Musings of a Dance/Movement Therapist

Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular

I went to see what I found to be a wonderfully inspiring performance last night of Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular. I wasn't sure that I would like it, since I don't like rap, but I do love breakdancing. I love the idea of kids dancing in the streets, and bringing that kind of raw energy into the theatre is very exciting. My favorite was Kenny Muhammed, also known as "The Human Orchestra". At first, it seemed to be more "music" than dance, but as he really got into what he was doing, it was an amazing dance about creating rhythmic sound through the involvement of his own body. It was highly original, and the amount of energy he invested in his performance was extraordinary. The result was my becoming energized, and wondering how to bring something of this energy into my work with the elderly! I'll let you know if I figure out how to do that.

Check him out for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55C0RirU3yA

I also loved "Locking Q", otherwise known as Kumiko Naito. Her popping was pretty spectacular and she has incredibly precise timing.

From the program, Val Brochard, the director of production said "Their love for this art form is contagious and I promise you that BREAK! will leave you charged up with tons of positive energy!" It definitely did that.

Yoga with Kids and the Octaband

Thank you, Deb Goldman, for the wonderful photos I got to take of your class doing yoga with kids, and using the Octaband. The kids found the octaband helpful with the lotus pose and the tree pose. Elijah wanted to try the Octaband with the 5 pointed star pose, but they didn't have a chance to try that one yet. Here are some pics.

Julia Priest Of Music Together Newton has this to say:

Julia Priest is   Director of     Music Together of Newton , an early-childhood music education program based in Newton, Massachusetts. A graduate of Yale, Boston University and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute of Health Professions, Priest specializes in using eurhythmics as well as the Alexander Technique to teach music and performance skills to children. She participates in musical activities in churches and synagogues, and teaches music at elementary and preschools, in and around Boston.

Julia has just begun using the octaband, and wrote to say: "Verrry successful today in preschools a capella with Pop Goes the Weasel. Seated, bouncing it on the A melody and swaying on the B melody; standing, revolving/skipping on the A melody and swaying again on B. Of course Pop! was tons of fun and eventually built into all jumping at once."

Thanks to Julia for her feedback and her ideas.

Thanks to Julia, Carol Mersky, Principal of Temple Emanuel Preschool, the children and parents of this preschool class for their willingness to have pictures taken.

I Thought that Only Humans Dance

So you can imagine my surprise, when I watched this video this a.m. http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html. Check out the dancing Cockatoo.

Suzy Matheson Dance Therapist on Arts for Living

Tonight, Sunday, December 2nd at 8 p.m., Art of Living Gallery is airing a program about A.R.T.S. for People out of Dallas, Texas. Suzy Matheson of Movement Expressions is featured throughout the program, as well as other creative artists and arts therapists bringing the joy of self expression through the arts to different populations.

Click the following link for a brief look: http://www.artsforpeople.org/AboutARTS/InTheNews/TheArtofLivingGalleryEpisode117/tabid/854/Default.aspx
There is 1 image early on which shows Suzy using the octaband with kids which is fleeting but demonstrative of the great joy which the octaband brings to its users.

 

Wade Robson

Every day, I attempt to name the things that I am grateful for. Wade Robson's fabulous choreography and dancing is one of the things I am grateful for. I was just rewatching the video from his performance on Dancing with the Stars. You can see it at http://www.givememyremote.com/remote/wade-robson-on-dancing-with-the-stars-video/
for wade. I don't tire of watching that video. I don't know what it is about his choreography - maybe it's that it is quirky, and full of the unexpected. I am a (for a short while longer) 50 something y.o., and except for the big jumps, I can do that choreography. So, I'm practicing. Watching that video, and dancing parts of it put me in a great mood. And I'm trying to figure out how I can adapt it to the elderly.

Photos of Suzy Rossol Matheson Working with Children

This is an image of a mother and baby in one of Suzy's groups using the Octaband together.

Following are images from a children's group in which Suzy used the Octaband.

A Very Fun Dance Blog

Yesterday, I found a very fun blog about dance at http://greatdance.com/danceblog/archives/dance_bloggers/.

My favorite entries were 2 videos of dance, one of Dance Theater Workshop Blog.  The video shows footage of their large orange banner being carried through streets of Manhattan to reach new dance audiences and one of their flash performances. Brian Brooks Flash Performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hbb4fygyfk&eurl=http://greatdance.com/danceblog/archives/dance_bloggers/. It was pretty amazing to see this man dancing on the streets of New York, and hardly anyone paying attention to him.

The other video which I loved watching was the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, www.rhythmpursuits.com. The partner dancing was so much fun, it made me want to pull my husband out of bed, and start dancing.

More Dance with the Elderly

In response to my posting, A Glimpse at a Dance Therapy Group with the Elderly with Dementia, dance/movement therapist Heather Hill e-mailed me the url for Phew Arts Company. While not a dance therapist, Jasmine Pasch is a professional dancer, teacher and counselor, who brings a wonderful  sensitivity to her teaching and choreography, much of which is with differently abled people.  Check out her website at  http://www.phewartscompany.co.uk/index.html for a lovely perspective on dance, including dance with the elderly. You'll also find some of Heather Hill's wonderful writing about d/mt with the elderly.

Dance as Ritual

I just found another blog about musings, this one about drumming, but it is equally true of dancing. At
http://www.tahya.com/musings.html, Tahya offers her thoughts and others about drum and dance as ritual. Here is an excerpt I particularly liked:

"As We Drum, We Are One
by Feeny Lipscomb

Dreams are the way the unconscious
speaks to the conscious mind.
Ritual is the way the conscious mind speaks back.
In fact, many indigenous cultures believe
there is a deep,
pre-verbal part of us that understands only
the language of ritual."

Modern society's loss of its rituals has caused psychic fragmentation--literally, the state of being disconnected from our deeper selves.

The result is a sort of soul starvation--a deep, non-specific hunger which we've tried desperately (and unsuccessfully) to feed with food, drugs, sex, alcohol, shopping, gambling, work. Many healers believe that this psychic fragmentation is at the root of stress.

"The drum is emerging as the transformational tool of our time."