Keeping The Dance Alive...: 2010

~ ‘Human Movement communicates with others and reveals our inner experience’ ~

Discuss this statement with reference to some of your own movement experiences and some of the practices of the early dance pioneers / 20.11.09

“Nothing so clearly and inevitably reveals the inner man than movement and gesture. It is quite possible if one chooses to conceal and dissimulate behind words or paintings or other forms of human expression, but the moment you move, you stand revealed, for good or evil that you are”.

-Doris Humphrey, as quoted in The Dance Has Many Faces, edited by Walter Sorell

In this essay I will endeavour to share with you my inner experience revealed though dance and how this has affected me emotionally & physically throughout the past 5 months. In describing my bodily movement I will use Laban movement language & also refer to ‘being moved’[1] as an integral part of my ongoing experiences. I will make reference to early pioneers Mary Starks Whitehouse and Trudi Schoop predominately and their specific techniques used in DMT.

‘Active imagination (Jung 1935,1947), - brings the conscious and unconscious into equal partnership so that the conscious mind can question the unconscious mind.’[2]

13/09/09 Sacrifice dance

I was inspired by the idea/technique of sacrifice Mary Whitehouse used in her group work in the video watched in class on 13/09/09. Using coloured lighting for each stage of her creative process & live music (flute) Whitehouse created a certain atmosphere to help the experience of her clients.

Temple by the sea, this ritualistic sacrifice was something obviously quite intense for all involved. Most of the clients came to tears at the thought of sacrificing something precious. After experiencing a bodily felt[3] awareness clients could then use the act of focusing[4] to bring on change. With the use of this creative process & tuning into a deep down level of awareness Whitehouse brought a change in the psyche & soma, immense relief physically & an emotional shift happened in her clients.

I guess this is what resonated with me into my dance own experience.

I began my dance with focus on my heart, realising it was indeed empty. I went through a process of touch with my hands to my body sensing every little part.

I began to heal my heart creating a rhythmic pattern with my hands in a bandaid like manner over my heart. Once I felt strong enough, a felt sense [5]of knowing exactly what to do washed over and within me. It seemingly came from nowhere (yet we all know that it was deep seeded in my body), however as soon as ‘it’ was present I knew exactly what I had to do. My movement became purely authentic[6], I could not fight what I had been ‘Facing Down’[7] any longer. I gave up to my ego and let the movement just happen. Almost immediately after realising what I had to do I had a ball in the back of my throat and I wanted to cry. I fought against this release to cry, I wanted to stay strong and do what I knew I had to do. Through movement I took a piece of my heart that was still connected to my past partner and I placed it in a black box. This point of action was so, so hard……

I then closed the box up and tied it with a bright red ribbon.

This was MY sacrifice.

I then kneeled in front of the box and took deep breaths while I waved my arms vertically up and down in a prayer like way. Rising and sinking, I gave away my sadness and the piece of my heart I knew I had to sacrifice to be able to move on. I then took the box walking directly to all corners of the room & did a turn in each corner. Then with greatly sustained time I placed the box down and sat beside it…

I waited to see what came next… Reconnect. I then reconnected up to the universe by reaching my full body vertically to the heavens and the down to the (mother) earth. I centred myself again in full alignment.

What I learned from this experience was that I had an inner emotional blockage. Through closing my eyes and sensing[8] my body, movement revealed what had to come out of my psyche & my soma.

I shifted an unconscious thought into a conscious one & through the act of focusing I was able to realise that why I wasn’t able to fully give myself over to my new partner was because I still had ties to my ex partner.

I realised I had to let go of this piece of my heart that I held so sacred. I didn’t realise this until I moved authentically.

The once hidden knowledge[9] was now available to my conscious mind. I was then able to form a rational plan of action for resolving the problem[10].

13/09/09 Rain dance (focus on LMA)

Similar to Blanche Evans ‘Projective Technique’[11], we explored the theme of water in class. This particular day I could easily identify emotion with a theme. This being the last dance of the day and coming after my ‘sacrifice dance’ I found it quite cleansing.

I began lying on the floor…

My arms, fingers, hands became a vapour, this transcended into my legs. My limbs & joints were light and floated into the above air. The space used by my limbs was indirect with a certain meandering, sustained time to the free flow of movement. My shape flow was rising in an arc like way floating vertically upwards. I then rose up to become a bulging cloud. My movement now enveloped my whole body/skeleton. In a growing and shrinking like flow a form was growing bigger and bigger. My body weight became heavy. This then rapidly grew so big it turned into a vicious sea thunderstorm. Moving my body in large outwards motions into every direction of my kinesphere. I tossed & turned as if being thrown by the vicious waves of the ocean. This chaos progressed into a downpour of solid rain. This then refined my movement to very direct, strong movements using my arms and body in a vertical plane of movements. It had a downward pull. This included my heart…

After I was fully drained both physically and emotionally, I needed peace. I visualised a light, misty sprinkle of rain on my body. I turned my head upwards so that my face would catch the rain. I used the sensation of my fingers lightly touching my skin to enhance my imagery. It was a nice comforting feeling, peaceful.

