conclusions from hard corneas. Instead the feet can
be what they are and have their own skins, their own minds, their own,
and you are someone else as feet
Oh so surprisingly
delicate

oh so gently
refined, so much to say
with such careful accents
so much to warm with such open mouths
such lovely warm tendrils
such marked discovery
simple walking
a simple walking story
to the feet
6. Hands
Pure careful thought in a boundary of membrane
Whole worn live histories crowded into bone
Baby reach nevermore care children wanting
Wrinkled line history burning in song
Open the palm face I rush into liking

Only the seeking and caring rings on
In this skinography bio biography
All the remembers are waiting in tissue
Seek me, seek me when you can seek. I wish you to seek I wish to be sought.
Seek the whole hand, the divine hand. These hands are full, these hands are
resplendent. Bounty bounty
A touch of hand like twitter. Birdsong. Every kind of bird. Vulture call
eagle high call little songbirds a ravenous turkey robins crows and some
squawking ostrich. Kiwis. When ravens. Hands. When ravens and the
wild dark birds: hands are full. Hands do loving. Hands do everything.
Hands do striking, and beating, and killing. Hands do butchering, hands
do. The human hand.
The human hand reaches. The human hand touches. The human hand is
exquisite. The human hand the human hand
The human hand wanders. The human hand
I touch your human hand. Baby hand. Adult hand. The life of your hand is
in your hand. What happens when it’s the hand what is the skin of hand the
skin of hand
The reaching skin of human hand
Oh
Oh
Oh
74 Yvon Bonenfant

SECTION 2: AFTER EYES, FEET, HANDS

We are prepared. The preparation prepared us.
The director didn’t do it. The director did it not by doing it but by bringing
us and then by stimulation. It was a way of starting conversation. And
now the conversation is going. It is intercourse, the gift, the receipt, the
exchange. We are people who want to be skin. We are people who want to
be hands and feet. We are people whose corneas are softening. We are
people who want to move and some of us want to make sound.
7. Improvisations: portrait one

When we show this simple
mark on our elbow
when we rise with brown hair
and kiss the light
when we swat into the air

with a quirky rhythm and funny mouth

the others see.
when we mark this space out

with pacing paces and a bright round
with a few dropped metal tools
and bit by bit more clothes drop off, abandoned
not stripping, more like shedding
unneeded bark
The bark does fall, the bark does its falling

The bark and the metal tools and climbing the walls in the corner
8. Improvisations: portrait two

Something of the adolescent. Something of the teenage boy. Something of
the frustration. Something of the adult man. Something of silence.
Something of someone who is looking for what he wants. Something of
the pursuit. Something of profound frustration. Something of yesterday.
Something of tomorrow. Something of pacing. Pacing, pacing, the edges
76 Yvon Bonenfant

of the room the pacing the edges a prison not a prison pacing in the black
walls pacing the pacing witness paces the camera paces the pacing the
pacing of the room paced pacing in the numbers of steps just seeing what
next a sudden fart the pacing of the space with sound climbing the walls
and a posture. A simple posture with a treading eye and the simple posture
waiting.
Not knowing what will come next.
Not knowing whether what will come next will come next
A sense of profound troubledness, a sense of a certain fresh scar, a sense

of overcoming (scar the thickened skin of the wound, whole again but
memory like the photography itself, are photographs scars are they scars)
overcoming but also of a kind of radiant joy, how could. A strong smell of
male body with a spice and space funk.
Climbing.
And then he waits for it all to be the all of it.
This is a large skinned back. This is the skin of a large wide back, these are
shoulders.
9. Improvisations: portrait three

She is, with a certain high lightning. She is lightning with a brown soft-
ness. She is speed. I am blind, I cannot see her, I must close I must close, I
cannot see her to her I am blind, I can feel her though. My skin remem-
bers her, I contemplate her, but she was not there to see. I saw her with
skin not with eyes, the corneas so soft they can’t catch her speed. She is
really wanting to be there. She is what we hope can be there.
Fire
Spark and flame, or a

sandy crackle of coal.
Marked essence of pine.
A rounded crazing.
A warm separation from me
(When she talks I can’t hear her. Something
else is speaking louder: some bowel blaze
some slick memory)
She strikes whole compound chords with fists

it is the contemplation
of the tornado
the still eye
the still eye
with the sweeping winds around it
she twists screams zing zing

Bonenfant, performer: Delphine Gaborit. Copyright Yvon Bonenfant and Ludivine Allegue.
wild flurry wild flurry

(she is not snow) cornea drinking
A small stream, rounded with buttercups, crowned with overhanging

moss, a bear fishing for salmon, her paw dipping in and out, a relaxed
firm power, waiting for the tasty fish but ready to spring, a breakneck
courage, an ability to run up the tree, a heaviness that can spring like
feather, a gift
She is panting and we have felt her fish

We have felt her fishing
She wants to lick the taste of catch
Each tart loop of tongue

sought a marvelling tingle
the dark phases of the night moons

softly shining on skin
78 Yvon Bonenfant

Bonenfant, performer: Delphine Gaborit. Copyright Yvon Bonenfant and Ludivine Allegue.
could her warm heart

pulse wildly enough to let her breasts
flicker and wade
in the swamp of dreams
10. Improvisations: portrait four

Again sudden twitch. Huge Bambi eyes, blink and then move sideways.
Saccadic, saccadic like a bird’s head, each movement a tiny jut and stroke.
Observation and looking in each direction. Swatting irritated swatting is
funny.
Legs can go right behind the head, hands can go right behind the push,
face can go right behind the hair, wigs. Wigs of spill from the crown of the
skull, wigs spill from skin and the crown of the skull shining with halo
blue light.
She charges.
It is a breath and accumulation she tries we see the wings the wings as
she tries to beat the air with and a charge. She wants but there around

there is something that is something else she wants struggle and there
with something else there is struggle and the more with it there is with the
breath she keeps build the something savage a kilt I think a kilt and a
sword maybe thick bagpipes sheep’s bladder inflating prepare to unleash
the sound of war.
The struggle is charming its intensity builds all skins crackle and wait
all skins charge all skins the halo struggle is charming the wait the skin
builds crackle delightful she is delightful and the delight charge the fine
bones the fine bones in the downlight her fine bones run to the wall run
and lean she looks up oh the fine bones the fine bones cheekbones cheek-
bones the fine bones come to the charge oh the fine bones the strong bones
the electric fiddle the fine eyes close the fine spill of hair the fine charge the
strong, strong muscles the fine strong muscles and a build with more
finally the mouth opens.
A sung h with open field o, o, the letter o the sound o the room spins
her skin her skin has charged and she has sung it we have felt the song
behind the fine bones
It wants to come out

It wants to come out
(our skin alive with wait)
Bonenfant, performer: Caroline Gill. Copyright Yvon Bonenfant and Ludivine Allegue.
80 Yvon Bonenfant

11. Pause (contemplation of hair)
One, a tousled rusty Wheatfield, a metallic auburn, blustering in the tor-
nadoed wind. The next, soft drapery of earth. Another, spun metallic ochre
red and a fine long beard. A scampered spill of jet black burls. Finally, a
soft fuzz of stubble and the exposed skin.
This hair, extending from the skin, skin made fibre, hair of animals
spun into extra skins for us, hair of humans like extended skin and reach.
Music is hair. Singing the dance is the singing of hair: layers, colours,
twists, curls, caresses, manipulations, sweepings, combings.
12. A final solo (autobiography)

These things all emerged.
The new age uses words like trust and self-confidence. This was those
things but was also something else, something more passionate and less
cosy. It was bodies in dialogue who want to dialogue. Bodies who have
something to say and want to be heard. Bodies looking for a space to just
do the thing they do. We were all lucky that we found this process. These
were bodies in this process and we found each other at this time. We were
ripe to find each other in this time. A word like love can be used.
Each of us in a journey without words but with talking feet, talking
hands, talking skin, talking hair, talking eyes. Talking surfaces limps and
organs, talking tissues. And then, the way we listened meant hearing was
hearing.
Choreography writing with the body ends. No more inter. Instead
trans, a trans-disciplinary field, where every gesture sound movement
voice word is part of impulse coming, and impulse coming by stimulating
a world of skin and contact.
Each body to hear.
And so in my world, where I worked so hard to let passion flow, I felt, in this
room, with these people, that I had undone the work of the ones who work
to do up the body with whalebone stays well I mean in my body. Everyone
has stays of their own and the others also were unpicking versions of stays
to do that with me was a gift and thank them for their bounty. This was
moving and they gave me moving. Holding up hands to sob a special kind of
radiant sob; a sob-laugh, a heart party. For the somatic impulse led to this
party, this party of the heart and this public sob. Sobbing in the public
sphere with both sadness and mourning but also with laughing joy.
13. Hold
A final thing to melt into arms
before a departure.
Simple softened spines and a try to give in
Asking to be held by ones who can actually love and not the rigid harness
of false tenderness

Bonenfant, performers: Yvon Bonenfant, Robin Dingemans. Copyright Yvon Bonenfant and Ludivine Allegue.
Yes
Thank them
SECTION 3: VIDEO AND SOUND

14. Painter video
This time there had been a camera. The camera was what it was, that is to
say it was a camera that looked, in the hands of a painter. The painter was
recording like a painter. Not the dance but the bodies. The bodies dancing.
Not the content of the dance but the painter’s eye painting and looking.
The painter’s eye can see with body because the painter dances. The
painter is used to tiny fingers dancing above bare feet on the studio floor,
bent over a whole home of dancing colour, blending and wiping and add-
ing water. And so the body surfaces are painted by a video making painter,
they are seen like this painter sees. This painter can see this because this
painter tries to undo the stays.
82 Yvon Bonenfant

But to make somatic video, to make it, can it be made. Well no, I don’t 5. I thank my
collaborator,
think so, for anything recorded digitally can always be dead, or in other Ludivine Allegue,
words, not dead but the memory of being alive, it is a complex trace. The for her notion
painting is a complex trace that manifests a human vision. The painting is a of vision: the
imagined space,
complex trace and the video in the hands of this painter traces and remem- the empty hunger
bers a certain vision.5 Not the vision of the painter but a vision of what the that precedes the
painter can capture and use the tool to remember. So the video is a scar, for actual manifesta-
tion of an artwork’s
it is the memory of skin actioning, and this painter video was dancing with material being. In
us, was being with us in a way that made looking a form of moving. So other words, for her,
there was no worry about the moving looking, it was just there and there ‘vision’ is the impulse
that pre-exists the
was a heart behind it and vision, and a spill of vibrant jet black hair and creative product we
some carefully chosen comments. It felt skin, it felt skin, it felt skin. might make.
(Always there she was always there in the room and some
how never really not there yet being
with the process completely and I
wished she was a dancer but it
wasn’t there a dancer it was a painter. The painter and the
fine filigree dance of her fingertips telling
the gasps of the encounter and its
never-ending levers into
the souls of our live bodies and it
rushed into the window of her
lens without the darlings and their
lens their lens of blinking she left
blink inside her eyelid it just
looked until the willow filigree brushed
down and the camera was deposited she said
come and be my window she said
I could not be a performer. I do not like

to do that. I danced young it is not what
I like, to bare it all like that in that way
Instead she is there and observes and they ask her questions
and it feels like she is there not not there it feels
like she is never without another direction her
touching is all remember it is
keep that eye the distance I can’t
(when we see what she caught it is half

of what happened yet also she was happening
nothing can ever be full of its own end
nothing can ever be full of each fingertip flashing in that way. Take
take,
the image is Taken.

It is taken and to be taken it becomes
another memory it is empty

without the lost one, the lost
without the lost and if lost
There is something soft about her and it

There is something soft
There is something soft about her
There is a quiet dance in the camera
There is a painter’s dance
There is the nose of the painter, seeking the fracture
The space in which to paint, the blank page between
scribbled sheets: there she is
curling hair rounding her face
Now
Now
capture
15. Music
To remember memory and to make layers.
To remember the sensations and the attachments from the whole body
and not just the picture. To do this before the pictures get made.
To make manifest interiority and to bring interiority to exteriority.
To show the interiority, to risk this profound intimacy.
To help to feel the sound-touch of the interiority, the vibrating voice.
The recorded interiority of the vibrating voice in layers like hair.
The recorded memory of the vibrating voice in layers like hair structures.
The bodies doing, the poetry of being there with them, watching with soft
cornea, feeling with soft skin, hearing with soft eardrum, nerves tingling
and we are all very alive. Screaming, laughing, crying, moving, silently,
pulsing, jerking, swatting, stamping, we are all very alive and that alive-
ness is the aliveness that we are being.
To let this aliveness of five people in one course through tissues.
To make this coursing through tissues be something of every nature

present.To make this coursing through tissues this sensation of coursing
this emotional sensation this muscular sensation this skin sensation these
memories.
There is one clear and delightful word: tingle.
Tingle sing.
To sing with the tingle and to make layers and harmonies like human hair.
84 Yvon Bonenfant

To layer complexities with simplicity and complexity of human hair.
Tingling with layers of hair, tingling in excess with these layers of human
hair of all colours and sizes and thicknesses, rampant hair growing like
ivy, a single strand and even the bald skin between hairs oh the human
being and the word tingle.
Moving through the coursing stages, coursing stages flow. The music
is the starting place, this music is touch because it is vibration. This music
is touch because it is tingle. This interiority is coming out because tingling
is social. Private social tingling.
To sing the private tingle social tingle the sing the ting tingle.
Every kind of powerful singing. Tenderness is powerful and the gesture.

Trans. Trans-discipline I gesture with my virtuosity I gesture the way each
did gesture, looking hearing and feeling. The tingle is the alive way and it
is a memory and we record layers of it like human hair.
Tingling human hair, tingling jungles of hair, sometimes simple grasses, a

strand.
16. Final video edit

I send the music it is finished. The images captured by the painter then
carefully chosen. Edit, selection, morsels of painted memory emerging
from tactile being, from somatic places, structured into a shared vision
of remember. The recorded voice provides structure. Reflection on let-
ting it be.
Selection, it is to watch and to selection, to watch and to look and the
endless, ceaseless selection, it is the selection, when will we select the selec-
tion, she was alone and there was where selection had to be. The selection
was where it was, where it had to be, there it was and it happened and she
chose it.
She chose that because there was not time not to choose, she had to
choose. She chose it and each choice became a morsel. Each morsel
became some way of remembering but not always that way, to watch is
not to remember, to watch is to watch in the inside. It was inside and so
the side came in, the skin side, the contemplation, the side came in and
the contemplation came in and this was becoming a music video with so
much care.
Reflection on memory and the final record. Reflection on how the record
becomes memory. Cultural issues. We let the sob be and then we know that
the sob can’t be anything except a powerful sob but any such sound can
confront. We let the long sequences be what they are and we remember it
that way. She remembers the way, the painter remembers her painting fig-
ures and chooses, negotiates a way. She lets it develop, she lets it stay. She
remembers the long sob and the long sequence and the long moment. She
remembers duration as a painter’s brush can last a long time, radiance can
last a long time, colours do nothing to radiate they just are, and so a painter’s
brush in the eyes and brain makes a choice that remembers how long feeling
can be there, not there, come back, stay, go and whoosh.

