Editorial Vol. 16
Author/s:
In this volume
2019 Vol. 16 Nos. 1-2
An investigation into the Shadow Dance used in Physical Storytelling
Author/s: E. Connor Kelly, Steve Harvey
A review of the background development and use of the Shadow Dance score from Physical Storytelling is presented in this article. Physical Storytelling is a practice that has evolved from contemporary dance improvisation as well as dance and drama therapy practices which incorporate the separation of a verbal narrative and an improvised performance of that narrative so that a teller and audience can observe and develop an expanded understanding of material using the process of witnessing dance generated metaphor. This process has been used in therapy, clinical supervision, arts-based inquiries, and to integrate learning experiences from training, workshops and professional conferences using an embodied format. Several improvisational scores or general guidelines have emerged that facilitate the joining of dance and narrative. The Shadow Dance is one of these scores. A review of how Physical Storytelling emerged from experimental dance and drama practices such as Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, and Dynamic Family Play as well as how the Shadow Dance can be used, will be presented.
Key Words: Dance movement therapy; drama therapy; creative arts therapy; Physical Storytelling; arts- based inquiry; modern ritual
The content on this page is accessible to DTAA members by logging into the website.
Working notes on two chapters in theoretical concerns which support a primary clinical practice in dance therapy
Author/s: Marcia B. Leventhal
The content of the following two items will form the basis of two chapters in a book currently being written by Dr Leventhal. The first about The Healing Model of Therapeutic Dance has been developed from an introductory lecture for dance therapy training used by Dr Leventhal both close to home and overseas and most recently in China. The second is similarly being prepared from her lecture notes on The integration of two paradigms: the Newtonian and the Quantum. They both form the basis of models and concepts used by Dr Leventhal in her work and are being shaped towards being chapters. As such, we’re very privileged to be able to read them at this stage and take advantage of the content in our work. The first chapter in the making is about the structure of the theoretical treatment model of healing dance, which highlights the importance of having a structure to work from in the first instance. It is needed as a foundation for the development of methods and techniques with which to work, as well as and most importantly, a basis from which measures can be taken. This is followed by another chapter in the making which involves the juxtaposition of the Newtonian and Quantum worlds. Dr Leventhal uses both in her work, leading her clients towards finding ways of becoming more personally involved in dance movement and at a level deep enough to find personal themes that can lead them into journeys that can be indescribable. As our access to these two chapters is really privileged, it is requested that written permission is sort prior to copying, translating or quoting.
Keywords: Dance movement therapy; theoretical models; Healing Model; Newtonian and Quantum
The content on this page is accessible to DTAA members by logging into the website.
Dance therapy and the space in between: the power of bodily interrelatedness
Author/s: Elizabeth Mackenzie
A conversation with Penelope Best in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Garden
A recorded conversation between two dance therapists Penny Best and Elizabeth Mackenzie in Melbourne Australia in late 2018 is transcribed and presented. As the conversation unfolds, it reveals core elements of Penny’s perspectives based upon years of her practice as clinician, trainer and supervisor and now as a live artist. Core elements are highlighted such as: the essential nature and art of dance as a therapeutic relational factor; the importance of unpacking and exploring assumptions in shared language; the necessity of stimulating and maintaining the dance therapist’s connection to bodily and aesthetic dance practices and the challenges presented by dominant paradigms within current research and writing. Penny aims to balance the often accepted dichotomy of scientific vs. artistic research and offers a new way of bringing alive the moment to moment interactions within supervision by incorporating sounding as a method of exploration thereby staying close to the rhythmic, felt senses. Authentic Movement supports her focus on the relevance of minute details to interactive practices.
Keywords: Dance; dance therapy; artistic value; body as instrument; space in-between; research
The content on this page is accessible to DTAA members by logging into the website.
Collaboration
Author/s: Elizabeth Loughlin
Collaboration of dance movement therapy with other disciplines can lead to a widened visibility of the dance movement therapy methods and outcomes. The article describes benefits of collaboration from the shared professional processes and perspectives. It also raises the likelihood of client/patient ability to integrate two differing psychological and dance movement therapeutic approaches citing a researched mother- infant mental health program.
Key words: Collaboration; mother-infant; dance movement therapy; mental health setting
The content on this page is accessible to DTAA members by logging into the website.
From the development of an iPad app assessment framework to the investigation of transferability of dance therapy
Author/s: Jacquelyn Jung-Hsu Wan
This report is about the recipient of the 2016 Hanny Exiner Memorial Foundation grant Jacquelyn Jung-Hsu Wan’s research project in Auckland, New Zealand. Her interest in this project began in 2015 when she attended a DTAA conference in Melbourne where Dr Kim Dunphy and Sue Mullane presented the MARA app. This idea of an app made Jacquelyn think about the lack of standardized assessment tools in the industry. Jacquelyn volunteered with Kim when she brought the app trial to New Zealand and began engaging with her own research. Jacquelyn worked alongside Dr Kim Dunphy in developing a framework for the app, however their discussions and a change in role, led Jacquelyn down another new research path – the investigation of transferability in dance therapy. Jacquelyn became a speaker at conferences presenting ideas to stimulate discussion amongst creative art and dance movement therapists. The focus being “How could we support clients better to transfer the changes they make into their lives?”
Key words: research; transferability; New Zealand; dance movement therapy; curiosity; conference
The content on this page is accessible to DTAA members by logging into the website.
Reflections of jewels extracted from “Dancing in Space, Dancing in Community”
Author/s: Tricia Mary Lee
The author reflects on, what was to her, a memorable experience. This was attending a two-day workshop led by Marylee Hardenbergh, who is renowned for her development of the Global Water Dances and other site-specific dances. The ‘jewels’ of this workshop and site-specific performance it led to, at Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent, are re-experienced by her, when recently participating in, organizing and leading a Global Water Dance event, close to her home in West Australia. These dances now take place worldwide on the same date in June each year, involving very many countries. Through the authors words, her reflections and quotes used from Marylee Hardenbergh, the occasion in Melbourne comes alive again for her and we are able to appreciate the value and benefits of ‘dancing in the community’ and of course, the framework of Space Harmony from which this is developed.
Key words: Space Harmony; dance; community; site-specific; movement choirs
Book Review: The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Wellbeing
Author/s:
Introduction to Dance Movement Therapy at Ikon Institute, Australia
Author/s:
Planning DMT program for clients with intellectual disability
Author/s: Kim Dunphy, Tessa Hearnes
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia offers new opportunities for funding of dance movement therapy (DMT) programs for people with disability. The NDIS’ emphasis on participant choice and focus on outcomes propels new directions in service provision, with agencies impelled to consider individuals’ preferences and report on progress with more rigour than they may have brought before. This change provides a challenge for dance movement therapists, as many practitioners have limited experience of working in a specifically outcomes-focussed way. This article addresses these issues by documenting the process of planning, goal setting, assessment and reporting in a DMT program for clients with intellectual disability. This process considers three different sets of outcome considerations: NDIS funding requirements; outcomes currently identified in participants’ individualised program planning; and objectives of a DMT program. In so doing, the article articulates the relationship between NDIS funding requirements and the potential offering of DMT. It also provides DM therapists a model for how they might clarify the objectives of their own programs to make them NDIS-compatible and enable reporting of relevant outcomes to stakeholders.
Key words: dance movement therapy, intellectual disability, National Disability Insurance Scheme, planning, outcomes.
The content on this page is accessible to DTAA members by logging into the website.
Reflection: Liljan Espenak’s Psychomotor Therapy System
Author/s: Nana Koch