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Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy: An International Journal for Theory, Research and Practice
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The Dance of Discovery: Research and Innovation in Dance/Movement Therapy

Hilda Wengrower
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University of Barcelona and University of Haifa Published online: 22 Sep 2010.

To cite this article: Hilda Wengrower (2010) The Dance of Discovery: Research and Innovation in Dance/Movement Therapy, Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy: An International Journal for Theory, Research and Practice, 5:2, 203-205 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2010.496223

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Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy Vol. 5, No. 2, August 2010, 203205

CONFERENCE REVIEWS The Dance of Discovery: Research and Innovation in Dance/Movement Therapy, 44th Annual Conference of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA), October 811, 2009, Portland, Oregon, USA. Last year I participated in the Annual Conference of the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) for the second time. For a dance movement therapist, it is an exciting, moving and learning experience. Although it is a professional meeting of a national organisation, it always attracts colleagues from around the world. DMT has been developing for decades, yet it is still a young profession compared to others in the field of mental health and has a small representation in institutions. To participate in a conference which gathers many colleagues for the purpose of learning strengthens professional identity. In October 2009 there were approximately 300 dance therapists, including those coming from Argentina, Europe, Far East, Middle East and New Zealand. A minority of psychotherapists and individuals with different connections to dance also participated. I shall first present the structure of the conference and then describe it in more detail. There was a day of pre-conference intensive seminars, followed by a site-specific performance, an early dinner, the official welcoming speeches and a local dance company performance, the Portlands Weidman Chamber Dancers. This group reconstructs the works of Charles Weidman (19011975), an American modern dance pioneer, professional partner to the dancer Doris Humphrey. The subject matters of the intensive seminars were: embodiment in practice and in decision making; collective identities such as cultural, gender, national, etc. and their impact on the life and practice of the therapist; concepts of neurobiology in practice and supervision; encouraging creativity and innovation; and an introductory DMT workshop aimed at colleagues from other professions. I participated in the seminar led by Meg Chang, called: Thinking globally, Seeing locally: Intercultural Dance/Movement Therapy. It considered the group within the workshop as an action research setting and there was an integration of different levels of knowledge. Non-verbal expression and reflection, theorising and sharing personal and professional experiences enabled the participants to learn from each other, in the hope of coming to comprehensive understandings. I think we achieved this. The Site-Specific Performance led by Marylee Hardenbergh has been established as a tradition in these conferences. It is supported by local
ISSN 17432979 print/ISSN 17432987 online 2010 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/17432979.2010.496223 http://www.informaworld.com

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Conference Reviews

authorities or foundations and is created during one of the above mentioned intensive seminars with the addition of local inhabitants. This performance took dance, movement, music and colour to the Pioneer Square of Portland and included public involvement in the dance. It is a very appealing and probably unusual form of expanding awareness of dance movement therapy in the community. Another sign of the ADTAs efforts to stay close to our roots in dance was the performance by the Weidman Chamber Dancers. This included people of different ages, making a clear statement that people may dance along the life span. During Friday and Saturday there were workshops, poster sessions, a keynote speaker presentation, an International Panel, the Marian Chace Foundation lecture, and Sunday finished the conference with a closing movement choir. As it is the annual conference of the ADTA, it includes specific slots of time to deal with organisational issues. On Friday morning, a breakfast meeting celebrated achieving the status of credentialing through national board certification. In the USA this means an improvement compared to the former credentialing through registry. The new credentials R-DMT (Registered dance/movement therapist) and BC-DMT (Board certified dance/movement therapist) more accurately represents the level of expertise the credentialed dmts have.1 ADTA also has several awards for its members. Awards include excellence in education and teaching, exceptional service and leader of tomorrow. I think it is a very commendable tradition to recognise and honour the contributions and achievements of people at different stages in their career. It strengthens motivation and commitment. A clear focus of this conference was to bring forward the issue of research through seminars, poster sessions and an afternoon of different roundtable discussions, each with a facilitator or expert in a particular aspect of research available to listen to questions and discussions on the subject. The keynote lecture was given by Dr. Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, a former dancer and an active philosopher and author, who presented different reasons for the therapeutic essence of movement. Her involvement in the recognition of dance and movement through scholarly work is very much appreciated. The lecture given by Dr. Janet Adler under the auspices of the Marian Chace Foundation was particularly moving and inspiring. The talk addressed living and dying (as part of the life) consciously. As dance movement therapists and body therapists, we have the theoretical and practical knowledge of what it means to live consciously. Probably Dr. Adlers presentation was the highest expression of how the personal, the private and the professional aspects enrich one another. Her lecture touched very deeply the audience. A few sessions in the conference were panel discussions. Some of them elaborated on the connection between past and present: the legacy of Trudy Schoop; another on how the work of the pioneers is still relevant and continues to be implemented in various settings such as institutions or in private practice; and another dealt with innovations based on the work of Blanche Evan. There was a panel discussion that presented different applications of Laban Movement Analysis. It gathered together professionals that use Labans methods and teaching in motherinfant therapy, training, supervising teachers

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in schools and in research. The two hours of time allotted to this subject with five knowledgeable speakers was very short and left me interested but a little frustrated as well. Some of the workshops in the conference included: the presentation of a rich and structured program of DMT for children in schools by Rena Kornblum who has published a book about her work; the therapists self care; work with sexually abused toddlers; advocacy in the 21st Century; and using the Kestenberg Movement Profile tool to discover ones own movement patterns. Amber Grays workshop on her work with traumatised policemen and children in Haiti, incorporating voodoo ritual, was also interesting. Through videotaped material and verbal presentation she explained how she integrates principles of voodoo ritual in her work, thus building upon the ancient connections between ritual and healing and contemporary research on trauma and its treatment. An international panel, that gathered together colleagues from Europe, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Haiti, Latin America and Israel, presented their innovative projects and work with special populations. Colleagues shared part of their experiences working with survivors of an earthquake in Sichuan-China, survivors of torture in Argentina, and the use of dance/movement therapy knowledge for diagnosis as well as for therapy in a unit for brain injured patients. Another panellist presented the integration of elements of Aikido and principles of wrestling in order to give an answer to childrens need of self assertion and aggression not only as a reactive behaviour but as a developmental one. A colleague from Germany spoke about the creation of the European Dance Movement Therapy Association. The scope of a review does not permit much detail about this. More information about the international panel and the poster sessions can be read in the American Journal of Dance Therapy, 2010, 32 (1). The conference finished, as always, with a festive dinner and dance to live music and a movement choir that summarises the experiences of the last three days and honours the people that received new credentials as registered dance/ movement therapists or fully credentialed dance/movement therapists. To summarise, it was a stimulating experience that connected past, present and future, and art and science in different aspects of social human life. Hilda Wengrower University of Barcelona and University of Haifa hildasw@gmail.com

Note
1. I would like to render thanks to Susan Kleinman, former ADTA Listserve respondent, for her explanation on this point.