Ideokinesis has a great influence and impact on the language on learning and teaching dance. Dancers and founders during the 1970s to 1990s include: Irene Dowd, Andre Bernard, John Rolland, Nancy Topf were dance and movement education specialists who integrated Ideokinesis into dance training, expanding knowledge of posture and movement efficiency in technique and performance. Other practitioners include Donna Krasnow and Eric Frankin (still living).
Among the somatic practices, Ideokinesis is most substantiated by science. Decades of sports psychology research have shown that visualizing an explicit goal of an action readily coordinates the neuromuscular details of the movement. This could be muscular recruitment, sequencing and timing and force requirements. The benefit of physical and mental practice can lead to an improvement in motor performance and strength than doing either one of it alone. Brain imaging technology reveals that practicing a motor imaged utilizes the same region of the brain in the actual physical execution of the motor movement. The advantage of visualization is that it links and the mind and the body, programming with the right intention action without causing strain or stress on the physical body.
Julie Grinfield (2006), a dance student mentions, ‘the tacit nature of Ideokinesis means that mental and physical energy can be used to train the particular skill, like learning a phrase of choreography, instead of on postural alignment.’ She comments that a dancer can more easily perform a pirouette if she imagines herself as a spinning top rather than think ‘neck up, shoulders back, ribcage down, arms out, back wide, pelvis forward, and toe to knee.”
Definition of Ideokinesis
Irene Dowd (2003) defines Ideokinesis as ‘an approach in which the cerebral cortex (conscious part of the brain) initiates new patterns of muscle activity in order to re-tune skeletal joint position and motion. The person visualizes a vector that moves from one specific point in the body to or through another point in the body or surrounding space. The timing, force, speed, etc. of that vector's motion are all specified explicitly or implicitly. If the line moves from one specific point to another point it may either lengthen (to decrease tension and/or increase length of muscles) or shorten (to increase tension and/or decrease length of muscles.)’
Ideokinesis is always task and goal oriented. Therefore, it can be utilized in the absence of visible skeletal movement in order to change postural patterns, balance elements or other stabilizing patterns of muscle action. It can be utilized simultaneously with visible skeletal movement in order to fine-tune movement performance.
References:
Batson, G. (2009) Somatic Studies and dance. International Association of Dance Medicine and Science. Available at: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iadms.org/resource/resmgr/resource_papers/somatic_studies.pdf [Accessed 23 January 2015].
Matt, P. (2014) Introduction to Ideokinesis. Available at: www.ideokinesis.com [Accessed 15 January 2015].
Matt, P. (2014) Dance Generation Irene Dows. Available at: http://www.ideokinesis.com/dancegen/dowd/dowd.htm [Accessed 15 January 2015].
Among the somatic practices, Ideokinesis is most substantiated by science. Decades of sports psychology research have shown that visualizing an explicit goal of an action readily coordinates the neuromuscular details of the movement. This could be muscular recruitment, sequencing and timing and force requirements. The benefit of physical and mental practice can lead to an improvement in motor performance and strength than doing either one of it alone. Brain imaging technology reveals that practicing a motor imaged utilizes the same region of the brain in the actual physical execution of the motor movement. The advantage of visualization is that it links and the mind and the body, programming with the right intention action without causing strain or stress on the physical body.
Julie Grinfield (2006), a dance student mentions, ‘the tacit nature of Ideokinesis means that mental and physical energy can be used to train the particular skill, like learning a phrase of choreography, instead of on postural alignment.’ She comments that a dancer can more easily perform a pirouette if she imagines herself as a spinning top rather than think ‘neck up, shoulders back, ribcage down, arms out, back wide, pelvis forward, and toe to knee.”
Definition of Ideokinesis
Irene Dowd (2003) defines Ideokinesis as ‘an approach in which the cerebral cortex (conscious part of the brain) initiates new patterns of muscle activity in order to re-tune skeletal joint position and motion. The person visualizes a vector that moves from one specific point in the body to or through another point in the body or surrounding space. The timing, force, speed, etc. of that vector's motion are all specified explicitly or implicitly. If the line moves from one specific point to another point it may either lengthen (to decrease tension and/or increase length of muscles) or shorten (to increase tension and/or decrease length of muscles.)’
Ideokinesis is always task and goal oriented. Therefore, it can be utilized in the absence of visible skeletal movement in order to change postural patterns, balance elements or other stabilizing patterns of muscle action. It can be utilized simultaneously with visible skeletal movement in order to fine-tune movement performance.
References:
Batson, G. (2009) Somatic Studies and dance. International Association of Dance Medicine and Science. Available at: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iadms.org/resource/resmgr/resource_papers/somatic_studies.pdf [Accessed 23 January 2015].
Matt, P. (2014) Introduction to Ideokinesis. Available at: www.ideokinesis.com [Accessed 15 January 2015].
Matt, P. (2014) Dance Generation Irene Dows. Available at: http://www.ideokinesis.com/dancegen/dowd/dowd.htm [Accessed 15 January 2015].