This is it, a snapshot of time, bringing to you the time we remember,
bringing to you the time and memory of a share. Bringing to you another
time and memory. Bringing to you five interiorities. Bringing to you a
shared memory of energy.
These words try too.
Works cited
Besson, Jacqueline (1992), ‘Techniques des massages biodynamiques’, in
Jacqueline Besson (ed.), Manuel d’enseignement de l’Ecole Française d’Analyse
Psycho-Organique, tome 2, Gargas Gaudiès, France: EFAPO, pp. 201–212.
Boyesen, Gerda (1985), Entre psyché et soma: Introduction à la psychologie biody-
namique, Paris: Payot.
Bonenfant, Y. (2006), ‘The embodied politics of intention, therapeutic interven-
tion and artistic practice’, Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 1:2,
pp. 115–127.
Bonenfant, Y. (2008a), ‘Toward a politics of felt pulsation: de-disciplining voice
and movement in the making of a musi-dance performance’, Studies in Theatre
and Performance, 28:1, pp. 39–58.
Bonenfant, Y. (2008b), ‘Sound, touch, the felt body and emotion: Toward a hap-
tic art of voice’, SCAN Journal, 5:3 http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.
php?journal_id=126. Accessed 16 March 2009.
Nunnely, Peg, (2000a), The Biodynamic Philosophy and Treatment of Psychosomatic
Conditions, Volume 1, Oxford/Bern: Peter Lang.
—— (2000b), The Biodynamic Philosophy and Treatment of PsychosomaticCondi-
tions,Volume 2, Oxford/Bern: Peter Lang.
Reich, W. ([1949]1975), Character Analysis, third edition, New York: Farrar,
Strauss & Giroux/Noonday.
Roux, C. (2007), Danses performatives, Paris : L’Harmattan.
Vaudaine, E. (1992), ‘De l’esprit à la lettre. à propos d’une classification des
massages’, in Jacqueline Besson (ed.), Manuel d’enseignement de l’Ecole
Françaised’Analyse Psycho-Organique, Gargas Gaudiès, France: EFAPO tome 2,
pp. 186–197.
Suggested citation
Bonenfant, Y. (2009), ‘Enskinning between extended voice and movement:
somatics, touch, contact and the camera’, Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices
1: 1, pp. 65–87, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.65/1
Contributor details
Yvon Bonenfant is an artist-academic who pursues experiments in voice, move-
ment, emotion, and intensity across media. An extended vocalist himself, in recent
years, Bonenfant has explored the links between extended voice, gesture (choreog-
raphy) and emotion: voice and costume; voice and silk; and voice and scenography.
His recent piece Soie soyeuse (Silky Silk) (2007) has been performed in Paris, New
York, and Wales, with the video version in Tallinn, and an artist book based on
it published by Editions Talmart, Paris, in 2009. Other recent projects include the
installation ‘B(earth)’ [with Ludivine Allegue] (2007–8) and the street interven-
tion ‘The Opposite of Trauma’ (2008, Paris, London, Cardiff) with the Galloping
Cuckoos. He has published in: Performance Research; Body, Music and Dance in
Psychotherapy; Studies in Theatre and Performance, and others. He is a member of
86 Yvon Bonenfant

the Performance as Research Working Group of the International Federation for
Theatre Research and an overseas research associate of the IDEAT, University of
Paris, 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. He is Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts and Director
of Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Winchester, and an
Overseas Research Associate of the Institut d’Esthétique des Arts et Technologies,
Université de Paris, 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Contact: The Masters’ Lodge, University of Winchester, West Hill, Winchester
SO22 4NR, UK.
Tel: 01962 8207505
E-mail: yvon.bonenfant@winchester.ac.uk

“ Everything
begins with an idea.
Earl Nightingale
”
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JDSP_1.1_05_art_Bonenfant.indd 88 6/30/09 9:02:16 AM

The potent persuasive pleasurable

unappeasable plié
Jennifer De Leon Independent Choreographer and academic,
Director Poyema Dance Co.
Abstract Keywords
I am thinking about a movement that I, as a psychotherapist working with dance and paradox
movement, have reframed and re-visioned as a therapeutic tool. Every dance sequence familiarity
contains this movement in it. It is a movement that all people who do not think of awareness
themselves as dancers also, unknowingly, do. The movement is named ‘plié’. choice
I think about the plié. I: dancer – teacher, choreographer, educator, writer, or power
any combination of the above – certainly have done and certainly know about, the transformation
plié. My objective in speaking about the plié is to bring to our attention the capacity,
inherent in this most familiar of acts, for healing and transformation.
Introduction
My area of dance scholarship is in the field of Dance Therapy. My essay 1. The plié is a
‘The Plié’ arises from my roles as a dancer, a choreographer, a ‘dance- warming-up
movement done at
academic’ and a psychotherapist who specializes in dance and movement. or near the begin-
It is an out-working and expression of these four discrete, yet overlapping, ning of a classical
aspects of my life. ballet class. It is not
however confined to
My paper is about something that probably most, if not all of us the ballet class and
involved in dance, have – at some stage of our lives – done. It is familiar, is used just as much
habitual and repeated; it has become a ritual some of us may perform in other dance forms
such as jazz, contem-
every day. We have done it consciously, but sometimes without aware- porary, ballroom,
ness. It may have become not quite – but almost – autonomic. This paper and newer forms as
suggests that it is something that may be for us and our students, clients funk, hip-hop, street
and grunge. The feet
and fellow dancers, the key to powerful healing. stand in parallel or
This is the humble, oft-repeated and oh-so-familiar – plié.1 the classical ballet
positions, 1–5th,
or any variation of
In my life as a dancer I have done thousands of pliés. This bend of the these, the knees bend
knees that heralds a thousand other movements is fundamental in classi- to either demi plié
cal ballet training, heralds the beginning of many classes and occurs many (keeping the heels on
the floor) or full plié
times throughout every class. It is my comfort and my torment, as familiar (allowing the heels
to me as breathing and as known as my breath. to come off the floor,
I have chosen the plié as the key focus of this paper because, as dancer, with the exception
of full plié in the 2nd
choreographer, dance teacher, director, dance therapist, psychotherapist position of classi-
and dreamer, I perceive that the plié is a metaphor. Pliés seem simply ‘knee cal ballet), then the
bends … good for limbering the leg muscles and heels … (and for) a well- knees straighten as
the heels return as
stretched Achilles tendon which is necessary for a dancer as it is her soon as possible to
springboard’ (Streatfield 1963: 25–26) – but, as I present here, they can the floor. Various arm
JDSP_1.1_06_art_DeLeon.indd 89 6/8/09 10:24:23 AM

sequences accompany be interpreted as so much more, a tiny symbolical microcosm of a uni-
the different positions
of plié and these are
verse of meaning.
typically set by the
teacher at the com- The Plié – what is it?
mencement of the
plié exercise. The
A plié is a bend of the knees. Pliés can be done in many different posi-
muscles of the entire tions: first, second, third, fourth: open and crossed fifth, and parallel. In
body are engaged all cases, the left and right knees bend equally, although certain position
during the plié.
of the feet, like fourth open, cause a slightly uneven distribution of
weight – making the achievement of even-ness in the knee-bend very
challenging.
In a demi-plié, the heels remain on the floor: in a full plié, except in
second position where the heels remain on the floor, they rise just enough
to allow the torso to lower to a position just above the heels. The calf,
thigh muscles, muscles around the knee and Achilles tendon elongate,
the entire groin area widens, the soles and arches of the feet are worked.
As the plié deepens, and the heels rise, the same muscles must elongate
further. Commonly the back is held straight during a plié, but the plié can
just as well be and, in choreographic patterns, often is also executed with
a bend or inclination of the torso: forward, upwards and backward, and
sideways.
While doing the plié, the arms execute a ports de bras. These are arm
pathways that have evolved through the classical ballet tradition to frame
the body and flow congruently with the dynamics of balance, grace and
fluidity. (The plié, ports de bras and the characteristics of balance, grace
and fluidity are common hallmarks of all vocabularies of dance, whether it
be folk, ballet, ballroom, jazz, contemporary, modern, funk, hip hop or
new wave).
In styles of dance where teachers have developed levels to mark the
degree of execution excellence, the ports de bras to accompany different
positions of the plié are ‘set’ as syllabus, for example, the Royal Academy
of Dancing classical syllabus.
Why do we do pliés?
The principle reasons for doing a plié are to engage, stretch and warm the
muscles of the legs, ankles, groins and hips. In the act of bending the knees
while initially maintaining the heels upon the floor, a considerable stretch
occurs immediately through the Achilles tendon and whole ankle area. In
a full plié this same stretch amplifies.
Because stretching and warming is vital to the actions of dancing, in
order to gain the fullest value of the movement the plié is done slowly.
Typically, the dance instructor will set pliés in four, eight, or sixteen
counts. It is quite usual for the plié sequence to be done in all five positions
of the feet and on both sides (holding the barre with first one hand and
then the other), so sets of ten or twenty pliés are not uncommon. One rea-
son for doing many pliés is that, as well as stretching, the plié is a center-
ing and quieting movement. In order to execute this seemingly simple
knee-bend with correct alignment and interplay between lifting and sink-
ing, opening and tightening, the mind must become quiet and focused.
There is an optimum tension between holding and releasing, and to find
that ‘place of grace between the tension of opposites’ is a task that requires
90 Jennifer De Leon

commitment, concentration and care. Doing many pliés seems to facilitate
mental progression to this state.
In working with the plié, the dancer/dance tutor/or choreographer
may choose to use any combination of upper torso bend whilst doing a plié
in any position of the feet. Thus as well as being one of the key movements
for warming-up and preparing the body for a dance class or performance,
the plié is also a movement containing almost unending choreographic
potential.
The choreographic imagination may roam … from a deep knee-bend
the body can rise: directly upwards, or rotating upwards, or inclined to the
right or left. Equally, from the plié, the body can sink to the floor, twist into
a knee-spin, fall in any direction … the possibilities go on.
A certain formality is implied here and certainly in a classical ballet
class the plié must be executed with precision and concentration; this
author argues that when a plié is done with anything less, the full meas-
ure of what it can offer is missed.
What is our relationship with the plié?

For the trained and experienced dancer a plié is like an old, familiar friend.
There is a certain comforting recognition in doing, again and again, a
movement we have done so many times before. Despite the wide-ranging
and arguably complex metaphorical dimensions of the plié, the movement
itself is simple: tricky footwork, agonizing back-bends and precarious bal-
ances are not part. For dancers who are newly acquainted with the plié, be
they young or old, it is a relationship to be discovered. For we who have
been raised with the ballet syllabi, it is comforting to do something we
know we know how to do.
The approach
It is not however, simply a matter of ‘doing pliés’. In order to do – we first
approach. It is somewhat analogous to the master violinist when he deter-
mines to play his violin: first, he lifts his instrument – he turns the keys –
tests the strings – plucks them and runs his bow across them – maybe he
caresses the instrument for a moment. It is analogous to the moments
before we begin a conversation, or give a hug: we move towards – we
approach our friend. Even so, we approach the plié.
The physical mechanics of this approach is a gathering-coordinating
function of the muscles, fluids and fibres, as noted:
the muscle spindles where the two halves of the nervous system, the sensory
and the motor have their closest physiological association, where movement
and sensation are joined directly together in a firm embrace, where no inter-
vening barriers exist and no intermediary messengers are necessary.
(Juhan 1987: 193)
The belly floor muscles lift, and the distance between the head of the femur
and the socket in which it sits, increases. The legs have a sensation of
lengthening. The coccyx lengthens downwards towards the heels as the
back of the head lifts upwards and the back of the jaw aligns more verti-
cally above the base of the throat. It is as if the spine grows longer,
The potent persuasive pleasurable unappeasable plié 91

straighter and stronger. The shoulders and upper torso widen, open and
soften as the lower torso narrows. The arms lengthen as the shoulders
relax, in preparation for whichever ports de bras is chosen to accompany
the plié.
The transcendental, the soul dynamics of the approach are to do with
engaging with the realm of paradox. As we give ourselves to the act of
centering and grounding, we simultaneously work with the opposing
dynamic of lifting away from the constraints of gravity and bondage to
the earth. At the very beginning, before we have done the plié itself, we
are in the dimensions of both and. Already, at this beginning, we move to
a deeper level; maybe perceiving that this elementary preparation is rep-
resentative of the eternal struggle to reconcile nothing less than heaven
and earth – the upward yearning for simplicity, order, meaning and free-
dom, with the downward need for complexity, change, moodiness, root-
edness and attachment (Moore 1992: 15; De Leon 2005: 37; Epstein
1996: 145–146).
The preparation initiates the plié. But, a warning here! For inherent in
the familiarity of this gathering and co-coordinating is the danger that it
becomes action without awareness. Without awareness, the act of the
preparation – basic yet so quintessential – has physicality but no meaning.
Without awareness the body becomes silent, ‘Suppressing and restricting
its wisdom, knowledge appetite, emotions, joy and pain through self-denial
and self-constraint’ (Rea 2001: 125).
Without awareness, neither the preparation nor the plié are anything
more than a mere bending of the knees, a grinding of the muscles to sup-
port us, and a quotidian familiarity of ‘same old, same old’ – that elicits
from us little respect and even less joy ‘we need to re-inhabit the body in
joyful, respectful and expressive ways’ (Rea 2001: 125).
The act
After preparation, we ‘do’ the plié. This daily enactment of the same ritual
may be likened to greeting a dear, familiar friend. Muscles find their known
pathways: doing, with the cellular and somewhat arcane knowing danc-
ers call ‘muscle memory’, what they know to do (Czikszentmihalyi 2001:
7, Nissinen 2001: 87, Kain 2001: 115). It is not simply the bending at the
knees; there is also the right measure of holding in the quadriceps and
gluteus maximus, (thighs and buttocks). If the plié is in a turned out posi-
tion, the degree of rotation must be executed throughout the whole leg,
initiated at the head of the femur and sustained throughout the leg. If it is
a full plié and the heels are raised, they then press towards the floor in
order to initiate the return to standing, and throughout, the coccyx and
buttocks remain centered above the heels, maintaining the ‘heel to coccyx
connection’ and anchoring the torso in its most efficient alignment
between the crown of the head and the floor. The head, neck, spine and
entire torso are adjusting continually to accommodate the subtle shifts in
balance and organization that are occurring throughout.
The familiarity of the plié may be likened to returning to the embrace of
our long-time, long-cherished friend. Again, though, the danger exists of
the familiarity engendering a certain dismissiveness or casualness.
Let us not forget the sacredness of the familiar.
92 Jennifer De Leon

Psychotherapy and dance
As a psychotherapist who dances and a dancer who practices psychother-
apy, a principle objective of my life and work is to discover what links may
exist between these. Specifically with regard to this paper, I wonder about
the meaning of the plié in terms of psychotherapy.
Firstly, a word about psychotherapy; psychotherapy is, essentially,
about the soul. The word ‘psychotherapy’ derives from the Greek:
• Psukhe meaning the soul; spirit; mind; the breath; life; and the mythic
‘beloved of Eros’.
• Therapy meaning: ‘attending’.
Thus psychotherapy, literally, is attending to the soul. Moore (1992: xv)

calls it ‘service to the Gods’ – seeking the development of the whole person
wholly involved in the business of cultivating soul. Cultivating soul – heal-
ing the soul – and psychotherapy, are not about solving the puzzle of life,
they are about appreciating the paradoxical mysteries that surround us,
that are the raw material of life itself. Cultivating soul – healing the
soul – psychotherapy, are about applying poetics into the ordinary and
everyday, and to re-imagine what we think we understand.
In its broadest sense spirituality is an attempt to approach or attend to the

invisible factors of life and to transcend the personal, concrete, finite particulars
of this world. Spirituality is not specifically religious. Mathematics is spiritual in
the broad sense, because it is abstracted from the concrete details of life.
(Moore 1992: 232)

