Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist

This blog affords me the opportunity to share some of my greatest passions with you, the reader. Among my passions are dance movement therapy and the power of dance to inspire, uplift and heal. I will be bringing you my favorite images, quotations, stories, websites and books about dance and dance/movement therapy. I will share my love for and understanding about working with people with dementia. And, finally, this will be a gathering place for stories about the Octaband, a product I created initially for people with dementia but is now being used by people of all ages and abilities all around the globe.

Octaband at AMTA American Music Therapy Conference San Diego 2010

The AMTA conference gave me a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with previous purchasers of the OctabandTM. One music therapist who works with children with autism said, "The Octaband provides such a nice kinesthetic framework." A woman who did her internship with people with Parkinson's said the folks with Parkinson's and the staff "love it." They are all motivated to keep the shaker eggs on the center circle of the Octaband. One woman reported using the Octaband with great success with people with developmental disabilities, ages 3 - 26. I was told that the music therapy department at U. Dayton love it. And Renata stopped by to tell me that the forensic unit in Patton California loves the Octaband as well.

Thanks to all for the feedback and wonderful ways you are bringing healing to folks with all sorts of challenges.

This photo shows the Octaband being used by dance movement therapist Rachel Federman Morales in Philadelphia with a middle school semi professional dance company and children at the HMS School in a performance, spring 2007.

Octaband Testimonia with Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Kimberley Smith Daly is a dance movement therapist who works with adults with multiple physical limitations due to TBI, CP, and the like, as well as with full bodied movers with developmental disabilities.

Kimberley reports after using the Octaband for a week,

"They truly enjoy using the Octoband, and I had a MARVELOUS break through with one young man who typically refuses to participate in DMT at all.  He is in his 20s and is very concerned with appearances, and typically thinks DMT is 'stupid'.  He has a significant brain injury which has left him with a great many physical limitations, and he relies on a wheelchair.  He participated the whole time, intentionally utilizing his weaker arm, and really pushed his range of motion.  His affect improved dramatically, even laughing out loud at times, and he engaged with peers and staff alike. It was amazing." 

Quarryography, Dancing in the Quarry, Deer Island, Maine

Space as Art: Dancing in the Quarry was the name of an article in the Spring 2009 issue of Island Heritage Trust. Inspired by site specific dances, I looked online to find out more. 

I've been wanting to get a group together for a site specific dance in Boston for 33 years. Maybe this spring?

EXPRESS YOURSELF RECEIVES COMING UP TALLER AWARD IN WASHINGTON, D.C

Express Yourself, a group started by dance and expressive arts therapists Stan Strickland and Paula Conrad, graduates of Lesley's expressive therapy program, was one of 15 youth arts and humanities programs to receive the prestigious 2009 Coming Up Taller Award, a project of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  Here's a link: http://expressyourselfinc.org/news.html

 

National Center for Creative Aging

Octaband LLC just became an organizational member of National Center for Creative Aging.

"The National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) is dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and the quality of life of older people. Creative expression is important for older people of all cultures and ethnic backgrounds, regardless of economic status, age, or level of physical, emotional, or cognitive functioning."

I am looking forward to a rich relationship, as I will soon get to listen to a 5 part series with Gene Cohen, MD, PhD. Dr. Cohen is the principal investigator of the first national, longitudinal research study to focus exclusively on the positive impact of creative activities on aging in an NEA funded grant. Read about the preliminary findings.

No Krumper Is Better than Any Other

These are the words of Roxbury, MA krumper, Russell Ferguson, one of the 18 finalists on So You Think You Can Dance Fox tv show. KRUMP is an acromyn for "kingdom radically uplifting mighty praise". According to the November 3, 2009 Boston Herald, "Ferguson said when he krumps, he feels God moving through him." Never having krumped, I wouldn't know, but I certainly feel that way when I dance. Maybe we have a dance movement therapist in the making here? All I know is that of my group of about 20 who have our own personal pool, quite a few have voted Russell in the top 4, and several for the man to take it all.

How To Enhance And Preserve Brain Power As We Age

According to an August 15, 2009 article in Medical News Today, intellectually stimulating pursuits, social engagement, and especially physical exercise may preserve or enhance cognitive functioning. Such pursuits as reading and walking distances may help. In the study cited, the most active women had a 30 percent reduced risk of cognitive decline. "Social engagement and maintaining a positive attitude are also powerful tools in deterring the arrival of dementia. Individuals who are optimistic, agreeable, open to experience, conscientious, positively motivated and goal-directed are more likely to experience successful aging."

Dance movement therapy groups for elders provide physical and social stimulation, as well as often being a whole lot of fun. Read more about dance movement therapy for the older adult and for people with Alzheimer's disease according to the ADTA (American Dance Therapy Association).

What is that? A brief reminder to be compassionate.

This is a beautiful 4 minute videotaped screenplay, well worth watching about being asked the same question repeatedly. I discovered it from my daily online newsletter, which you can subscribe to at Mark Warner's Alzheimer's Daily News.

A Warrior’s Return: Integrative Therapeutic Approaches to Support Transition from Battlefield to Community

Juliet Bruce reports that there will be a ground-breaking conference which the New York Open Center is hosting on Sunday, November 8 from 10 to 5:30 on holistic modalities for caregivers of vets with PTSD, depression, and traumatic brain injury. This includes psychotherapists, creative arts therapists, pastoral care professionals, holistic healers, nurse practitioners -- and anyone who wants to be part of the critical effort to help our vets make the difficult journey home from war. The event will be held at the new Open Center, 22 E. 30th St. between Fifth and Madison Aves.
 
The presentations are tough-minded, well thought out and carefully coordinated. They're dynamic in the insights they offer about the painful reality of what happens to body, mind, and spirit in war, when a depressed or traumatized person tries to resume a normal life after combat, and the impact of their deployment on spouses and children. The presentations are inspiring, as well, in the fresh, research-backed holistic approaches they offer. We expect some fascinating dialogue among practitioners across the military, civilian, and holistic spectrum.
 
A description of topics to be discussed can be found at http: http://blogs.opencenter.org/ocblog, or alternatively. go to www.opencenter.org and click on the blog icon.
 

Slovak Dance Movement Therapy Association International Conference

This conference is dedicated to Rudolf Laban to be held in Bratislava November 27-29 on the 130th anniversary of the birth of Rudolf Laban,  organized in conjunction with the Slovak Dance Movement Therapy Association.

 

Laban's system of dance notation, now known as Labanotation, is the basis of one of the forms of movement observation which serve as the basis for dance movement therapy. The other movement observation system which is also used as the basis for observations by dance movement therapists is KMP, or Kestenberg Movement Profile. KMP is "a complex instrument for describing, assessing and interpreting nonverbal behavior" evolved from psychoanalysist Dr.Judith Kestenberg's study of Laban's movement analysis and subsequent research over 30 years.