DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY WITH MUSIC THERAPY STUDENTS

Opening Circle 
Moving Together 
I had the wonderful pleasure of talking and leading a workshop on Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) for my friend Ming Ming, who directs a Music Therapy program in Beijing. (She was in my class at Augsburg, on a grant to study in the US last year, and it is fun to be able to visit her and see a bit of her personal and professional life.)  The class was fun, 22 students and Music Therapy graduates, who gathered in the school’s basement dance space.  The students were at first shy, and a bit reluctant, and I wasn’t sure what would happen. But soon, (and very easily) they started to move more freely, expressively and became playfully creative.  It was so much fun, and Ming Ming shared afterwards that she was also pleased and surprised at how much her students opened up and relaxed.

Working with Chinese students is somewhat of a cultural challenge for me. While in the US, the therapeutic focus on DMT is on finding ways to help people develop relationships with others through their bodies and movement. However, my observation is that moving together in unison is already a significant aspect of growing up in China. School children run in unison in their school playgrounds, and young to elderly adults dance to music in every park we have seen. The habit of moving rhythmically with others, is part of the culture. There are also lots of ‘sayings’ about the danger of sticking out (nails being hammered down, flowers heads being cut or big fish being the ones that get caught).  I wonder what benefits DMT might have for the people here? 

Mirror Exercise as a Group
Consequently, the workshop focused on individual expression, leading others in movement and finding ways to move that are unique to each person. The students did this wonderfully during the workshop, although I suspect that my being foreign gave them permission to act in ‘culturally inappropriate’ ways. However, they also enjoyed participating, as you may sense in the photo of our "closing circle" as we drew our time together to a close.



Closing Circle


I am looking forward (well I am also a bit nervous) for the teaching I will be doing in the next few days.  Tomorrow, I meet with people at a local hospital to talk about and then lead a group of patients in a DMT session. Following that, I will teach a 2-day workshop on intimacy. For both, I feel very familiar and comfortable about what I would do in the US, but I am extremely curious about what is relevant in China.


Giving and Recieving Support

One more photo (from Bruce, our impromptu event photographer): we ended the closing circle by leaning back, far enough we would each have usually fallen.  But we held each other, keeping all safe, and letting people feel how it is to do what seems beyond our ordinary ability when we trust and care for one another.  We learn from our bodies.

 More details to follow...but right now it's time to go explore a bit more.  Thanks for reading!

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