Dance then, as mathematics, is one of the supreme ways of ‘abstracting
from the concrete details of life’ and of bringing poetics into the ordinary
and everyday. Since the dawn of time, dance has been an act, a manifesta-
tion and an agent of soul activity (De Leon 2005: 94; Foster 1986: 42;
Evans 2003: 43). As well, for that long, dance has been an agent for the
healing of mind, body, heart and spirit. In this realm of cultivating, heal-
ing the soul, we find core elements of our existence meeting and min-
gling … soul work, religion, spirituality, inner healing, dance.
And the humble plié is one part, one element, without which the dance
cannot exist. What can the plié mean in and to psychotherapy?
A concrete, ordinary, everyday detail of life is – we bend our knees.
Another concrete detail is that in the activities of life, the muscles of our
bodies need to stretch and lengthen.
But by what means may the animal be moved by inward principles … by means
of what instruments? Let us compare automata … Is the first instrument of
movement spirit, or natural causes … like the movement of the heart?
(Harvey 1986; De Motu Locali Animalium)
When the natural, autonomic impulses, reactions, movements and heart-

beats are abstracted and shaped into acts that move beyond the category
of ‘necessary functioning’ then what we have is an abstraction. The plié
(and all of choreographed dance) is an abstraction. The abstraction is
available, like the blank page, for emotion, interpretation, meaning, defini-
tion and purpose to be laid upon it. Unlike the blank page, the plié comes
with characteristics – of choice, commitment and paradox that point it in
the direction of the soul.
When we do the plié, we consciously and deliberately shape our bodies,
moving from the autonomic process to something in which we engage,
like breathing, again and again; unlike breathing, we do it because we
choose to.
In the choosing we can make an observation about two important
aspects of life: processes and practices. A process is something that occurs
in nature, such as the orbiting of planets, or the flowing of a river, or the
production of chlorophyll in a leaf. These processes are not the product of
human intelligence. They are governed by immutable laws; they are deter-
mined by the structure of nature. Perhaps, depending on your belief sys-
tem, you could say they are the creation of God.
Practices are the creations of people – events that result from human
decisions and actions, such as this paper, or the formation of political
boundaries in an otherwise seamless world, or our conversations with
each other, or falling in love. These events are the function of human
intelligence interacting with environment. Certainly, these events have a
measure of regularity, but they are not governed by immutable laws.
Many people, and religions, hold that their actions and decisions are
not within their control; that these activities are governed by a Divine
entity they name God, Allah, Krishna, Guide, or something other. I, how-
ever, argue that although our environment profoundly affects us, natural,
immutable laws do not determine our ideas and behaviours. To quote
Oakeshott (in Postman 1992: 6) there is an ‘irrevocable difference between
94 Jennifer De Leon

a blink and a wink.’A blink is a process, which can be explained and
understood within established physiological cause-and-effect dynamics; a
wink is a practice, filled with often unknowable meanings, and impossible
to explain as a product of causal relations.
Is the plié, then, a blink or a wink? It is of course, a wink, a practice,
and inherent in this fact that it is so absolutely one and not the other, is its
power. Whether today it hurts or not: whether today we feel too tired, or
bursting with energy, whatever the feeling state, we do it because we have
chosen to. Working from choice means the feeling, perception ‘powerless’
is no longer valid.
Doing therapy, albeit from choice, is most often precipitated by the per-
ception that some situation in life has become choice-less; unmanageable.
The client, aware of his or her inability to ‘work it out’, decides to come to
therapy.
What then is the link between psychotherapy, the plié, and

the deeper dimensions of choice, paradox, power and healing?
First: we acknowledge that the client has chosen to come to therapy.
This act of choosing suggests the possibility, however latent, that the
client is willing to change something and is accepting or perhaps grab-
bing desperately at the chance of this. Secondly, if the plie – though it
may seem unorthodox – is used as a therapeutic tool, it is powerful.
Why is this so? Because it is chosen: the therapist offers – the client
chooses to accept. The act of deciding, of choosing, brings the activity
into the same category as a wink: a practice filled with often unknowa-
ble meanings, impossible to explain as a product of causal relations.
Cryptic sounding, yet meaning unequivocally the opportunity now
exists for emotion, interpretation, meaning, definition and purpose to be
imbued upon it. Potent with metaphorical meanings, the plié now
becomes a symbol – for the paradoxes that lie un-reconciled and for
their containment.
Second: the act of executing the plié requires a body, a mind and a
body-mind alignment instantly connotative of consciousness, organiza-
tion and intention. These are qualities symbolizing a shift from confusion
and disorganization. When the level of organization, intention and con-
sciousness moves beyond that ordinarily demanded in ordinary life, then
the transformative activity of therapeutic healing has begun.
Third: the plié is physical, tangible, dynamic example of paradox.
The simplest visible element of this startling and paradoxical operation is the
plate between the axial-stable and the surface-mobile bodily movements, or,
in other words, the struggle between the binding power of a knot and the
loosening power of an untwisting line with an intermediary lemniscates.
(Laban 1966)
Paradox is a core dynamic of life and to experience and engage with para-
dox is a task to which we are called throughout our lives (Kvale 1996,
Raab 2004). The situations and crises which provoke a client to therapy
are situations of paradox: opposites perceived to allow no way out:
paradoxes which seem to contain no place of rest or resolution. The plié,

in which we seek to deepen (the bend) more, and lift (the pelvic floor) more,
widen the (turnout of the hips) more, and narrow (the buttocks and hips)
more – altogether and at the same time be stronger, straighter, more ele-
gant, and more relaxed, fluid and flowing – this indeed is a symbolic micro-
cosm of the great dance of opposites.
Fourth: the plié is a dance uniting and containing the opposites, where
diverging paths of energy cross and unite with each other. The plié is a
fluid, coherent, shaped, intentional ‘unity in paradox’. Epstein’s words
(1996: 94) might have been written about the plié: ‘the fluid ability to
integrate potentially destabilising experiences of insubstantiality and
impermanence.’
Fifth: being in mindful relationship with the plié falls into the category
of ritual. Ritual is inherent in its strangeness – this environment, activity,
dis-comfort. Doing pliés is a kind-of rite of passage, pitching the do-er (or
the client) out of his or her comfort zone. The client willingly, participates
in ‘The function of the ritual: pitching you out, not wrapping you back
where you have been all the time’ (Campbell 1988: 84).
The juxtaposition of familiarity, the common-ness of this movement,
with the oddness of it, immediately calls the do-er to consciousness. I
choose – and having chosen, I must ask what does this mean for me?
Sixth: plié-ing takes time. To really engage with the plié we have to
be … rare in our caught-up-ness with the world’s tendency and urgency
to do. This tendency is reflected in today’s psychotherapy. In step with
the times, it is slick, speedy, clever and cost-efficient. It is diagnostically-
directed, oriented for solutions in six–twenty sessions, ego-centred and
essentially secular. It does not allow for plié-ing – for painstaking repeti-
tion, for working and re-working and re-re-working of the same theme,
for dwelling in the same dynamic progression time and time and time
again, for doing them demi and full, in every position, on both sides.
Why is this so important? Repetition, re-working, dwelling in, and time
are essential for the richness of the experience to unfold; for the distur-
bance to unfold – ‘Disturbance is the seed of a new process, bringing
personal growth, expanded awareness and enriching experiences of life’s
mysterious ways’ (Claus Bermann, Process Work meeting, July 1998) –
or the paradox of this experience, its light and shadow, its pain and
release, to unfold. In the repetition of the plié, over and over again, is
opportunity for the alchemy of consciousness to do its work: a ‘dwelling
in’ in which there is space for reflection, consideration and ultimately,
acceptance to arise.
Finally, importantly, the plié is not the final statement about anything.
Neither its value nor its meaning are absolute – these are rather, by each
individual, given. This is what makes the plié available for use as a thera-
peutic tool, and a symbolical act of soul … for the giving of meaning is not
concerned with solving the paradoxes, it is about meeting – acknowledg-
ing – containing – accepting – celebrating them. It is deepest soul work: it
brings us home.
The poetry by T.S. Eliot could be said to epitomize the paradox of the plié.
Surely the richness of the plié can only be known through the grace of sense
and when it is done thus, surely it is lifted and moving … and as dancer and
choreographer I feel, I know the plié has at its core, the still point.
96 Jennifer De Leon

At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest or movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance….
The inner freedom from the practical desire,
The release from action and suffering, release from the inner
And the outer compulsion, yet surrounded
By a grace of sense, a white light lifted and moving.
– T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton, (1936)
Conclusion
The plié is about what life is about. Life is, of course, about every subject
possible – and some impossible, and I am not suggesting that the plié is as
all-encompassing as to be about LIFE. I hold however, that the plié con-
tains metaphorical, symbolical and ritualistic material that places it as an
act that speaks about life dynamics. Beginning with the preparation, prior
to even doing the plié, we engage with the fundamental life condition, par-
adox. We engage with – we do these synchronous paradoxes of lifting/
deepening/tightening/releasing/grounding/seeking to ascend and so, we
are, in the plié then, joining with a vast cosmic dance of The Wave and its
Undertow: (that which goes in a different direction to that at the surface). If
we broaden the metaphor, we may perceive that we are engaging with
‘cosmic’ tensions …
Earth/sky, yin/yang, anima/animus.
Working with the metaphor of the plié is to engage with the tran-
scendent. This seemingly simple even quotidian movement contains that
which would disturb the quiet vacuity that threatens to overtake us
should we take too many things for granted. This paper recommends
engagement with the plié as a powerful and provocative tool in thera-
peutic practice.
Finally, if we dancers, dance theorists and dance therapists can allow
the Mercurian qualities of wit and humour to be present, there is a good
chance that the humble plié could be for us, our students, audience and
clients, a symbol – a motif, of the greater dance of our souls and our life-
journey to wholeness.
Works cited
Bermann, C. (1998), July Process Work meeting, Auckland.
Campbell, J. (1988), The Power of the Myth, Doubleday, N.Y.
Czikszentmihalyi, M. (2001), in Not just any body, complied by the Steering
Committee of the ‘Not just any body’ Conference, The Hague and Toronto,
November 1999, Canada: The Ginger Press.
De Leon, J. (2005), Dance and Stillness, AUT Publishing, Auckland, NZ.
Eliot, T. S. (1936), Collected Poems, Faber & Faber, London.
Epstein, M. (1996), Thoughts Without a Thinker, Psychotherapy from a Buddhist
Perspective, Basic Books, N.Y.
Evans, B. (2003), ‘Fully Alive’, Dance Magazine, October, New York.

Foster, S. L. (1986), Reading dancing, California: University of California Press.
Geller, J. D. (1978), The Body, Expressive Movement, and Physical Contact in
Psychotherapy, in J. L. Singer and K. S. Pope (eds), The Power of Human
Imagination: New Methods in Psychotherapy, N.Y.: Plenum Press.
Harvey, W. (1986), in O. Sacks (ed.), A Leg to Stand On, Quickening: London: Pan
Books Ltd.
Juhan, D. (1987), Job’s body, New York: Station Hill Press.
Kain, K. (2001), in Not just any body, complied by the Steering Committee of the
‘Not just any body’ Conference, The Hague and Toronto, November 1999,
Canada: The Ginger Press.
Kvale, S. (1996), in W.T. Anderson (ed.), The Fontana post-modern reader, London:
Hammersmith.
Laban, R. (1966), Choreutics, London: McDonald & Evans.
Moore, T. (1992), Care of the soul, New York: Harper Collins.
Nissinen, M. (2001), in Not just any body, complied by the Steering Committee of
the ‘Not just any body’ Conference, The Hague and Toronto, November 1999,
Postman, Neil, (1992), Conscientious Objections: Stirring up trouble about language,
technology and education, USA: Vintage.
Raab, K. (2004), Mysticism, Creativity, and Psychoanalysis: Learning From Marion
Milner, invited essay, Dept. of Religious Studies, St. Lawrence University.
Rea, K. (2001), in Not just any body, complied by the Steering Committee of the
‘Not just any body’ Conference, The Hague and Toronto, November 1999,
Streatfield, N. (1963), The first book of the ballet, London: Edmund Ward.
Suggested citation
De Leon, J. (2009), ‘The potent persuasive pleasurable unappeasable plié’, Journal
of Dance and Somatic Practices 1: 1, pp. 89–98, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.89/1
Contributor details
Jennifer is the founder of Poyema Dance Company and of The Healing Dance Movement
Psychotherapy. Her roles thus encompass Choreographer, Company Director,
Performer, Teacher, Psychotherapist and Counsellor. She is also a mother and a
crone.
Contact: 12 Notley Street, Westmere, Auckland, New Zealand.
E-mail: jennydancer@paradise.net.nz
Website: http://www.danz.org.nz/jennydeleon.php
98 Jennifer De Leon

Breaking old habits: professional

development through an embodied
approach to reflective practice
Elizabeth Smears Liverpool John Moores University
Abstract Keywords
Personal embodied experience impacts upon the way in which we present our- somatic awareness
selves professionally. Somatic practices emerge as a way of developing an embodied embodiment
awareness and a way of exploring the meaning of experience. Through narrative professional
and reflection, this paper explores how somatic awareness can add to professional development
development in areas that, historically, have been ‘disembodied’. It addresses my reflective learning
subjective experience of a critical incident, a cycle accident, and how it interrupted
my habitual sense of embodiment. It explores how the experience presented an
opportunity to visit again my body as ‘ground of my being’ and ‘my body as first
home’ (Halprin 2003), and to listen through silence to the layers that give way
to somatic awareness. Reflection offers an opportunity to pause, and explore the
space for deep engagement in what it means to be professional.
This paper addresses itself to the theme of the embodied professional

educator. To acquire professional recognition as an educator, there is a
requirement to reflect upon the domains of activity through which core
knowledge and professional values are evidenced. The process of evidenc-
ing practice through reflection is useful, for it offers an opportunity to
pause, and explore the space ‘in between us’, and ask what of the ‘per-
sonal’ infiltrates the ‘professional’. For some educators their sense of
embodiment is all too habitual to be even noticed, for others their sense of
professionalism is founded upon their focus of embodied self-awareness. A
question that is raised in this paper is what impact does personal embod-
ied experience have upon the way in which we present ourselves profes-
sionally, and how does acknowledgment of personal epistemology inform
the ways in which we engage participants, students and pupils in their
own learning.
Personal testimony has historically been a mechanism for consciousness
raising. Sue Wendell (1989), like many feminists, acknowledge that
contributions from experiential accounts offer vital insight into the rela-
tionship between the nature of embodiment and the experiences of
oppression and empowerment. It may be informative if educators,
participants, students and pupils alike have access to the narratives of how
as individuals we have negotiated and navigated our lives through the
prevailing discourses of embodiment. The value of bringing the personal
into the professional may connect individuals within, between and amongst
JDSP_1.1_07_art_Smears.indd 99 6/8/09 10:25:24 AM

one another, and in that process present a transparency to issues of embod-
ied connection, support and empowerment.
As a teacher in Higher Education, and as a woman who has always
enjoyed being physical and connected to my body, I offer in this paper
personal testimony. I reflect upon my subjective experience of how a criti-
cal incident, a cycle accident, brought to the fore a revelatory layer to my
experience of embodiment. It explores how the experience has presented
me with an opportunity to visit again my body as ‘ground of my being’
and ‘my body as first home’ (Halprin 2003), and to listen through silence
to the layers that give way to somatic awareness. It is a narrative that
gives you, the reader, a flavour of how the experience of embodiment can
provide a conduit to a source of knowing that has far reaching impact
upon a sense of ‘being’, and concomitantly how I continue to engage in
the tension that resides in the space in between personal experience and
professional practice. The focus in this paper on phenomenology and
embodiment has pedigree through the work of Merleau-Ponty (1962): his
writing on the body as lived experience is seminal to framing a narrative
account of embodiment.
Through his case study research on embodied action, Merleau-Ponty
argues that the body has a dual role of being both a vehicle of perception
and an object perceived. The body, therefore, has a paradoxical quality; he
proposes that the intentionality of experience underlies the possibility of
perceiving of all kinds. In other words, it is as if we elect to locate our per-
ceiving selves, one which gives us the vantage point of how we want to be
in the world.
The centrality of the body as a source of knowing feeds our ability to
perceive. These ideas are developed further by Linda Hartley in her work
in somatic psychology and education (2004). She provides insight into
the depth and breadth of knowing that the body presents. It could be
argued that a prerequisite for professional recognition is to be ‘embodily’
aware, and that by exemplifying this good practice, educators sanction a
more expansive and navigable route for students and pupils to develop
their own learning. However, to make a convincing argument about
these propositions it is useful to explore further the relationship between
subjectivity, embodiment, and professional practices. To this end, this
paper visits the phenomenological accounts of the body that excavate
experience, and provide a scaffold for the exploration of how experience is
infiltrated by historical and cultural discourses and impacts upon our
reflective processes.
Being physical is a core theme in my biography. Movement, and the
experience of my physicality, have been so very important to me through-
out my life. The hinterland of somatic awareness has been less known;
accessibility to the terrain of the sensate body that, arguably, is a subtle yet
omnipresent source of knowing has remained at a level of conscious dis-
tance. In part, I attribute this to the way in which I have been inculcated. In
Eurocentric cultures, a somatic basis to knowledge generation has occupied
a lower order position within the hierarchy of what constitutes valid and
reliable knowledge. Indeed somatic engagement as a resource for develop-
ing learning, understanding and indeed claiming one’s wellbeing has long
been derided as irrelevant in the quest to make sense of our experiences.
100 Elizabeth Smears
JDSP_1.1_07_art_Smears.indd 100 6/8/09 4:05:14 PM