Using Evans ‘Projective Technique’, I found a pathway through movement, which I believe was residual of my ‘sacrifice’ dance.

From wistful, to angry to calm and peaceful I could explore my emotions purely through movement yet identifying them with a theme rather than linking them directly to my thoughts/ life experience. I, not unlike Evans’ clients enjoyed the use of the projective technique to use a theme to explore self-expression in a non-invasive way. Not only did it allow for an expanded movement repertoire but a psychic projection that may otherwise not have been realised.

18/09/09 Spirit dance

This dance came whilst in a dyad. We were in an old church space, used by aboriginal/indigenous communities for ceremonies including funerals, births, celebrations etc. Rose danced first, as a witness I wrote: ‘I feel cold, my arms are cold’. I felt very connected to witnessing Rose’s dance, I felt settled, my focus or attention didn’t shift away as it sometimes does. I enjoyed watching her move in the space. When Rose finished she announced that she “was not alone” in the space today. I didn’t really understand or believe what she was saying until I began my dance….

I immediately sensed the space and knew then exactly what Rose had meant. There were numerous energies (spirits?) in the space I was about to be moved[12] in. There was one stream of light coming in through a window, this was warm, I found myself merging towards it, this small space felt safe. The rest of the space to me felt cold, I felt like I was being watched, not by Rose but by something else. To the west side of the space there was a particularly dark energy/ presence in the space.

My predominate movement quality/efforts were as follows;

I was overcome toward the end of my dance with my feet stamping lightly with little, quick steps. My arms were predominating with swirling movements. My running made a pattern north south east and west in a cross like pattern. It was as though something took over my body and I couldn’t stop.

I allowed it to happen & I went with it. I felt like I haven’t moved that way before. I felt like I was being moved.

A weird sense came to me that I was not supposed to be in the space, I was restricted to a very confined space in such a large room because of the strong energy’s around me, encompassing the room. I tried to venture further past my given space but I then could only see darkness & it was cold there so I returned to my space. It was over a little metal vent. The pattern that was created with my movement direction was not only a cross but also a figure eight cross both ways.

Many images came to me in this dance experience, I could see the dark man to the west, almost like an elder, he was alone. Then all around me were other energies just staring at me, not moving with me, just standing staring, this made me feel a little anxious & made me want to get out of the space as quick as I could. The last image I could see was an image of a snake. It came straight for me rearing up with its mouth open…

After my dance I asked Rose if we could not use this space again, she agreed.

From this experience I am not sure how it resonated with me on a personal level/ my life at this time. I felt the dance was very influenced by the environment & that to me was purely was it was. I was sounding out the space & had no space/time for my own emotional journey to begin.

Rhythm and repetition/

“Sometimes at night I slipped into the studio and worked myself up into a rhythmic intoxication in order to come closer to the slowly stirring character.”[13]

Rhythm & repetition as seen in the video we watched in class on Trudi Schoop is something that resonates deeply with me. As an emotion emerges in a client Schoop then uses a repetitive rhythm to give her clients emotion some control.

I find this an easy way to communicate with a client and drop into their inner experience, whilst holding the space.

Through the use of rhythm/repetition a therapist can give an emotion fuel or bring it down, depending on what the client needs. Rhythm & repetition can be found in many ways to develop & release ones inner experience. As I experience in my ‘Spirit dance’ something that was far out of the conscious realm. The repetitive stamping of my feet sent me to someplace else where I felt that it was no longer my initiation that was moving my body, but a higher force. I have similarly felt this at a dance party, similar to what Michele Mahrer describes about the partygoers at the Rainbow Serpent festival.

I think in this environment it is the form of music, which sends the body into a ritualistic dance. Experiencing the vibrations and frequencies in the music the body can start to resonate with those frequencies they go right through your body on a cellular level, so your whole body starts to vibrate[14]. I think then your mind and body is very open on a universal level. Allowing other entities to join you in your dance…other people, higher forces etc. This can be recognised in the earliest forms of healing dance from the Medicine man and shamanic dances that also engage in repetitive rhythms to send them into higher transcended states.

When you dance endorphins are released; I believe that a repetitive beat, rhythm is influential and imperative to leading the body into a cathartic state. I can remember a dance a couple of months ago where I was in a club and the music just took me on a journey, the bass was very full & heavy, this resonated with my soul. I moved so freely without a care in the world. I then realised I was being watched, my movement changed.

It is here I would like to refer to the witness/mover realised by Mary Whitehouse. I believe this technique used by Whitehouse can be very powerful when used in DMT if held well. From the realisation that I was being ‘watched’ in the club my movement immediately changed from authentic to a struggle between authentically moving and performing.

