The class can begin with a restful meditative time of self-care to awaken kinaesthetic, proprioceptive and interoceptive awareness and to tune into sensing. Sensing provides a method for restructuring movement outcomes. It is a time for the dancer to tape into their bodies to listen and sense their bodies.
The exercises during class can provide a point of reference for students to focus more on the movement quality and less on the dance combination. The principles of somatics can greatly influence the way, and quality of the movement and the teacher can draw links from the exercises to dance combinations.
The dance combination once familiarized offers the opportunity for students to take ownership of learning and to acquire movement execution procedures’ (Forthin, Long and Lord 2002:163). This is a form of self-directed learning, where the dance students have the opportunity to discover, embody new ways of moving employing somatic principles. In the use Body-Mind Centering principles, the student can be asked to perform the movement combination with a focus on each fluid system to discover through their sensing how the movements feel and change.
Mary Adams states ‘Fluidity heightens our movements in our organism that increase communication with our internal and external environment.’ (Abrams 2007). The benefit of focusing on fluid allows dancers to create change, and these changes are needed to grow one’s dance practice or their students’. This allows the student to experience the initiation or sensation of movement from moving from another body system or area that was never experienced before. This can in turn affect how that individual moves, moves in relation to others, in contact with other body and to its environment.
Advantages of including somatic exercise into dance class
· Connection within and to the body
· Confidence. The boost in confidence is due to the non-judgmental nature of the somatic work
· Enjoyment
· Relaxation
· Creativity
· Development of critical understanding
· Implications for the development of dance technique skills
· Clear development of embodied practice
· The changing of old movement patterns to new ones during movement exploration
· Embodied Consciousness give way to greater freedom and range of movement, movement styles and qualities
· The group can find more connection, greater support and a sense of community within one another
From evidence the benefits in somatic in dance is tremendous and can produce astounding impact and effect the daily lives of the student. In a class setting, Nelson (2009) states that, ‘The somatic exercises are great for getting to build a sense of community. The touch aspect builds a lot of confidence and intimacy within the group- it breaks down boundaries’.
This is significantly true as during the first few sessions of my undergraduate dance class; we participated in some sensing and trust exercises that positively changed the slightly awkward atmosphere to a friendly and comfortable one. The students became more comfortable with one another after a series of leading and guiding exercises involving touch. The relaxing aspect of somatics brought closeness and interaction within the group of strangers.
Including somatic practices within a dance technique class allows the students more tools to build a healthy, embodied practice. Students became more sensitive, aware and embodied, feels empower and enjoy a greater sense of well-being in their dancing. They start to appreciate tools for movement initiation, exhibit new variety in movement patterns and quality and discover greater creativity and autonomy within their dance practice. Most importantly, it gives a greater sense of critical understanding and allows dancers to question the traditional and harmful movement patterns and behaviour. It provides them a platform to change and execute movements correctly, causing less strain on their bodies, further extending their careers.
Thomas Hanna found that physiology attempts to examine the body in an objective, material term. However, somatic perspectives focusing on subjective experience, framing mind and body as interrelated aspects of the self. (1991:341). Both are essential aspects in the discovering of the self.
The benefits of somatic practices in dance are drawn towards the qualitative nature of the dancer’s kinaesthetic experience. Somatic practices like Aikido, Body-Mind Centering, and Feldenkrais Method heightens the dancer’s sensitivity and awareness when he moves. I will discuss these somatic approaches in greater detail further on.
References:
Edinborough, C. (2012) Somatic sensibilities: Exploring the dialectical body in dance. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 4 (2) 257-266. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=89595c50-e1fd-457e-a4c4-df4ef58d3f05%40sessionmgr115&hid=128 [Accessed 25 January 2015].
Weber, R. (2009) Integrating semi-structured somatic practices and contemporary dance technique training. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 1 (2) 237-254. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=89595c50-e1fd-457e-a4c4-df4ef58d3f05%40sessionmgr115&vid=6&hid=128 [Accessed 28 January 2015].
The exercises during class can provide a point of reference for students to focus more on the movement quality and less on the dance combination. The principles of somatics can greatly influence the way, and quality of the movement and the teacher can draw links from the exercises to dance combinations.
The dance combination once familiarized offers the opportunity for students to take ownership of learning and to acquire movement execution procedures’ (Forthin, Long and Lord 2002:163). This is a form of self-directed learning, where the dance students have the opportunity to discover, embody new ways of moving employing somatic principles. In the use Body-Mind Centering principles, the student can be asked to perform the movement combination with a focus on each fluid system to discover through their sensing how the movements feel and change.
Mary Adams states ‘Fluidity heightens our movements in our organism that increase communication with our internal and external environment.’ (Abrams 2007). The benefit of focusing on fluid allows dancers to create change, and these changes are needed to grow one’s dance practice or their students’. This allows the student to experience the initiation or sensation of movement from moving from another body system or area that was never experienced before. This can in turn affect how that individual moves, moves in relation to others, in contact with other body and to its environment.
Advantages of including somatic exercise into dance class
· Connection within and to the body
· Confidence. The boost in confidence is due to the non-judgmental nature of the somatic work
· Enjoyment
· Relaxation
· Creativity
· Development of critical understanding
· Implications for the development of dance technique skills
· Clear development of embodied practice
· The changing of old movement patterns to new ones during movement exploration
· Embodied Consciousness give way to greater freedom and range of movement, movement styles and qualities
· The group can find more connection, greater support and a sense of community within one another
From evidence the benefits in somatic in dance is tremendous and can produce astounding impact and effect the daily lives of the student. In a class setting, Nelson (2009) states that, ‘The somatic exercises are great for getting to build a sense of community. The touch aspect builds a lot of confidence and intimacy within the group- it breaks down boundaries’.
This is significantly true as during the first few sessions of my undergraduate dance class; we participated in some sensing and trust exercises that positively changed the slightly awkward atmosphere to a friendly and comfortable one. The students became more comfortable with one another after a series of leading and guiding exercises involving touch. The relaxing aspect of somatics brought closeness and interaction within the group of strangers.
Including somatic practices within a dance technique class allows the students more tools to build a healthy, embodied practice. Students became more sensitive, aware and embodied, feels empower and enjoy a greater sense of well-being in their dancing. They start to appreciate tools for movement initiation, exhibit new variety in movement patterns and quality and discover greater creativity and autonomy within their dance practice. Most importantly, it gives a greater sense of critical understanding and allows dancers to question the traditional and harmful movement patterns and behaviour. It provides them a platform to change and execute movements correctly, causing less strain on their bodies, further extending their careers.
Thomas Hanna found that physiology attempts to examine the body in an objective, material term. However, somatic perspectives focusing on subjective experience, framing mind and body as interrelated aspects of the self. (1991:341). Both are essential aspects in the discovering of the self.
The benefits of somatic practices in dance are drawn towards the qualitative nature of the dancer’s kinaesthetic experience. Somatic practices like Aikido, Body-Mind Centering, and Feldenkrais Method heightens the dancer’s sensitivity and awareness when he moves. I will discuss these somatic approaches in greater detail further on.
References:
Edinborough, C. (2012) Somatic sensibilities: Exploring the dialectical body in dance. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 4 (2) 257-266. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=89595c50-e1fd-457e-a4c4-df4ef58d3f05%40sessionmgr115&hid=128 [Accessed 25 January 2015].
Weber, R. (2009) Integrating semi-structured somatic practices and contemporary dance technique training. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 1 (2) 237-254. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=89595c50-e1fd-457e-a4c4-df4ef58d3f05%40sessionmgr115&vid=6&hid=128 [Accessed 28 January 2015].