Cartesian dualism that polarizes mind and body continues to have a
ripple effect through western scientific tradition. Rationality, reason and
objectivity have triumphed to the detriment of the subjective, sensing and
emotive body. Somatic education endeavours to arrest this partial view of
knowledge by emerging from the shadows. Drawing from the heritage of
different cultures, somatics endeavour to give volume to what have
hitherto remained as ‘quiet voices’, the voices that rest upon embodied
presence as a source of knowing and argue for a subjective interpretation
of reality.
Creative approach
Somatic education has evolved from the vision and energy of those work-
ing in health and movement contexts. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (1993),
Daria Halprin (2003), Thomas Hanna (1979) and Linda Hartley (2004),
amongst others, have developed practice that supports individuals in their
personal and professional development and their exploration of wellbeing.
These architects of practice have harnessed their creativity and encouraged
their disciples, and their clients, to do likewise.
The connection between somatic education and creativity is worthy of
some consideration. There is a literature that wallows extensively upon
definitions of creativity (Csikszentmihalyi 1997; Gardner 1993; Perkins
1981; Robinson 2000; Sternberg 1999) exploring the concept through an
examination of individual genius, multiple intelligences, artistic products,
and the process of human ingenuity. What emerges as significant is the
early writing by Koestler who recognizes creativity as the capacity to
‘perceive ... a situation or event in two habitually incompatible associative
contexts’ (Koestler 1964: 65). In other words, creativity is not necessarily
about novelty or individual capability but the capacity to select, reshuffle,
combine and synthesize already existing ideas in original ways. This may
be about reclaiming lost knowledge, or by working across domains: taking
ideas that may have a mundane currency in one context, but be perceived
as fresh and exciting new concepts in another. Somatic education may
reflect a creative practice that is emerging through those disciplines that
engage the subjective and sentient body, particularly dance and a range
of body therapies e.g. Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Continuum.
Following the theme of creativity being about the transference of ideas
and practices into new domains, I am interested in how somatic awareness
can have relevance in areas of professional practice. Specifically, can
somatic awareness add to professional development in areas that have his-
torically been ‘disembodied’, where the focus is primarily upon intellectual
development, for example, those engaged in teaching and research in
higher education.
Making sense of experience

There is a body of literature that has endeavoured to excavate the process
of learning through reflection (Kolb 1996; Moon 1999). The commonality
shared is the cyclical process, whereby ‘doing’ an activity provides the basis
of experience. The cycle of learning through reflection proceeds by recog-
nizing the role of observation and a way of recording the experiential proc-
ess. This then evolves to reflection, whereby analysis and theory-making
Breaking old habits 101

take place, and concludes with a focus on planning, a phase whereby
learning is taken forward into the next level of experience. This framework
illuminates the way in which surface learning evolves to deep learning;
however, the depth to which they engage in the process of experiential
learning limits the models.
It is in the writing of John Heron (1992) that presents an added
dimension to the different ways of knowing what I experience. Along with
Peter Reason (1988), they develop a model of cooperative inquiry. They
recognize three different kinds of knowledge: experiential knowledge,
gained through direct embodied encounter with persons, places or things;
practical knowledge, that is knowing ‘how’ to do something often associ-
ated with skill or competence; and propositional knowledge, that is
knowledge about something, often expressed in statements or theories.
Heron (1992) adds to this the notion of presentational knowledge, which
he explains is based on how, in the first instance, we order our tacit expe-
riential knowledge into spatio-temporal patterns of imagery, a symbolized
sense of meaning which is evident in movement, sound, colour, shape,
poetry, drama and story. Imagery/imagination appear to be the catalyst
that bridges the divide between experiential knowledge and propositional
knowledge.
As I encounter the literature from somatic education, I am drawn to
arguments that suggest a similar emergent theme to the process of how
we develop understanding and awareness that acts as a basis of knowledge.
Daria Halprin (2003) suggests that at a level of silence it is possible to
connect to the body-self, through an exploration and open intention to
experience that is of a sensory nature; this is developed further by McHose
and Frank (2006), who suggest that by focussing attention in the
perceptual realm, sensate experience is translated through the process of
categorisation, evaluation, judgement and interpretation. This, they argue,
allows for inner awareness to be generated. Daria Halprin develops her
ideas of the metaphorical qualities of the body. As she excavates sensation,
feeling and emotion, she reflects upon the frameworks that foreground
one’s capability and capacity to listen, which offer rich terrain for the
imagination to find expression.
Susan Griffin (1982) illuminates for me the tension that resides between
knowledge, language and the body. Her writing on poetry as a way of
presenting knowledge recognizes the body as a source of truth. She
suggests that the body is the seat and author of intellect, perception, imag-
ination and vision. It is in returning to the body that buried feelings, bur-
ied perception and lost knowledge can be found. She suggests that the
language of poetry is a medium of sensuality and thus it allows the body
to speak its knowledge. According to Susan Griffin, poetry as a way of
knowledge allows for the relationship between art and politics to blend:
Poetry, by making a pact between the body and soul, gives to the political
imagination a dimension of meaning without which it loses its way.
(Griffin 1982: 241)
As I ruminate on the significance of the body in our lives, and I listen

to those who advocate for a more integrated and connected approach

to understanding embodiment and wellbeing, I am reminded again that it
appears that it is through experiential engagement that the inner landscape
of somatic awareness is revealed. It is this framework, coupled with the
insights of Susan Griffin, that provide the rationale for using narrative to
provide insight into the meaning of experience.
Language can be constraining, and here I depart from the more usual
academic style of writing. It seems that for me to communicate about
physicality I need to embrace a more creative expressive language that
comes in the form of stories, poetry or unsubstantiated prose: that falls off
the end of my fingers as smatterings of ideas and ruminations that are
doused with thought and feeling; this is the order of my subjective experi-
ences of embodiment.
The background
It’s 14 June 2007, a lovely bright day, intermittent sunshine, little wind,
and an empty cycle path alongside the River Mersey. I pedal along, com-
muning with the seagulls, taking in the space and aware of my breath
and the heat generated in my body from cycling at a comfortable speed.
No great hurry, likely to be in good time to catch my ferry home. I feel
confident in my body, mildly invincible. I rest on a history of athleticism,
physical competence, good spatial awareness, quick reaction times,
strength and endurance. In a previous life, I have been a competitive
sports woman, county badminton player, county squash player, regional
cross-country runner and so on and so forth. My academic work and pro-
fessional practice have also engaged with themes about the body and
physicality. I have worked with disabled people, many of whom have a
greater awareness of the fragility, vulnerability, mortality and arbitrari-
ness of human experiences. I have an identity that is interwoven with my
physicality. And I am aware that it is so often the case that we become
immersed in those things that interest us most because we need to find a
way in which we can integrate what we find out into our own lives.
The accident
I take the corner, not fast; there is some limited vision because of the high
wall which I am circling. I take a wide trajectory, to gain a greater arc of
vision. I have my hands gently resting on the cruise holds, and then immedi-
ately in front of me is another cyclist. From nowhere then, to here and now,
we simultaneously turn to avoid one another, both in the same direction and
then comes the slow and unstoppable crunching sounds of our collision. We
are both thrown in opposite directions to the ground, bikes remaining behind
us mingled in an echo. I lie there still. I remember making small noises that
were there to tell me I had hurt myself, however I don’t remember having
immediate pain. What I do recollect are the light hearted thoughts like
‘whoops!, wonder if I’ll catch my ferry, wonder if my bike is still good enough
to cycle on, hope the wheel isn’t buckled’. And finally, ‘can I move my body,
what’s the damage?’ I have no idea for how long I lay still. There was, what
seemed like, a noisy expansive silence that appeared to surround me.
I eventually phone for an ambulance, at which point I start to feel
extremely cold, and have a sense that I am hanging onto my life, the thread
is unfurling and I’m not sure how much longer I can ‘hold on’. I tentatively

feel my shoulder, there is a significant protrusion, I take my hand away,
I realize that there is justification for not trying to progress my travel. I am
so very cold and it seems like life is draining out of me. I hear in the distance
the sound of a siren, I hope it’s an ambulance, I hope it’s for me.
Paramedics arrive, they ask some details, they ask me if I can stand
and walk to the ambulance. I grunt, nod, but can hardly communicate.
I can’t make eye contact, I have closed down within myself, and all my
resources are dedicated to keeping myself ‘here’. I stand but find I can
barely move, my legs can’t move, I shuffle a first step supported by a para-
medic. I’m dizzy: I realize the paramedic is talking to me in a caring way,
and asking gentle questions about the accident, about my family, about
how we are progressing and what I need to do, encouraging words. I can’t
respond, the paramedic is talking to the me that is not here.
I am supported as I get into the ambulance, helped to lie down, checked
for pain, given oxygen, asked questions about my personal details. I’m
given analgesics, told they’ll take a couple of minutes, asked to score my
own pain. I don’t know, I can’t compare my relative experiences of pain;
childbirth is so very different to trauma. My focus is about trying to stay
‘here’. I am concentrating deeply, trying to retain some recognizable aspect
of myself, I feel like I am really fighting to stay, and at the same time the
paramedic is trying, through conversation, to retain some sense of a shared
reality with me. He talks: I listen, with occasional responses, as the ambu-
lance heads off to the hospital. I wonder where I’m going, I wonder for the
whole journey. I want to know where I am being taken, but I cannot find
the vital force within me to ask this simple question. It’s the Royal Liverpool
Hospital Accident and Emergency department.
We arrive, the paramedic driving the ambulance opens the rear doors,
she comments that I’m getting a little colour back; I don’t look quite as
ashen as when they first saw me. I have been in shock. I start to feel the
impact of the morphine, I feel cushioned, life is moving about me like a
series of scenes. I am wheeled on my bed through corridors to a cubicle in
A&E: great care is shown by the paramedics, my personal possessions,
including my dear bike, are accounted for and left with me in the cubicle.
I am seen by house doctors, registrars, nurses. I wait, and some more,
then I am sent for X-rays. I meet my fellow cyclist in the X-ray waiting area.
We don’t talk; we make brief eye contact, though this speaks volumes. I have
no sense of any anger or animosity that we could hold towards one another,
just a reality that we are both here. This is what has happened to us today.
The doctor returns to show me my X-ray. There is no fracture; I think
‘great, nothing broken’. There is, however, a severe displacement of bones,
which suggests that a number of ligaments have been torn. I am to return
to the next fracture clinic. I am damaged.
the lost voice

tragedy to be named
body to be claimed
rhythm to be moved
heart to be soothed
space to be shared
voice to be heard

What follows over the next days, weeks and months are innumerable
visits to hospitals for consultations, surgery twice, physiotherapy three
times a week, and six months of strong pain relief. I have been submerged
and I have lost myself in the medicalised world of mortality. A trauma, of
whatever form, takes time to adjust to; we are not the same as we once
were. Aspects of one’s sense of self are thrown up in the air and what
comes down seems to be reconfigured. Issues of confidence, in my
case physical competence, are reviewed and reconsidered. The fragility of
life has become known again, a dusting of chance, or encounter with fate
leads to a reappraisal of issues of agency and control.
Subjectivity and reflexivity

A theme that emerges through this account is how we access knowledge
of our self, and what bearing this has on our professional practice.
Ethnomethodological tradition in sociology suggests that it is the
process of reflexivity that creates a sense of order to the descriptions of
our experiences. Early work by Mead (1934) and Garfinkel (1967)
identified reflexivity as a way in which the individual turns back and
attends again to their experiences. In this way, the whole social process
that has bearing on experience is captured and brought to conscious
awareness.
At the level of theory, Foucault (1977, 1980) illustrates the binding
tension that determines our subjective experience. He presents a critical
analysis of the ‘new paradigms’ of modernity which value human
agency. He suggests that the individual’s ability to manufacture and
control meaning is a misnomer that is based on the person being both
subject and object of their own understanding. Foucault argues that the
person as subject is glued from within by the phenomena of responsible
agency, which he writes about in terms of ‘confession’, and from with-
out by the apparatus of surveillance, which he terms ‘discipline’. The
result is that the self is both the subject and object of discourse; we repro-
duce the constraints to which we are subjected in a way that validates
our own subjectivity. The question that Foucault raises for me is can a
critical incident impact upon one’s subjective experience so dramatically
that it allows for a significantly fresh appraisal of how meaning is con-
structed?
The cycle accident brought me into contact with a number of dis-
courses. I became acquainted with the discourses that reside within the
healthcare system, and in due course I became reacquainted with those
that make up professional practice in education. What I became intimately
aware of is the connection between the ways in which my embodied self
becomes integral to the processes of power that permeate our institutions
and their practices. For Foucault, power infiltrates every dimension and
aspect of our lives, as he explains:
When I think of the mechanics of power, I think of its capillary form of exist-
ence, of the extent to which power seeps into the very grain of individuals,
reaches right into their bodies, permeates their gestures, their posture what
they say, how they learn to live and work with people.
(Foucault quoted in Sheridan 1980: 217)

The recognition that we are embedded in the discourses that envelope
our lived lives and experience is at issue when considering the power rela-
tionship between staff working in Higher Education, and between staff
and students. How professionals in practice engage with the theory is of
significance. What, I believe, receives relatively little recognition is how
professionals create awareness of the power dynamics that envelop their
practice alongside strategies to engage in wider and deeper self-knowing.
The social constructionist account of reflexivity develops this theme by
suggesting that in giving accounts of ourselves we are constituted and
reconstitute our social worlds. Reflexivity, argues Giddens (1991), is one
way in which we can retain control over our personal world, which can
bring with it self-confidence. Paradoxically, reflexivity also opens the doors
to uncertainty and questions, which may well diminish a person’s confi-
dence in self. For me, the significance of engaging our bodies to develop
greater embodied awareness is the sine qua non of erudite, effective and
useful practice. The question that is raised for me is what impact does a
reflexive account of my physicality, post-trauma, have upon my own pro-
fessional practice?
Embodied knowing
According to Mary Starks Whitehouse (1958) movement is a manifestation
of oneself in the social world, one that is both a language and a communi-
cation. Whitehouse argues that our sense of body awareness is often
neglected and therefore seldom developed; the result being that our move-
ment repertoire is diminished and, as a consequence, we are only partial
in our awareness of self.
Her theory is that for most people the tempo and pattern of physical
movement is habit formed, automatic, unconscious and usually organized
towards a utilitarian end. Having experienced an accident, my body can
no longer move in its habitual way. Movement is constrained and painful.
There is well-documented evidence (Sanford 1991; Herman 1994) that
describes detachment from one’s body as a means of distancing oneself
from the associated feelings of distress or pain. By making the body-self an
‘it’ and relegating the ‘I’ to the mind, we split ourselves into thinking and
verbal beings with bodies that consist of feelings and non-verbal expres-
sion. The result is that the body becomes alienated and therefore unknown;
it is irrational, makes no sense and it is without words. The language of
the body seems to be without meaning.
The question of how one derives meaning from experience is of central
concern. The experience of embodiment that magnifies the critical impor-
tance of the body suggests that bodies ‘make themselves felt’. In this light,
movement, and indeed physicality, can be recognized as a non-verbal lan-
guage and one that may allow meaning to evolve. Whitehouse argues
that it is the subjective experience of movement that is the basis of our
authenticity, and therefore recognition of our sense of self. Whitehouse
believes that awakening the kinaesthetic sense is possible in all kinds of
movement, but this only becomes conscious when the inner connection,
the subjective experience of movement, is found. In this sense, authentic
movement arises from listening to the body; it is the basis of allowing the
body to be moved and only through this process can one speak of being

embodied, physically conscious, fully focused and alive. It appears that in
order to access sensorial awareness, a degree of creativity needs mobilis-
ing. In the first instance, giving language to unknown experience requires
intention, patience: attention to the subtleties of the lived body and defer-
ence to being open to chaos (Conrad 1993; Halprin 2003; Hartley 2004).
The experience of listening to one’s body can be disturbing, for it demands
an engagement in the unconstructed.
The more we reclaim body awareness, that is, our capacity to observe
and our willingness to feel, the more ways we can communicate. The
development of skills to access embodied knowing is a critical resource for
reflective practice and inter-professional communication. It can be argued
that professionals, who develop an embodied awareness of self, have a fur-
ther and useful resource to draw upon when communicating with others.
By trawling experience through the filter of embodiment, insights into
learning and reflective practice may be revealed. It seemed to me that in
order to reconnect to my sense of self and begin my recovery, I needed to
‘walk my talk’. The necessity to listen to my traumatised body had never
been more prescient.
Reflections on the accident

