I wanted to let you know that I used the Octaband this week in class and
we all had a terrific time with it. Thanks so much. The families love
the colors, the fabric and the versatility. It was all fun.
-Marilyn Schwartz, Kids' MusicRound, Early Childhood Music and Movement, http://www.kidsmusicround.com/
Suzy Matheson will be presenting at an Adaptive Dance Workshop on Friday, Aug 15, 2008. The following is from their website: http://adaptivedance.org/.
"This daylong workshop is designed for dance educators, studio owners, creative art therapists, and anyone interested in learning how to teach inclusion-based arts, which focuses on creating an open environment in which children of all abilities can participate.
Through lectures, demonstrations, movement experiential, and role-playing, participants will gain knowledge, confidence, and skills to use adaptive dance with a variety of populations and settings."
Great news for Octaband ~ Test results show that the Octaband has "no detectable material latex rubber".
Vitalah Simon shared the following information about visually impaired dancers from the Shree Ramana Maharshi Academy for the Blind from Bangalore, India. Vitalah said, "I had the good fortune of seeing them perform twice last summer and was truly amazed! Their work together as a "corps du ballet" was phenomenal! ( It was an Indian Dance Festival in Westchester, NY.) And their spirituality was also very palpable. They worked on performance stages which had real edges - like 6 foot drops, and didn't even come close to a problem with the space. When they first entered the space, they walked around it once as a group, holding hands in a line, led by a teacher. Then the music was turned on and the dance began. Voila! Truly inspiring on so many levels.
http://www.srmab.org.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=48
When people see the OctabandTM in use, they frequently ask about the similarities and differences to the parachute. In some ways, I was motivated to create the Octaband because the parachute wasn't useful for me in working with the elderly, especially those with moderate to severe dementia. For one thing, the parachute requires a large space, and I rarely had a space large enough for the larger one. Secondly, there are very limited ways that one can move with the parachute if one is sitting down. One can move it up and down, or side to side. One can bounce a ball on it. Third, in using the parachute all of the movement requires that people move together, which is not always possible with elders with severe dementia because they lack the motivation to do things to please others. It seems their energy needs to be internally focused, so their motivation needs to come from an internal source.
So, here is how the Octaband is different. The Octaband, like an octopus is very flexible. It takes up as much space or as little as one has. It can expand by stretching it, and the "legs" can be wrapped several times around the hand to take up less space and also to offer greater resistance. The Octaband allows for a greater range of physical movement, as one can move to the limits of one's physical range, regardless of what others are doing. Therefore, a person can reach out to his further limits in all directions. One benefit to this is that if one person has a limitation, i.e., needs to keep the arm/elbow close to the body, but the person next to her wants to reach way out, the person who needs to keep the arm close is able to do so, without being pulled. Thus, the Octaband promotes greater physical range of motion and flexibility, as well as safety in that way. Addressing the 3rd difference, the Octaband has a hem at the end of each leg, so that the leader can slip the person's hand into the hem. So if the person lacks the cognitive understanding of what is expected of them or physically can't hold on, the hem allows them to hold on and be part of the happening. (The hem can also be slipped over the feet.) Because of the bright colors which elders love, the soft, yummy material which feels good to touch, and the stretchiness of the fabric, as well as the unifying properties, everyone WANTS to join in. Additionally, the center of the Octaband is a simple and satisfying circle, which promotes a calming point of focus, as different from the pie-shaped angles and colors in the center of the parachute which can be over-stimulating.
That is partially why I created the Octaband, and some of the differences between the Octaband and the parachute. On the other hand, the parachute is better for bouncing a ball on. One can bounce a beanbag on the Octaband, but it is less useful for "games", more useful for enhancing flexibility, strength and vitality through movement. Another difference is that because of the legs, it is vital to present the Octaband in a very structured way with children to ensure safety. Children tend to love to get under the parachute and the Octaband - the parachute provides more space, the Octaband less space, but at the same time, can be less scary, because they can see one another through the legs.
Yesterday I led dance/movement therapy group on an Alzheimer's unit in a local long term care facility. As I began, I looked into each participant's eyes, and offered my hand for a handshake. When I looked into Mary's eyes and offered her my hand, she excitedly brought my hand to her mouth and kissed it. In turn, maintaining that eye contact, I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed it. I can't tell you which one of us was giving or receiving. When I kissed her hand, the delight in her eyes was contagious, and nourished my soul. Who was giving, and who was receiving?
My students love the Octaband. It is an excellent tool for our gross motor groups. It promotes visual attention, coordination, motor planning, strength and endurance. Students of varying ages, cognitive levels and physical abilities can participate and most of all... have fun. The little ones love the texture. They like to wrap it around themselves. Sometimes I wrap 2 of the legs around them, and the kids then have to get themselves out of it. Their very favorite activity is to bounce the beanbag on it. The turtle beanbag with the flat bottom works best. The octaband helps improve their attention span. They call it the THNEED, from Dr. Seuss’ Lorax. (“A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!") They do sometimes fight over which color band they get. They love to be the one who is underneath in the center.
One particular student who is shy and doesn't typically participate in our gross motor group activities without continuous prompting, etc... loves the Octaband. He is a 4 year old little boy with a cortical vision impairment and developmental delays. The Octaband brought him out of his shell. It is the one activity that he really enjoys. We tried the "mine"/ "ours" game this week and it was a big hit. Thanks again for sharing the evolution of the Octaband with our department.
Sincerely,
Kelly McDermott, DPT, Boston Public Schools
This was a posting to the ADTA listserve on 3/23/08
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I have been using the Octaband very successfully
with many different populations, e.g, Alzheimer's, elderly, adult psychiatric
and developmentally disabled. I find the sixteen arm type especially useful.
Congratulations on creating such an innovative dance/movement therapy
tool!
Peace,
Nancy Koprak,MA,ADTR,LCAT
This posting allows me the opportunity to introduce the wonderful improvisational dance class that Itake called Dancing Outside the Lines with Joan Green in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area. This is only my third year with Joan, but for others in the class, it's probably more like 15 years. The class began, I believe, for dancers over age 50, but has opened up to include a few younger dancers. Our ages probably span late 30's to mid 80's. Joan inspires us with different warm ups and structures each week, and always keeps us on task, encouraging our spontaneity and heightening aesthetic appreciation.
Soon I will post some pictures taken by photographer Ian Travis Barnard of our class using the Octaband, the first time the Octaband has been used, to my knowledge, in an improvisational dance class for adults. Feel free to comment.