As I knew I had an audience many thoughts swarmed my mind; was I being judged? What do they think of me and the way I am moving? I feel vulnerable.

It is from this realisation that I believe it is so important in a therapeutic setting for the witness/therapist to tune into the mover/client with a deep sense of acceptance[15]. From personal experience in my own dyads I knew when my witness was fully holding the space & when they weren’t, I could sense it. As a witness I was always conscious of this and I found it quite challenging most of the time, but always held the space without judgement.

Being Moved/Ego

In the video of Whitehouse I really liked the use of clay to give her clients another medium to work with other than the body alone. She mentioned one woman in particular moulding her own experience in a quite obscure way. This woman was usually very prim and proper, but the way in which she used the clay (miming defecating, putting it in her mouth) showed her shadow/dark side. In class we discussed to truly know ‘you’ is to tap into this dark side of yourself, acknowledge its existence maybe even experiment with it. Then you are truly formed human being, both good and bad. I am interested in this idea and would like to investigate it further.

Something really interesting I have found during the past 5-month journey is the idea & practise of letting go of ‘Ego’. I’ve become more aware of peoples energy and the differences from person to person. In the client/ therapist scenario we did in class. I noticed my complete urge to want to jump right in with the client and help. I forced, (without even realising it until later) my energy/ movement on the client to pick up. It was only when I pulled back and tried to connect with the client that a relationship/connection was built and progress began. It takes time and giving up your ego to realise the energy of others. One must accept another’s energy or how they choose to be and instead of locking horns possibly go for the ride and see what unfolds naturally. This is similar to how Schoop steps into the psychotic world of her patients[16]. I warm to the idea of stepping

into someone else’s reality, if only for a little while & try and see the world through their eyes. This inevitably links to connecting and tuning in with your patient to allow a certain amount of trust for progress to begin.

Through describing my own inner experience I hope I have given you a brief insight to how human movement communicates both with oneself and with others. Developing sensory awareness and by using the integral tools laid out by some of our early pioneers in DMT human expression is revealed both consciously and unconsciously. Dance Movement Therapy to me is a journey that has led me to realise truths about myself and my life that may otherwise had lay dormant in my body.

Through movement/dance my body/mind loosens up & I am free.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Adler, Janet (1987), Who is the Witness? - A Description of Authentic Movement, Contact Quarterly, Winter, pp 20-29

2. Gendlin, Eugene T. (1981) What the Body Knows, Focusing, Bantam Books, New York, pp.39

3. Levy, Fran J. (1988) Dance/Movement Therapy A Healing Art, Chapter 2: Blanche Evan- creative movement becomes dance therapy with normal’s and neurotic, s pp41- 43.

4. Mahrer, M., (2003) Dances of Ecstasy, Opus Arte, DVD running time approx 240 mins

5. Sullwood, E. & Ramsay, M. (2007) A Dancing Spirit: Remembering Mary Starks Whitehouse, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London/Philadelphia.p.40.

6. Wallock, Susan Frieder (1983) ‘An interview with Trudi Schoop’, American Journal of Dance Therapy, vol 6, p6.

7. Wigman, M., (1966). The Language of Dance, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut, pp.40-41

[1] Sullwood, E. & Ramsay, M. (2007) A Dancing Spirit: Remembering Mary Starks Whitehouse, pp.45-49, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London/Philadelphia.

[2] Op.cit

[3] Gendlin, Eugene T. (1981) What the Body Knows, Focusing, Bantam Books, New York, pp.38

[4] Op.cit

[5] Gendlin, Eugene T. (1981) What the Body Knows, Focusing, Bantam Books, New York, pp.38

[6] Pallaro, P.(2007) ed. Authentic Movement: Moving the Body, Moving the Self, Being Moved, A collection of Essays Vol 2. P 40.

[7] Gendlin, Eugene T. (1981) p.37.

[8] Op.cit. p 36.

[9] Gendlin, Eugene T. (1981) What the Body Knows, Focusing, Bantam Books, New York, pp.39

[10] Op cit. p40.

[11] Levy, Fran J. (1988) Dance/Movement Therapy A Healing Art, Chapter 2: Blanche Evan- creative movement becomes dance therapy with normal’s and neurotic, s pp41- 43.

[12] Sullwood, E. & Ramsay, M. (2007) A Dancing Spirit: Remembering Mary Starks Whitehouse, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London/Philadelphia.p.40.

[13] Wigman, M., (1966). The Language of Dance, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut, pp.40-41

[14] Mahrer, M., (2003) Dances of Ecstasy, Opus Arte, DVD running time approx 240 mins

[15] Adler, Janet (1987), Who is the Witness? - A Description of Authentic Movement, Contact Quarterly, Winter, pp 20-29

[16] Wallock, Susan Frieder (1983) ‘An interview with Trudi Schoop’, American Journal of Dance Therapy, vol 6, p6.

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