The biographic backdrop of the accident is brought into sharp relief, the
twine of my life thread is felt and I can see again how I have ravelled
myself. And yet it is as if I can see for the first time. I have woven myself
together to create a physical biography that has provided me with a line of
continuity. It offers strength and enduring recognition as an embodied
woman. This accident has proved to be an opportunity to notice what
I have, and indeed have not, integrated into this narrative. If my narrative
expands, what are the implications for how I continue to live in and
through my body? How has this accident, this new embodied awareness,
changed the way I see myself and my professional practice?
For example, in teaching and learning, the tension that I now recog-
nize that I hold in my body, how does this impact upon the ways in which
I relate to colleagues and student? Is there a relationship, and indeed some
insight into how I recognize ‘will and surrender’ in my body and how this
is played out when I structure learning opportunities for students? Is there
a stridency in my voice that I can now recognize on particular occasions?
This awareness gives me more choices; I can choose to let my voice be
heard in a variety of ways. With greater awareness come greater choice,
and a greater capacity to be.
In answer to the questions that cascade about my accident, I reiterate
‘it wasn’t anyone’s fault, just bad luck’. This resonates, ‘bad luck’. How do
I deal with things that don’t go my way? Do I hold steadfast, become more
resolute, and look for the ‘silver lining’? Can I continue in the way
I intended or do I have to let go of some grand design that I had on my
work, relationships, health, and body. How do I work with people who do
not get what they want? How do I respond to others who request more
from me?
My performing body is not responding as it used to. I do not have the
control that I once had, and by will power alone I cannot make this imme-
diately better. I cannot control my body; it is experienced as a loss of

physical control, but for me it resonates much more deeply, it is grief.
When I felt out of control and so physically and emotionally compromised,
how could I negotiate the healthcare system, and, as I returned to employ-
ment, how could I work again with colleagues and students?
This lack of confidence offered me a chance to engage afresh with how
I responded to vulnerability and weakness. It has offered me the opportu-
nity to engage again with how students might perceive the education
system. I have been able to engage more with students’ experience of
fragility. I have been more willing to listen to students when they express
concerns about how they feel anxious and out of control. I have been able
to respond when they express how overwhelmed and excluded they feel in
a Higher Education culture – a culture that speaks a ‘foreign language’,
which follows procedures that are unfamiliar and not understood.
I reflect upon how I engage in learning. I consider how I received
the authoritative information that was proffered about my body by the
healthcare professionals. It was so alien to me, like the two dimensional
drawings that illustrate ‘something’ about the body that I inhabit. I can
work with visualizing the constituent elements of my body and how they
need to move in three, no, four dimensions. I need to revisit how I convey
‘information’, what media I use to support student learning. I need to con-
sider a more embodied presence in my teaching, and offer students access
points to their own embodied presence.
I have been a medical case, a ‘subject’ who has been duly assessed,
diagnosed, offered treatment and rehabilitation. I agreed to this process.
So what does informed consent really mean? How did I voluntarily submit
my body, indeed myself, to the trauma of surgery, not once but twice – to
have my bones chopped and drilled and artificially bound in an attempt to
‘repair’ the damage? How could I have consented to something that I only
understood in an abstract way? This makes me question how I claim
knowledge and share information. I reconsider the sources of information
that are relied upon in order to be more informed. It is a question that goes
to the heart of my personhood, not about the source of knowledge, but
about the capacity of human beings. What persons do I need to trust, and
what does trust really mean?
It is an ontological insecurity that places me in the midst of our post-
structural and postmodern world. And yet this grief, which is an experi-
ence that gathers momentum drawing in the losses of a lifetime, is a life
process. This loss of ‘my world’ is a transformative opportunity, for it
allows for the emergence of a reconstituted self; the purging process that
grieving presents can find resolution in a realignment of oneself with a
‘voice’ that reclaims afresh one’s sense of agency.
The curiosity for greater self-awareness has impacted upon my profes-
sionalism. This critical incident, a traumatic accident, and the rehabilita-
tion and recovery took me away from my routines and expectations in my
ordinary and familiar life. The imposition of having to take time off work
allowed for a reconfiguration and ongoing resettlement of some aspects of
my sense of self. I am left wondering if it is only through critical incidents
that one can shed that which is habitual. What I am assured of is that
through the process of disturbance one can gain greater clarity about
what is important.

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Smears, E. (2009), ‘Breaking old habits: professional development through an
embodied approach to reflective practice’, Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices
1: 1, pp. 99–110, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.99/1

Contributor details
Dr Elizabeth Smears is a Senior Lecturer in Education within the Centre for
Postgraduate and Professional Development at Liverpool John Moores University.
She is also an Honorary Lecturer within the School of Health Sciences at the
University of Liverpool.
Contact: Liverpool John Moores University, Centre for Postgraduate and Professional
Development, Faculty of Education Community and Leisure, IM Marsh Campus,
Barkhill Road, Aigburth, Liverpool L17 6BD.
E-mail: e.smears@ljmu.ac.uk

Keeping Your Wits

Suna Imre University of Winchester
Abstract Keywords
This article sets out to begin a validation of why the application of somatic proc- somatic
esses to dance and movement is so important to recognize and nurture in the dance
twenty-first century. It takes as its subject an interview with one of the leading processes
practitioners in the field, Miranda Tufnell. The conversation generates discussion movement
about improvisation and performance, our relationship with each other and our- interview
selves, our connection with the environment, our spiritual selves; and how somatic Tufnell
processes can help us develop and heal as human beings.
Miranda Tufnell is a dancer, Alexander teacher and craniosacral thera-

pist. She has taught widely throughout the country, including fourteen
years within the NHS for a GP practice. With Chris Crickmay she has co-
authored two books on the body and imagination, Body Space Image
(1993), and A Widening Field (2004). She has also developed an arts and
health project, ‘A Breath Of Fresh Air’, for people living with chronic ill-
ness. She is currently Visiting Professor of Dance at Coventry University,
and runs an ongoing workshop series entitled ‘Creative Space’.
The discussion below took place on 27 November 2008 at Miranda
Tufnell’s home in Oxfordshire. It was going to take the form of an inter-
view with pre-set questions but evolved into a conversation that went far
beyond academic dialogue. As a result, this conversation is a unique
insight into not just Tufnell’s practice, but the ideas, influences, values
and fundamental principles behind her life’s work.
What is the value and relevance of this type of work

to the twenty-first century?
I think fundamentally this work is about developing awareness. We live
in a culture that is profoundly out of touch with the sensing body and
that has huge implications for how we perceive and manage our lives.
For me, this work is about redressing a balance, getting out of our heads
and back into direct sensory experience. It is about feeling our way
towards a more sustainable relationship with our land, air, water and
communities. We need to value our direct sensory experience, as a first
step in moving out of passivity and a sense of powerlessness to a way of
being where we are using every ounce of our wits; physical, sensory,
imaginative, intuitive – to restore balance; and this includes a sense of
personal value and meaning.
Most of the time we live at such a pace that we are out of touch with
ourselves and our most basic needs, and inevitably this affects the quality
JDSP_1.1_08_art_Imre.indd 111 6/8/09 10:25:50 AM

of every aspect of our lives. Much of the time we do not notice things that
are fundamental to our well-being – our breath, how we nourish and care
for ourselves and others, and our environment. We end up blind to or out
of touch with vital aspects of life; we become what people often term
‘ungrounded’, out of touch, lacking a vital flow of information that comes
to us through our body selves.
Movement awakens so much more than our aerobic capacity, it devel-
ops all kinds of social and sensory skills that come from a more confident
informed and present sense of self; it develops trust, expressiveness, and
insight. I quote from Dean Juhan:
What might be the cumulative effect of more individuals being more in

touch with their bodies, their lives and with each other…. What would
it be like if people were more skilled in quiet boundary negotiations,
tolerant deference to the rhythms and style of others, in supportive and
consoling touch, and mutual concern …. From the tragic high mortality
rate in orphanages we learn how vital physical contact and play is for the
maturing of an infant’s nervous system. Without adequate tactile stimu-
lation autonomic reflexes are not initiated, without sensation the infant’s
nervous system cannot locate and move crucial muscles. Children who are
undernourished in movement have a muted capacity for self awareness,
Figure 1: Iris Photo: Paul Beaumont.
112 Suna Imre

self regulation, personal intimacy, and adaptive responses to the naturally
changing conditions of their lives.
(Juhan 2003: 8)
There are many different strands of somatic work – and it has a history going
back many years to the great pioneers of Mabel Todd and Isadora Duncan.
I think where Chris and I are engaged is the territory of body and imagina-
tion, a place where a language of gesture, poetry and visual image emerge
from the wide field of our everyday sensory and imaginative experience.
Awakening the imagination is a vital activity of our body mind, imagination
that engages all our feeling, thinking senses, and that is where I see somatic
practice as being of such importance as it creates a meeting ground for body
and imagination, and thus it is route towards language and meaning.
Why do you think people in our culture find it difficult to let

go and move in an uninhibited, expressive way?
We live in a way that is very cut off from our environment. Our culture is
very target driven and evidence based, where vast numbers of the popula-
tion feel spiritually disenfranchised and disempowered, and that their
voice has no importance. Mostly we do not realize we have a body unless
it breaks down; and yet feeling in touch with the body is crucial to feeling
a sense of ease and self-confidence. Working in the NHS, it seemed my role
was simply to bring people back into a common sense awareness of their
body and what was happening: to notice breath, posture, chronic tension –
all of which might be affecting how they felt – just slowing down, appreci-
ating ordinary things and taking time to reconnect with needs – for fun,
for friendship, time to recover a sense of enjoyment in life.
This issue of Resurgence (Sept/Oct 2008) is very inspiring because it’s
about the way tribal, aboriginal people see the world, and it’s a completely
different way of seeing and being in relationship to our own; I quote from
Hugh Brody, ‘development often creates the conditions of under develop-
ment while progress on the large scale is so often accomplished by losses,
wars and destruction’ and ‘no society with the kinds of disparity between
people that we have created, could be anything other than tense, discon-
certed and doomed to a minor breakdown’ (Brody 2008: 21–25). I think
that is very much where we are.
It seems like such a huge thing to turn around and I wonder

how we can do that? What steps can be taken? How can it be
communicated to ordinary people who don’t have it in their
worlds at all?
I think it is there for all of us, just under the skin of our everyday function-
ing and awareness – and that it is a question of reawakening; it maybe
that this credit crunch is a blessing that slows us from the rush of wealth
back into the ordinary daily pleasure of being alive. There have been
experiments carried out on people with hypertension and blood pressure
problems, and it’s been proven that by simply holding someone’s hand,
you can lower blood pressure; so we need to get back to ordinary human
contact. And we dancers can see ourselves as ambassadors for the body
and a way of being in the world.
Keeping Your Wits 113

An elderly woman came to me for chronic lower back pain – in the
course of our talking I asked, ‘what are the things you really love?’ As we
worked she suddenly said, ‘I love the squirrel coming to my bird feeder,
and the way it hangs upside down’.
I found myself wondering, ‘Can you imagine yourself with a squirrel’s
tail?’ Together we laughed, ‘can you imagine going about doing the clean-
ing or sitting down with such a tail?’ she said ‘Yes, Yes, Yes!’ The follow-
ing week she reported being much more able to manage, and she had far
less tension and pain – not just in her back, throughout her whole body.
That’s lovely
Yes, it’s wonderful. I am always fascinated by how swiftly and miracu-
lously change can come. But I don’t want to imply that it is easy, more
that our thinking has a profound effect on our body and an image can
shift how we feel.
You’ve spoken briefly about contemporary dance, and I am

really interested in how this type of work can be communicated
through performance? How you can work with somatic
practices in performance, and I suppose I wanted to ask you ...
How do you not work with somatic practice in performance? If we are not
present to the experience of the body – the body either has a feel of a pup-
pet or the curious feeling of the person moving being strangely absent, a
ghost.
I would suggest that lots of people don’t....

But then one sees dancers in a company such as ‘Sankai Juku’, and you
know that their moving is arising deeply from the feeling sense of the
body. The great classical dancers – Fonteyn, Nijinsky or Baryshnikov –
have a strict technical training but their feeling sense of the body is there;
and I think that is all somatic practice is, it is that feeling sense of the
body. For many, a classical training erases the personal, moulds the indi-
vidual to a style, and it is that unique individual personal body that we are
seeking to reclaim and make visible.
Is your performance work always improvised?

It is always improvised. A structure evolves through improvisation, what
I term a landscape of sound, movement, imagery, which is difficult to
define – a landscape that evolves very, very slowly, often in collaboration
with another. I spend up to a year sourcing, improvising, and listening to
see what the body is thinking, what is arising through the body: connect-
ing to dreams, to world events, being very aware of what I am noticing,
what, as it were, is noticing me. Gradually a piece appears that reforms
itself every night of performance yet is somehow the same territory. I’ve
been very lucky in my collaborations; they are long, ongoing ‘conversa-
tions’ – with Martha Grogan, with Dennis Greenwood, with Eva Karczag
and Chris Crickmay. This last twenty years I have worked with a wonder-
ful musician called Sylvia Hallett. I saw her perform with IOU – she was
hanging dripping clothes on a washing line, and the drips fell on lids and
pieces of glass and created this exquisite percussion. She arrived in Cumbria
114 Suna Imre

late one evening and we went into the studio and just began improvising,
a strange magical kind of listening that happens in a creative space
together. Over a year in and out of meetings we made our first piece, Land
Light. I made a series of slides from butterfly wings, seeds, grasses and
dried leaves which formed a lightscape and Sylvia gathered sound from
the environment, sounds of bird calls, water, wind – and gradually a world
emerged between us three dancers and Sylvia’s sound.
It’s trusting in that process isn’t it?

Yes it is, and it’s about being in that very open wide field of attention
where things come into view and take form. So I go into moving to begin
to perceive. It’s a way of bringing to the surface what inhabits my field,
and I’ve been lucky enough to work with people who are open in that
way. Everybody I work with has that quality of attention; it’s an improvis-
ers mind and it’s an enormously important aspect of mind.
Do you ever get frustrated that this type of work doesn’t get
enough visibility?
Yes I do. This work is not fashionable, it doesn’t fit easily with the pace
and demands of our culture; it is about another way of being, it is inti-
mate, slow, gentle, surprising, and asks the audience to enter in with it. It
makes visible an aspect of being that is so real, so human, so needed. I feel
sadness that so much beautiful, pioneering work of these past years has
gone unnoticed and had relatively few showings. I would have loved our
own work to have spread more widely.
When did you first realize that working from the inside out
was the way you wanted to move forward?
This goes back a long way. When I was very young I used to go to dance
classes, and I loved it, I felt deliciously free for that hour. Then one day, on
my way to dance class, my mother told me that the young woman who
used to look after me wasn’t coming back. In that moment I felt I died –
and I couldn’t face dancing for many years. Then my grandmother took
me to see the Ballet Rambert do ‘Blind Sight’. A beautiful piece in which
everybody was blind, stumbling on stage and there was this feeling sense
in their bodies, of being very trapped; and then one of them gained sight
and began to move so exquisitely – I was very, very moved.
Later I was at university studying English, and I used to meet my sister
for lunch at The Place; and I thought how physically at ease the dancers
looked, and that was something I wanted to find for myself. So I audi-
tioned and started training as a dancer. I hadn’t a clue what my body was
doing. It was a real training in attention, because my mind was racing
around, and my body was always this fumbling awkward stranger, some-
how locked away. My mind was caught up in words and had so little rela-
tion to feeling or sensation; so it was absolutely fascinating learning to
notice my body. I was there for eighteen months, but I soon became disin-
terested. Then I saw Eva Karczag at the Royal College of Music. She was
simply rolling and it was so beautiful, her body seemed transparent, it was
as if I could see and feel with the movement of her body, touch the ground
with her, see the movement of her breath, and that moved me so deeply – a

turning point in my life. So I began another kind of training – Tai Chi,
Alexander Technique, this was 1973; and I went with Eva to New York,
and went to performances and classes. I came back to study Alexander
technique with Bill Williams, and I worked with him for ten years. I think
of Bill as being the person who taught me to dance, because he taught me
to really connect body and mind. I began making performance as a way of
training myself to express what it was that interested me. At that point I
was making dances that involved walking, all aspects of walking.
What kept you going? Did you ever have doubts about
what you were doing?
I have always had doubts! Doubts alongside huge passion! Doubts about
my own capacity to articulate, and of finding ways to make this precious,
invisible, yet vital way of being in the world, accessible and relevant to our
daily lives. This is what impelled me away from London to work for many
years in Cumbria, both as an artist and body therapist within the NHS,
and in other creative work with people living with chronic health prob-
lems. All our performances had their first showings in the local village hall
so that we could test accessibility and I was actually very heartened by
people’s responses, which were often more open than in London.
I always struggled, it felt like such a private vision, and actually there
was a very important moment when Martha [Grogan] and I did an open
Figure 2: Photo: Paul Beaumont.
116 Suna Imre

gallery performance at Chapter Arts. We were performing our walking
dances, and some kids came in, they loved it and wanted to join in. The
kids invented all kinds of strategies within our walking dances; it made me
realize that our work did connect with the every day, and it wasn’t just a
personal investigation. With my work in the health service, and seeing the
dances that have given somebody a voice, a gesture that has released
something in their psyche, that has affirmed life in them; then I know that
this work is vitally important. Every time I work with someone, I feel this
need for movement, this need to sense through the body, then I know this
is fundamental to how we are alive, and that as dancers, we are kind of
ambassadors for this feeling sense of the body; and that it is actually our
area of common sense, it’s not esoteric, it’s actually ordinary; it’s not pro-
saic, it’s magical, playful, compassionate, and ordinary!
How does your work affect the rest of your life?

I think I do not make a distinction between work and life! Work is ongo-
ing, a journey in every moment of perception and language – an ongoing
daily exploring of the body and HOW we are living. I’m always hunting,
searching, exploring.
I remember the time in my life when I knew, after many performances
and much teaching, that the next step in my own learning was to have
children, and following that another choice, or rather, need – to live on
the land, and to know a place through the seasons, weather and years.
Watching trees I have planted grow from a foot high to a wood alive with
insects, birds, squirrels, and deer. I learn daily from nature, from being
outside – it is a lens, a way of investigating the ‘nature’ of body. I always
begin my days outside in the early morning, sitting, meditating, watching
and moving. Noticing what comes to my attention, always what I notice –
changes of light, of weather, of birds, air – and it loosens and deepens my
seeing and understanding.
Perhaps I would reframe the question to how does life affect my work,
and the degree to which movement, creative work, gets squeezed out!
Sometimes there is so much pressure to write, a need for verbal advocacy,
that I am on the computer for hours on end and not giving myself body
time, which I know narrows my thinking. I have to remember daily to plan
in body time, time to breathe, stretch out in the senses. Body intelligence is
something that has to be nurtured regularly – in the way that we wash our
faces each morning, drink water, eat nourishing food. I suddenly realize I
am tense, tired, and have somehow internally narrowed my perceptual,
imaginative world, and have lost that wider mind that helps me feel con-
nected to myself and what is around me. I am stiff from inside out!
In terms of your family, and the relationships you have with

people, I guess it’s had a huge impact?
I wonder what my sons would say to that! My sons, and family, have had
a huge impact on my work, and are central to my life and how I work –
having children and the moment by moment attention to their needs and
fluctuations of being, taught me so much about the human need for touch
and holding, for play and communication: a breaking and reforming, an
ongoing process of letting go, of plans or ideas in favour of what is arising

NOW. You could say life is an improvisational process – a constantly shift-
ing field of people, events, energies; and what we have to do is to keep
curiously and sensuously in touch with the arriving moment, always
challenging us with differences, and we have to be like surfers following
the rise of the next wave.
I love the nature of this work, the quality of playfulness, the wit and
intimacy it generates. It has brought me rich and wonderful friendships,
comrades in the journey – a way of moving out of conventional conversa-
tions into a whole range of creative enquiries and sharings. I have many
close, passionate friendships and they have all grown out of work and
exploring together.
Is there a spiritual element to your work?

It’s a difficult word, ‘spiritual’, and I sometimes feel it is a separating word. I
think somatic practice trains you in awareness of being part of a whole; con-
nection is fundamental to being, and in that wider mind you are no longer
yourself, self is imbued with something bigger than itself. In performance I do
not make personal choices, I feel that I’m acted on, and my work is to make
myself available to this other kind of attention, and this finer quality of
energy. In one sense I would say that everything about my life has a spiritual
aspect, and the spiritual is also in the mundane; it is in the moment by
moment, making a cup of coffee, my relationship with the ground when I’m
digging in my bulbs. If I can make myself available to that finer quality of
energy that comes in when I’m in that wider mind, I make decisions that are
allowing of others around me, rather than excluding or cutting them off. So
that quality of being in tune is fundamental to how I try to go about living
my life. I was brought up in convents and there were aspects of that which
were ghastly and aspects that were wonderful because they assumed a mys-
tery. So that is very much the heart of my enquiry actually, we know so
much about the human body, but there is so much we know nothing about,
we just listen for it, and we ask to feel more informed by paying attention.
What inspires you today and informs your work?

Every time I really meet someone I feel inspired, every time I see someone
being just themselves, I find the beauty of that outstanding. I’m inspired
nearly all the time when the light comes through my window, I love that.
I read, Deane Juhan inspires me very much; this theme in ‘Resurgence’
(September/October 2008) around indigenous intelligence inspires me.
There is something about that quality of mind; it is less arrogant, it is
much more respectful of the environment; and it is desperately needed in
these times as a sort of quiet beauty, and groundedness. Poetry inspires
me a lot, the work of David Abram – The Spell of the Sensuous is an abso-
lutely brilliant book (Abram 2007).
How have you known that the path you have taken, along
the way, has been the right one? How did you make those
choices?
I think it is exactly like improvisation – the unforeseen. You make these
decisions and something in you knows: something in you is tuning in to
what the next step is. I find one of the most interesting things in life is how
118 Suna Imre

you get led from one thing to another, and I have never known what I
have wanted to do. I still sometimes think I don’t know what I want to do;
but I’m fascinated with what I’m doing. For instance, the teachers that I
have found along the way, Franklin Sills who teaches Cranial, Don Burton
who trained me as an Alexander teacher, Bill Williams, my first teacher;
even the dancers I have worked with. Something inside one knows what
is right.
One of my interests in embryology is that there is some forming process
in the development of the embryo. It is so vast, and it is so assured, where
one part differentiates and forms in one way, and another differentiates
and forms in another, until you have this constellation of a human being.
It’s so beautiful, precise and exquisite, and I think that same inherent
knowing is in us moment by moment if we can pay attention to it. That is
the other important thing about somatic practice, it is life training in per-
ceptual skills – a perceptual and sensuous openness both to what one’s
inner needs are and to what is out there, in the environment. I see people
who don’t do this work are often blinkered at some level, I see them run-
ning in verbal circles not having some inner orientation process that might
help them connect more effectively with what life is sending them. We call
it somatic process but actually it’s a human process we have educated out
of ourselves. That’s why indigenous people know so much about plants,
they navigate the stars, they are aware of what is going on around them,
and it’s a kind of knowing that the western world has erased. That is some-
thing we need to cultivate again, what is the feel of the ground? What is
the feel of my breath? What do I notice around me, what is the feel of that?
Most of the time we live so fast we don’t notice any of those things.
What are the strategies that can turn that lens?

It’s not an esoteric journey, you can do it very, very quickly, and you sud-
denly can surprise someone into another kind of mind. Sometimes it can be
as simple as smile, or something in one’s presence. For instance, Mandela
and the way he calls people into a very ordinary humanity; or the quality
of Obama’s presence, he’s very direct, it is an embodied presence.
There is so much we have lost, so much we have suppressed and
silenced and shut away. Loneliness and alienation are the two greatest
diseases in our culture I think. Those are the diseases of lack of connec-
tion, lack of human contact and interchange. So I suppose I see somatic
practice as utterly connected to that. How do we connect?
Works cited
Abram, D. (1997), The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More – Than –
Human World, London, UK: Vintage Books.
Brody, H. (2008), ‘Stations of Life’, Resurgence, 205 (September/October), pp. 20–25.
Juhan, D. (2003), Touched by the Goddess: The Physical, Psychological and Spiritual
Powers of Bodywork, U.S: Barrytown Ltd.
Tufnell, M. and Crickmay, C. (1993), Body Space Image, London, UK: Dance
Books.
Tufnell, M. and Crickmay, C. (2004), A Widening Field: Journeys in Body and
Imagination, London, UK: Dance Books.

Suggested citation
Imre, S. (2009), ‘Keeping Your Wits’, Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices 1: 1,
pp. 111–120, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.111/1
Contributor details
Suna Imre is a dance artist and senior lecturer in dance at the University of
Winchester. She specialises in improvisation and has collaborated with a diverse
range of artists to create cross-disciplinary installations and performances through-
out the UK. Her key interests include developing movement vocabulary that is
sourced from the application of somatic processes; and investigating closely the
interface between the moving body within specific environments. Future work
includes the creation of an improvised duet that utilizes aspects of authentic move-
ment and contact improvisation as its foundation, to be performed in the UK from
April 2009, and a collection of interviews with practitioners and educators in the
field of somatic dance practice.
120 Suna Imre

Anna Halprin and the Sea Ranch

Collective, an embodied engagement
with place
Helen Poynor Coventry University
Abstract Keywords
This paper examines Anna Halprin’s life-long engagement with the environ- Anna Halprin
ments that have supported and inspired her dance practice from the 1950s to the Sea Ranch
present. It traces the evolution of Halprin’s practice in locations that include the environment
dance deck in the redwoods at her home in Marin County, her work with the ‘San kinaesthetic
Francisco Dancers’ Workshop’ in the city and with the ‘Sea Ranch Collective’ on self-portrait dances
the Californian Coast. Drawing on extensive personal interviews with Halprin and embodiment
members of the Sea Ranch Collective, and the experience of participating in the Sea
Ranch Retreat in 2005, I examine in detail Halprin’s current approach to creat-
ing dances in the environment. The paper elucidates Halprin’s understanding of
the relationship between the ‘natural’ world, human beings and dance-making. It
analyses the processes used to heighten sensory awareness and engender a kinaes-
thetic engagement with nature to create embodied dances which are of personal
significance to the dancer, and which demonstrate an awareness of the wider envi-
ronment and an aesthetic sensibility. This includes Halprin’s use of self-portrait
visualizations and performances in the environment.
At the core of Anna Halprin’s practice over the last fifty years is the deeply
interwoven relationship between her life and her work, and between her
life’s work and the places that have been the stimulus, birthing ground
and container for it. These locations provide an ongoing connection
between the various strands of her practice, a continuity spanning half a
century, which is exceptional in contemporary globalized society. The sen-
sory and kinaesthetic experience of the natural environment has perme-
ated Halprin’s practice throughout her life. Her experiential approach to
dance integrates kinaesthetic exploration grounded in knowledge about
the structure of the body, a sense of personal meaning and an awareness
of the wider environment. Halprin’s emphasis on sensory and kinaesthetic
awareness, and her concern with the embodied experience of the dancer,
indicates a clear relationship between her work and somatic practice.
After a brief introduction to some of the principles underpinning
Halprin’s practice and an overview of the environments that have been
central to it, this paper will focus on her work with nature in the context
of her ongoing research with the Sea Ranch Collective. The collective ‘an
eclectic, multinational group of innovative performers and installation
artists’ (Halprin and Sea Ranch Collective 2003), led by Halprin, gather
JDSP_1.1_09_art_Poynor.indd 121 6/8/09 10:27:20 AM

annually for an autumn retreat at Sea Ranch on the coast approximately
a hundred miles north of San Francisco to ‘explore, exchange and develop
environment based dance’ (Halprin and Sea Ranch Collective 2003). The
environment at Sea Ranch has been a consistent inspiration for Halprin,
alongside the environs of her home in Marin County across the Golden
Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
Halprin’s radical approach to dance flew in the face of the burgeoning
of contemporary dance in the 1950s, and was profoundly influenced by
working on the outdoor dance deck at her home. This dance deck, created
in the 1957, is an irregularly shaped platform which ‘floats in a ravine
surrounded by redwood and madrone trees on the slopes of Mount
Tamalpais’ (Halprin 1988: 7). Working with Halprin on the dance deck,
and in the surrounding environment, was a formative experience for a
number of influential postmodern dancers and performance makers. These
included members of the ‘Judson Dance Theater’ in New York: Simone
Forti, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown and Meredith Monk – and genera-
tions of students from both the USA and overseas who, through their work
in education, community, therapy and performance, have passed Halprin’s
legacy on to a wider public.
The deck also hosted years of innovative teaching of the children in the
Marin Co-operatives (founded in 1947) and was the site of the creative
explorations and collaborations which seeded Halprin’s early performances.
From the late 1970s, it served as the training ground for students at the
Tamalpa Institute, founded by Halprin with her daughter Daria Khalighi
Halprin in 1978 to develop the training aspect of her work. Visited by
diverse artists and dancers including John Cage, Merce Cunningham,
Martha Graham and Min Tanaka, the deck has also served as a site for
performance and participatory events. Its location, among the redwoods
on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, has sustained and inspired Halprin’s
artistic, therapeutic and educational practice as a dance maker, performer,
director and teacher from the 1950s until the present.
Halprin’s approach to dance was profoundly affected by her formative
training with Margaret H’Doubler, who pioneered the first dance degree
programme in the world at the University of Wisconsin in 1926. H’Doubler
herself had been influenced by the educational philosophy of John Dewey,
with whom she studied. From this legacy, Halprin evolved a holistic and
experiential approach to dance that emphasizes the integration of body,
mind and feelings, and the inter-relationship between dance and the life
experiences of the dancer, while being grounded in a thorough knowledge
of anatomy. For Halprin, movement is both a means of understanding and
a language with which to express the dancers’ experience of themselves in
the world. Halprin’s philosophy incorporates a two-fold spiral that spirals
inwards to deepened life experience and outwards to an expanded artistic
expression. The two spirals nurture one another and are inseparable –
neither is seen as inherently more valuable than the other. This principle
is at the core of Halprin’s Life/Art process, which is the cornerstone of her
approach.
In addition to the formative influence of the environment in Marin
County, Halprin’s work with the San Francisco Dancers’ Workshop, which
grew out of her early collaborative explorations and operated from the
122 Helen Poynor

mid-1950s until the late 1970s, reflected a lively and subversive engage- 1. The term ‘natural’ in
relation to environ-
ment with its urban surroundings. The group claimed the street and the ments is being used
city as a site for performance, leading to a number of brushes with the for convenience to
authorities. During the 1970s, Anna, in collaboration with her husband indicate environ-
ments where natural
Lawrence, scored several events based on experiential explorations of San elements such as
Francisco’s cityscape designed to heighten the participants’ sensory and trees, ocean, rocks
kinaesthetic awareness. These culminated in City Dance in 1976–77, an predominate, while
recognizing that few
artistic intervention into the life of the city in the wake of the infamous environments in the
murder of the Mayor, intended to regenerate a sense of community and a contemporary world
revitalized connection to the urban environment. In Marin, Halprin’s work are unaffected either
directly or indirectly by
also played a significant role in the relationship between the local com- human intervention.
munity and its environment. In the early 1980s, a series of performances
and public rituals on Mount Tamalpais, seen by Halprin as ‘the spiritual
center of our area’ (Halprin 1995: 8), reclaimed the mountain for the
community after a number of brutal murders had closed its trails.
Halprin’s embracing of both ‘natural’ and urban environments as sites
for artistic endeavour, together with her rejection of the approach to
movement and the body enshrined in contemporary dance, were accom-
panied by an iconoclastic approach to the use of theatrical environ-
ments.1
Alongside her work in Marin and San Francisco, Sea Ranch has pro-
vided a place of retreat and artistic practice for the Halprins since the
early 1960s. The Sea Ranch settlement was conceived through a detailed
process of environmental planning to blend with an area of exceptional
natural beauty minimizing the impact on the natural environment.
Lawrence, one of the original architects of the project, applied the princi-
ples of the RSVP cycles for collective creativity to the design. The Halprins
have used this collaborative process in a diverse range of creative endeav-
ours, including environmental planning, dance theatre performances and
participatory community dance events. For over forty years, the environ-
ment at Sea Ranch has supported the evolution of Halprin’s practice. In
the 1960s, the Halprins ran experimental summer workshops that united
architects and dancers in a process of collective creativity. Anna facili-
tated intensive residentials at Sea Ranch with the multi-racial group
formed after the ground-breaking Ceremony of Us (1968–9), a perform-
ance project which brought together young white people from San
Francisco with black youngsters from the Watts area of Los Angeles,
shortly after the race riots there in 1967. In the 1980s and 1990s,
Halprin regularly took groups of students from the Tamalpa Institute to
work at Sea Ranch. The beaches, meadows and redwood forests of Sea
Ranch have also been used as a ‘healing tool’ (Halprin 2005b interview)
in Halprin’s work with people suffering from life-threatening illnesses,
including HIV and AIDS.
In many respects, the environments at Sea Ranch and at Halprin’s
home in Marin have functioned as Halprin’s studio. They are not alterna-
tive sites to which Halprin periodically transfers her practice but are
central to the development of it. Halprin’s approach to dance actively
incorporated ‘natural’, city and theatrical environments as a fundamental
component of her practice, well before the term ‘site-specific performance’
was in common usage.
Anna Halprin and the Sea Ranch Collective, an embodied engagement with place 123

I will now examine in more detail the inter-relationship between
Halprin’s approach to movement, her working processes and her use of
the environment in the context of her work with the Sea Ranch Collective,
drawing specifically on the collective’s gathering at Sea Ranch in 2005.
This collective, originally seeded by members of the Tamalpa Graduate
Association (Harrison 2005 interview), mirrors earlier informal artistic
collectives that have clustered around Halprin’s innovative practices and
charismatic personality, including during the period of experimentation in
the 1950s in which her distinctive approach began to emerge. The collec-
tive nature of the group, which is planned and managed co-operatively,
and the communal living situation echoes Halprin’s work with the San
Francisco Dancers’ workshop where the artistic practice was also seen as
a practice in community, and the basic principles which informed the
artistic processes underpinned the administration of the organisation (San
Francisco Dancers’ Workshop 1971: 3).
Although the majority of the group have at some stage studied and/or
performed with Halprin, many of the performers and artists involved are
well established in their own artistic careers. An abiding characteristic of
Halprin’s approach is that she both attracts and invites participants from
a wide variety of artistic backgrounds, in the visual arts, installation, film
and writing, as well as performance and dance. The freshness of her vision
is reflected in her openness to artists of any age who stimulate her creative
curiosity. There is a strong inter-generational flavour to the group, which
includes practitioners in their sixties who performed with the Dancers’
Workshop in the 1960s, those in their forties and fifties who trained with
Halprin in the 1980s, and others in their twenties and thirties who are
establishing themselves in their artistic careers. There is a significant
minority in the group who have studied ‘Body Weather’, Min Tanaka’s
approach to Butoh Dance, which also encompasses work in the environ-
ment.
Halprin’s movement practice in nature starts from a heightening and
refining of sensory awareness, often by working in a blindfold, and pro-
ceeds through an ‘experiential cycle’ consisting of three phases: Contact,
Explore and Respond. During the first session in the environment at Sea
Ranch in 2005, the participants worked blindfolded on the beach between
the ocean and the cliffs for a sustained period of time. This resulted not
only in a sharpening of all the other senses through touch, sound and
smell, emphasising a kinaesthetic rather than visual awareness of the site,
but offered a fresh experience to many of the collective who were familiar
with the environment. The element of risk highlighted the importance of
sensory awareness. In addition to being spatially disorientating, the loss of
sight intensified other aspects of the experience, both heightening emo-
tions and liberating the imagination. Participants were instructed to work
with whatever part of the site confronted them on removing their blind-
folds. This use of chance, rather than conscious choice, confronted per-
sonal affinities and preconceptions concerning the sites and elements that
the participants may otherwise have selected, challenging both movement
habits and the ability to work outside one’s comfort zone.
In the initial stages of working with nature, Halprin frequently invites
participants to focus on one element within a site using the process Contact,
124 Helen Poynor

Explore and Respond, to develop an in depth working relationship to that
element before moving on to other contrasting elements. Contact involves
‘becoming familiar with the materiality of the element through the physi-
cality of the body and the senses’ (Worth and Poynor 2004: 89). There is
a strong emphasis on receptivity in this process, a sense of seeking a phys-
ical connection with the element concerned. Explore, the second phase of
the process, is more interactive, involving an exploration of all the physi-
cal possibilities of working with the element. This exploration is essentially
kinaesthetic; movement activities and resources are generated by and
explored through action. The third phase, Respond, develops the material
discovered and introduces another dimension as feelings and personal
associations are evoked, and the physical and sensory explorations become
infused with meaning. For Halprin, embodiment is the culmination of all
three phases of the process (Halprin 2001 interview). Permeating all of
Halprin’s environmental work is a clear sense of reciprocity and inter-
relationship with the natural world. She is adamant that it is not a question
of imposing one’s own agenda and aesthetic on the environment but of
being open to what may emerge through the processes described above.
This requires an element of humility and receptivity that can be equally
challenging to students of dance and theatre and established performers.
You don’t enter nature with a preconceived idea … you don’t try to control
what’s going to happen … you want to come in empty and leave full, but
not come in full and … leave empty because you haven’t learned anything,
you’ve already decided what that tree’s going to mean to you or what you
are going to do with it … One of the values for me of working with the natu-
ral environment is that it can tap into buried mythology … buried feelings,
buried associations which you don’t know are there but which are very
deeply embedded in your physical being.
(Halprin 2001 interview)
Halprin is claiming that a responsive and physically engaged encounter

with the natural world leads not only to a deeper sense of relationship to
the environment but also to a clearer understanding of oneself. Central to
Halprin’s dance practice is the integration of three levels of awareness:
physical, emotional and mental (which includes imagery, associations,
reflection and integration into daily life). In the third phase of the process
described above Respond, all three levels of awareness are activated and
ultimately integrated. Since Halprin states that embodiment is the culmi-
nation of this process, it follows that for her embodiment includes not only
physical awareness but also feelings and personal meaning. For Halprin
then, an embodied encounter with the environment is also an encounter
with oneself. A powerful description of the healing potential of this
approach can be found in ‘Earth Dances’ (Halprin 1995: 212–225) in
which Halprin’s account of a month long workshop at Sea Ranch is inter-
woven with a participant’s experience of coming to terms with the death
of his partner through a process of kinaesthetic, emotional and imagina-
tive engagement with the elements in the environment.
Nevertheless in 2005, Halprin continually urged the Sea Ranch danc-
ers not to impose their psychological baggage on the environment but to

start from what she calls ‘pure awareness’: a practice of being present in
the moment that underpins both sensory awareness and kinaesthetic
exploration. This allows one to approach the environment in a way which
is open to new experiences and understandings. Halprin interweaves envi-
ronmental work at Sea Ranch with a process of creating self-portrait visu-
alisations and performances. These self-portrait dances have been an
important manifestation of the Life/Art process and a significant compo-
nent of the Tamalpa trainings for over twenty years. Halprin states that
we experience movement differently when working in the enclosed space
of a studio or in the natural environment and uses the simple gesture of
extending the arm towards the ceiling or the sky as an example (Halprin
2005a Sea Ranch Retreat). By extension, the process of creating a self-
portrait dance in the environment is significantly different from the same
process in the studio and may enhance its transformative potential.
Halprin believes that by creating the self-portrait visualisations and per-
formances in relationship to the environment the participants are sup-
ported in an expanded state of awareness, which creates a balance between
their personal process and their surroundings, and allows them to per-
ceive themselves in relationship to their context rather than in isolation
from it. This wider perspective enables the participant to be aware of the
art process rather than focusing solely on their subjective experience
(Halprin 2005b interview).
For Halprin, creating dances in the environment entails an acknowl-
edgement that ‘the environment (is) dancing too’: recognition that ‘you
can’t do a dance any better than a flock of birds flying overhead’
(Halprin 2005b interview). This requires a conscious awareness of the
degree to which the environment or the dancer is dominant. When
dancing in the environment, the dancer’s body becomes part of a larger
whole and as such is not necessarily the centre of attention. To illus-
trate this point, she refers to a piece by one of the collective in which
the dancer stood motionless and naked in a glade of redwood trees with
his arms raised to the sky at some distance from the witnesses and with
his back to them. For Halprin, rather than drawing attention to the
dancer the quality of his embodied presence allowed the witnesses to
receive him as part of the larger environment and to perceive the trees
in more detail as a result. This reflects Halprin’s deeply felt conviction
about the importance of recognizing human beings as part of a larger
gestalt rather than as the centre of our world. The sense of interconnec-
tion between human beings and their environment, and between individuals
and the group/community, is at the core of the work at Sea Ranch and
is reflected in both the collaborative principles underlying the work and
the communal living situation.
Although Halprin eschews the label ‘site-specific performance’, post-dat-
ing as it does her artistic practice in both urban and ‘natural’ environments,
she does use the term ‘site’ in her environmental practice. Whatever the
scale Halprin understands a site as ‘a complex combination of relationships’
encompassing ‘a complexity of elements’ (Halprin 2005b interview). Once
again the emphasis is on the inter-relationships within the site and the place
of human beings in relationship to them. Halprin uses the analogy of a spot-
light and a flood-light to distinguish between an ‘element’ and a ‘site’.
126 Helen Poynor

At the beginning of the Sea Ranch retreat, members of the collective
were asked to select a site for an initial one-minute self-portrait dance.
The motivations for selecting particular sites, and the inter-relationships
between the sites chosen and the self-portrait drawings, indicate a spec-
trum of intentions, some of which were conscious and others more
intuitive – the significance of the latter potentially being clarified during or
after the performances. Some sites symbolically reflected the theme of the
portrait or the movement vocabulary used in the dance, for example hang-
ing branches mirrored a theme of devastation and were echoed by arms
swinging loosely from the elbows. Some sites provided the physical
resources needed to support a particular movement quality related to the
theme of the portrait; for example in my self-portrait, dancing in a tree
with my movements constricted by closely growing branches created a
sense of emergency. Other sites offered a combination of physical and the-
matic resources such as an avenue of trees, representing a clear pathway
that the performer progressed along as other members of the collective
attempted to divert her focus. Some were more generic choices, for example
an open grassy area which gave a sense of scale or perspective. In a few
cases, the chosen site seemed more like a holding environment within
which a certain event could take place. When the environment was
already a distinctive feature of the self-portrait drawings, the site chosen
reflected the visualisation. In some cases, a specific element in the drawing
was echoed by a detail in the environment, for example the split branch of
a small tree. Unexpected challenges or ‘gifts’ offered by the environment
tended to be integrated into the pieces, whether brambles snatching at
clothing or the delight of a passing butterfly. For Halprin, the fact that
nature is in a state of constant flux requires the performer to be able to
respond instantaneously to changing conditions rather than attempting
to control them (Halprin 2001 interview). In this sense, the site is an
active partner in the piece, and the inter-relationship between everything
that is happening there – including environmental sound and movement –
is part of the totality of the performance. As a result the process of witness-
ing, as well as performing, is radically different from watching a performance
in a theatre, with the viewer being invited to widen their perspective to
incorporate the whole environment rather than their focus being directed
onto the body/bodies of the performer/s in a clearly defined space. At the
same time, the witness also has a sensory and kinaesthetic experience of
the environment.
For Halprin there has been a recurring question about the inter-relation
between her work in nature and aesthetic principles. In recent years, some
of the Sea Ranch gatherings have focused on this theme. From the early
explorations on the dance deck in Marin, Halprin became aware of a ‘form
of continuity’ or ‘organisation’ within the apparently random events or
sounds that occurred and the ways in which ‘nature’ weaves these
together in unpredictable ways (Halprin 2001 interview). This informed
her early kinaesthetic explorations, in which she isolated and combined a
variety of anatomically based movements in unpredictable ways, and the
layered structure of her early performance works. In ‘Earth Dances’,
written in 1994, Halprin refers to the three beliefs that attract her as a
dance-artist to the natural world, namely: ‘the human body is a microcosm

of the earth; … the processes of nature are … guidelines to my aesthetics
and … nature is a healer (Halprin 1995: 214). Natural forms and processes
consciously inform both the form and content of Halprin’s work, ‘The inter-
acting forces in nature generate artistic forms … are wonderful models for
dances … perfect compositions’ (Halprin 1995: 216), but it is the processes
that Halprin identifies with most strongly in her work. Rather than attempt-
ing to represent the ‘outward forms’ she seeks ‘to understand the natural
world as a reflection of my human experience’ (Halprin 1995: 216). It is
the ‘interface between our human ways and the ways of nature’ (Halprin
1995: 216) that interests her. This relates both to the need for an aware-
ness of the balance between the dancer and the environment as discussed
earlier and to the layers of personal meaning which infuse the perform-
ances as a result of her working processes. Halprin suggests that because of
the way in which human beings and nature reflect each other that ‘if you
are working from a certain level of consciousness … your aesthetic will
reflect the aesthetic of nature’ (Halprin 2005a Sea Ranch Retreat).
Although this claim may be hard to substantiate, it implies that an
embodied engagement with the environment has the potential to engender
performances that are intricately interwoven in the environmental matrix
in which they have been conceived.
The environments that Halprin has worked with in Marin and at Sea
Ranch have become imbued with decades of creative work and personal
and collective explorations. Halprin says that her familiarity with these
locations, to which she returns repeatedly, and the knowledge of their
distinguishing characteristics allows her to work at a greater depth and
with more awareness of detail than would be possible in sites with which
she was unfamiliar. At the same time, she asserts that familiar sites are
different on each occasion because of subtle changes, for example in light
or temperature or even where she finds herself within the site (Halprin
2005b interview). This sentiment is echoed by members of the Sea Ranch
collective. Melinda Harrison, who has worked with Halprin since the
1950s and has attended the Sea Ranch gatherings for many years, speaks
of finding new sites within the broader locations at Sea Ranch that she
has never noticed before (Harrison 2005 interview). This is perhaps due
not only to the naturally occurring changes within the sites from one year
to the next, but also because of the detailed level of attention that is inher-
ent in the work.
At the same time various sites, both at Sea Ranch and in Marin,
clearly carry personal and collective memories for members of the group.
For Halprin some of the sites have become ‘ritualised’ in the collective
experience as a result of the work that has taken place there. She cites
an area frequently referred to as ‘Jeff’s site’ which holds ‘a very deep
memory’ of a ritual entitled Walking with the Dead created there by Jeff
Rehg, one of the collective, when he was in the advanced stages of AIDS
(Halprin 2005b interview). This ritual was performed again at Rehg’s
request after his death in 2001 and has been repeated at Sea Ranch and
Marin as a way of honouring all the deaths in the community from
AIDS.
Individually, members of the collective speak of a sense of intimacy and
relationship with sites in which they have worked (Harrison 2005
128 Helen Poynor

interview). Tiara Restar writes of the continuing significance of her rela-
tionship with a particular tree on the dance deck in Marin:
On Anna’s dance deck, there is an overhanging oak tree that I once had
a profound experience with. I often go back to this tree and work in its
shadows or branches. It is like an anchor for me. In its presence I feel my
own self in deep ways and at the same time connect to the world around
me. Actually I feel as part of the tree and natural world, part of the greater
scheme of things.
(Restar 2006 email)
This statement reflects Halprin’s belief that dancing in nature reaffirms a

sense of kinship with it, at the same time as allowing the dancer to con-
nect more deeply with themselves. Among the generations of dancers who
have worked with Halprin in these landscapes there will be an overlap-
ping web of connection to and memory of different sites, as participants
carry strong memories of witnessing one another’s work as well as their
own. When asked if this would affect her choice of sites in which to work,
Restar replies:
Having memories of other people’s work forms a layer that I find interesting,
but it does not dominate the site. The trees, plants, rocks … are so strong.
This is their home. The people who pass by – dancers, hikers … are just one
small part like leaves that fall and then decompose.
(Restar 2006 email)
Here the transience of the work is acknowledged, while this reflects the
ephemerality of dance as an art form, it is a characteristic that Halprin
underlines by her request that any structures that have been created on
site are dismantled once the work has been completed. Any desire to
leave one’s imprint on the environment is challenged by this philoso-
phy, which once again invites humility on the part of the artist. It is
also consistent with Halprin’s preference not to introduce extraneous
sound or materials into a site which may distract from what is already
there. At the same time, Halprin indicates that there are no absolute
rules and that on occasion deliberately introducing an element of incon-
gruity into the site can achieve a powerful theatrical effect (Halprin
2001 interview).
While it is not Halprin’s experience that specific themes are evoked in
particular environments, she acknowledges that different elements do
elicit certain kinaesthetic responses. However, she is quick to point out
that the same element can manifest contrasting qualities and therefore
elicit contrasting movement responses: wind for example can be fierce and
uncomfortable or gentle and caressing (Halprin 2001 interview). Halprin
does feel that certain sites might suggest ‘a common language’ (Halprin
2001 interview) and may be consciously or intuitively selected because of
particular qualities. She refers to a site by a stream full of light and fresh
growth, selected by one participant for a personal ritual that revealed his
vulnerability and need for support and nourishment from the group
(Halprin 2005b interview).
JDSP_1.1_09_art_Poynor.indd 129 6/8/09 2:21:47 PM

The artistic outcomes of Halprin’s work with the Sea Ranch Collective
were publicly manifested in Seasons, created on Halprin’s land in Marin
and performed at the summer solstice in 2003. This event incorporated a
sequence of performances and installations created by members of the col-
lective, interspersed with participatory sensory workshops facilitated by
Halprin and a food ritual created by the participants. Halprin acted as the
artistic director of the whole event creating Pathways, a score performed
by members of the collective, in a labyrinth of branches installed on the
dance deck. Rather than attempting to transfer work created at Sea Ranch,
the same principles were applied to a sustained and in depth process in the
environment in Marin – with the specific intention of creating public per-
formance. Most of the collective are familiar with this environment and
some of the elements at Sea Ranch, such as the redwood forest, are also
found there.
Another aesthetic manifestation of Halprin’s environmental practice,
shown at her Eightieth Year Retrospective and incorporated into Seasons,
was Still Dance: a photographic exhibition resulting from a collaboration
with performance and visual artist Eeo Stubblefield, who has attended the
Sea Ranch gatherings for many years. Stubblefield initiated this process
of ‘weaving together “performance, body art, story, photography and the
particularity of place”’ (Stubblefield, 2001, cited in Worth and Poynor
2004: 47) in the early 1980s, working alone and with others before cre-
ating a sequence of work with Halprin as a solo performer between
1997–2000. The photographs, which capture ‘a distillation of the dia-
logue between performer and place’ (Worth and Poynor 2004: 47), are
an evocative series of images of Halprin dancing in response both to
Stubblefield’s aesthetic body coverings, created on Halprin specifically for
the environments concerned (many of them at Sea Ranch), and the envi-
ronments themselves, some of which also incorporated Stubblefield’s
design. The working process for this collaboration is documented in Andy
Abrahams Wilson’s film Returning Home (Abrahams Wilson 2003 video).
A recurrent theme for Halprin in this work (created in her late seventies)
is an acceptance of her aging body and a preparation for her return to the
earth in death (Halprin 2001 interview). In one sequence Halprin’s naked
body, coated with molasses and tree rot, slowly disappears into the trunk
of a fallen tree until she is completely indistinguishable from her sur-
roundings. These pieces are at once highly aesthetic and deeply personal
rituals.
Despite this emphasis on work in nature, Halprin’s first visit to Paris in
2004 for opening of the Festival d’Automne showed that her relationship
to urban environments and street performance is still very much alive.
Halprin’s group performed an extract from Parades and Changes (which
had resulted in a warrant for Halprin’s arrest after a performance in New
York in 1967 because of its use of nudity) and the more recent Intensive
Care (2000), both intensely theatrical performances, in the formal theatre
at the Centre Pompidou. Rather than remaining within the confines of the
theatre building, Halprin created En Route – an amusing and unlikely
prelude to the performances in which the company (several of whom are
members of the Sea Ranch Collective) journeyed from their hotel to the
performance venue attired in dark suits and bowler hats. They functioned
130 Helen Poynor

as a chorus accompanying G. Hoffman Soto (who has worked with Halprin
for over twenty-five years) as the ‘joker’ in a maverick performance, inter-
acting with members of the public and local shopkeepers (with whom he
developed an ongoing relationship) and creating idiosyncratic dances to a
faulty ghetto blaster in the public squares to the delight of passers-by. This
street performance was largely un-remarked upon by the reviewers who
were apparently unaware of it.
Halprin’s current work with the Sea Ranch Collective is the synthesis of a
creative processes and approach to environmental dance which have evolved
since her early explorations on the dance deck fifty years ago, embodying a
holistic approach to the individual, to dance and to the environment. Halprin
continues to refine and develop this approach in collaboration with artists
and performers of several generations. Her current commitment to articulate
the objective principles which underpin her work continues Halprin’s life-
long endeavour to make her working processes as transparent as possible to
those working with her, reflecting her belief that it is only by objectifying
your material that others can personalize it for themselves.
Works cited
Halprin, A. (1988), ‘Expanding Spaces’, In Dance, 15:9, pp. 1–7.
Halprin, A. (1995), Moving toward Life, Five Decades of Transformational Dance, (ed.),
R. Kaplan, Hanover and London: Wesleyan University Press.
Halprin and Sea Ranch Collective (2003), ‘Seasons’, Part 1/summer, performance
programme 21–23 June, Mountain Home studio/theatre, Kentfield, California.
San Francisco Dancers Workshop (circa 1971), untitled manuscript: 1–33, Anna
Halprin’s personal archive.
Worth, L. and Poynor, H. (2004), Anna Halprin, Abingdon, Oxon & New York:
Routledge.
Video
Returning Home (2003), dir. Andy Abrahams Wilson, Sausilito, California: Open
Eye Pictures.
Interviews, workshop discussions and emails

Halprin, A. (2001), interviews, 25–27 June, Mount Home Studio, Kentfield.
Halprin, A. (2005a), workshop sessions and discussions with the Sea Ranch
Collective, 22–31st August, Sea Ranch Retreat, California.
Halprin, A. (2005b), interview, 30 August, Sea Ranch.
Harrison, M. (2005), interview, 2 September, Inverness, California.
Restar, T. (2006), email correspondence, 18 February.
Further reading
Halprin, A. (2002), Returning to Health with Dance, Movement and Imagery,
Mendocino California: Life Rhythm.
Ross, J. (2000), Moving Lessons, Margaret H’Doubler and the beginning of dance in
American education, Madison and London: University of Wisconsin Press.
Ross, J. (2007), Anna Halprin Experience as Dance, Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press.

Suggested citation
Poynor, H. (2009), ‘Anna Halprin and the Sea Ranch Collective, an embodied engage-
ment with place’, Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices 1: 1, pp. 121–132, doi:
10.1386/jdsp.1.1.121/1
Contributor details
Helen Poynor is an internationally recognized movement artist and teacher, and
Visiting Professor of Performance at Coventry University. She runs the Walk of Life
workshop and training programme in non-stylized and environmental movement
on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site in East Devon and West Dorset, UK. She
specialises in movement in natural environments, site specific and autobiographi-
cal performance and cross art-form collaborations in the UK and Australia. She
trained originally with Anna Halprin in 1980–81 and is co-author with Libby
Worth of Anna Halprin (Routledge 2004). Her essay, ‘ “Yes but is it Dance?” The
dances of daily life … non-stylised movement as a medium of expression’ appears
in An Introduction to Community Dance Practice, (Diane Amans (ed.), Palgrave
Macmillan 2008). Helen is a Registered Somatic Therapist, ISMETA and a Senior
Registered Dance Movement Therapist, ADMP UK.
Contact: 3, Marmora Terrace, Clapps Lane, Beer, Devon EX 12 3HE, UK.
Tel: 44 (0)1297 20624
132 Helen Poynor

Poetic Reflection
Miscellaneous. English language. doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.133/7
Reflections on Evoking the wisdom of

body and imagination Anna Halprin
Summer Programs; San Francisco,
23rd June – 17th July, 20081
(funded by a Lisa Ullman Travel
Scholarship)
Cecilia Macfarlane Independent Dance Artist
Abstract Keywords
This article has been written as a result of studying with Anna Halprin and her Dance in the
colleagues in Tamalpa, San Francisco, in the Summer of 2008. I wished to further landscape
my research into dance in the landscape. The course gave me an insight into differ- Anna Halprin
ent aspects of the Halprin process, and when taken as a whole, provided a multi- Tamalpa
faceted view of the Tamalpa work. The course was in three parts, Dance as Ritual
with Anna Halprin, Self-portraits and Movement led by Jaime Nissenbaum and
Expressive Arts in Nature, led by Jamie McHugh.
I have found as I get older that I have increasingly felt “hemmed in” when 1. Studying with Anna
studying in a traditional dance studio. The habits and memories of expected Halprin and her
colleagues in
dance practice return relentlessly and distractingly and can seriously Tamalpa gave
restrict my research and development as a dancer. me an insight into
While the expected flatness and uniformity of a dance studio floor can different aspects of
the Halprin process,
be relied upon, the body cannot necessarily find compatibility with it; and and when taken as
while this can create wonderful dialogues at times, it is in the landscape a whole, provided a
that I delight in finding reflections of multifaceted view of
the Tamalpa work.
The course was in
my skin, muscles and bones, three parts, Dance
my curves, weight and breath; as Ritual with Anna
Halprin, Self-portraits
my energy, falling and stillness; and Movement led by
my trust, doubt and despair; Jaime Nissenbaum
my rest, momentum and hope; and Expressive Arts
in Nature, led by
my dance, delight and passion. Jamie McHugh.
The landscape reflects back so much more than a dance studio mirror and
offers, if I open to it, all that I need to research my practice and take me
into the studio again, refreshed and reformed.
JDSP_1.1_10_art_Macfarlance.indd 133 6/8/09 10:32:28 AM

The landscape contextualises who and how I am and strips away any
accumulated affectation, making way for the more authentic me.
Through dancing, drawing, writing, I went on a journey that I had not
planned, had no clue I needed and had no expectations of where it might
go. I found a powerful black panther in me that finally gave birth to my
self portrait.
134 Cecilia Macfarlane

“I am belly, I am wind, I am mountains, I am waterfall falling down mountains, I
am deep forest, I am fresh grass, I am soreness, I am older, I am butterfly wings, I
am love, I am mother, I am wise sage, I am history, I am present, I am future, I am
wild, I am re-emerging, I am shouting, I am colourful, I am energetic, I am leaping,
I am travelling, I am still pool, I am busy, I am the bottom of a mountain, I am see-
ing, I am high, I am running, I am flying, I am arriving, I am rushing water, I am
on top of the world, I am grounded.”
CM Journal, Summer 2008
Poetic Reflection 135

There was a momentum to my exploration both physically and emotion-
ally that felt inevitable.
It was the land, finally, that gave me all the answers that I needed;
the rock that I could hide deeply under for privacy and space to be still,
but also offering the possibility, while on top of the rock to be completely
visible and heard. The warm sand embraced my curves and caught my
every move. The Pacific Ocean washed over me playfully, pushing and
pulling me. The air encouraged my newly found wings to fly me for
miles, running along the empty beach. I could rest on the sand dunes
and the fire warmed and rested me, charging my batteries for my
return.
“I danced my dance, my spirit danced the wind behind moving me the sun above
warming me the sea below washing me the trees around whispering, reminding me
to spread my wings, to fly, to hover and to land home safely.”
CM Journal, Summer 2008
Suggested citation
Macfarlane, C. (2009), ‘Reflections on Evoking the wisdom of body and imagination
Anna Halprin Summer Programs; San Francisco, 23rd June – 17th July, 2008
(funded by a Lisa Ullman Travel Scholarship)’, Journal of Dance and Somatic
Practices 1: 1, pp. 133–137, doi: 10.1386/jdsp.1.1.133/7
136 Cecilia Macfarlane

Contributor details
Cecilia Macfarlane is an Oxford based independent dance artist with a national
reputation for her work in the community. She was a Senior Lecturer in Arts in
the Community at Coventry University for nine years. Her work is based on her
passionate belief that dance is for everyone; she celebrates the uniqueness and indi-
viduality of each dancer. Her work is influenced by her studies with Joan Skinner,
Helen Poynor, Deborah Hay and most recently Anna Halprin.
Contact: 16 Portland Road, Summertown, Oxford, OX2 7EY.
E-mail: ceciliamacfarlane@talk21.com
Poetic Reflection 137

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Journal of Dance &amp; Somatic Practices 1.1

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Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices

Volume 1 Number 1 2009

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JDSP 1 (1) pp. 3–4 © Intellect Ltd 2009 3

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A brief history of somatic practices

JDSP 1 (1) pp. 5–27 © Intellect Ltd 2009 5

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Defining the Field: Coining ‘Somatics’ and ‘Somatic

A brief history of somatic practices and dance 7

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The professional field of somatic movement education and therapy spans

Practices of somatic movement education and therapy encompass postural

• Focus on the body both as an objective physical process and as a subjec-

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A movement educator or therapist will place his/her hands on specific areas

• guide the student/client in initiating and practicing improved movement

This learning process helps the student/client:

• refine and focus proprioceptive and kinesthetic attention;

A brief history of somatic practices and dance 9

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Theories and Practices in Europe prior to Somatic Education

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Life Stories of the Somatic Pioneers: A brief history

The First Generation

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 15

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New Generations of Somatic Leaders: Dancers motivated

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 17

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 19

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 21

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So we are in the paradoxical situation that novelty is more obvious in

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 23

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 25

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A brief history of somatic practices and dance 27

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Editors Aims and Scope

Call for Papers

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Formative support and connection:

JDSP 1 (1) pp. 29–45 © Intellect Ltd 2009 29

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Figure 1: Brigitte Carr Visioning the body Photo: AnneMarie Nissen.

Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 1.1

Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 1.1