Back to Basics: The Aesthetic, Poetic, and Contemplative Movements’ Attributes That Heal in Dance Movement Therapy

Rainbow T. H. Ho

DANCE AND MOVEMENT IN DANCE MOVEMENT THERAPY

Dance Movement Therapy uses dance movements in a therapeutic context to achieve an integration of mind, body, and spirit that can enhance the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of a person (ADTA, 2019) or facilitate the acquisition of new inspirations or new perspectives that can broaden an individual’s habitual thinking pattern or behaviors (Wengrower, 2016). During the process, dance movement is the most basic medium that helps foster a therapeutic relationship as well as promote potential changes. If, however, the dance/movement is used in a projective way or as a stand-alone movement—for example, if the therapist asks the participant to make a gesture or a movement for whatever reason and all other processes are conducted in the traditional verbal therapeutic approach with or without relating to the movement presented—can this still be considered DMT? In fact, using creative arts in counseling, social work, and the psychotherapeutic context has become more and more popular (Gladding, 2011). While we have to admit that psychotherapy skills and counseling techniques do help, my questions are how should we use dance/movement to impact the healing process more, and what qualities or attributes of dance/movement should DMT possess to ensure effective healing?

DANCE MOVEMENT ACROSS CULTURES AND HISTORY IN HEALING

Several authors have conducted reviews and summaries on how dancing has been used across time as a means for healing in different cultures. Among them, Stewart (2000) reviewed the history of using dancing as ritual and spiritual experiences around the world. Although the review started with a focus on how women have historically used their body movements to access sacred experiences, it also examined the whole world history of dancing as a healing method regardless of gender. Rueppel (2002) summarized what she referred to as the “inherent healing aspects of dancing” throughout the world, paying particular attention to the spiritual experiences that the dancers or the observers would gain. She described and explained how dancing has been used in different geographical regions and cultures for communicating with God, recreating myths, expressing the Divine, and in religious practices and worship that help to heal people. In particular, the Spiral Dance, Whirling Dervish, and Ran-Eu-Rhythm, and so on, and dance practices from Egypt, India, South Asia, and North America were presented as examples to show how dances were used to achieve the purposes of connecting with the spirit and getting transformative energy. She also described dances as a release of emotions that facilitates the improvement of mental conditions or specific diseases like cancer (Rueppel, 2002).

A dance performance can bring the audience to excitement, joy, or a new experience, and recreational dancing can be enjoyable for both the dancer and the observer. However, these experiences may not be termed as “healing.” Therefore, what are the qualities or attributes in dance movements that heal, and how have these attributes been used in DMT? Revisiting the major practices and characteristics of dancing in relation to their function and dancing’s involvement in the healing process in different cultures may help us to understand the common attributes of dancing that are cardinal to its therapeutic effects.

Dances in Africa

In most African cultures, an individual’s health and illness are closely linked to his/her spirit. The occurrences of physical and psychological illnesses are due to the breakdown of the equilibrium in the natural human connections in the spiritual world or the lack of connection with God and the Supreme Being (Monteiro & Wall, 2011). In traditional African cultures, spiritual and ritual practices which focus on realigning or reconnecting the individual with the social and spiritual worlds are used for healing (Sow, 1979). Dance movement is usually included in those spiritual and ritual practices. Vodoun (Vodon), a nexus of dance ceremonies related to the spirits, has been commonly practiced in different areas of Africa (LaMothe, 2001). As described by LaMothe, “In Vodoun, the dancing is a catalyst for healing with the community” (LaMothe, 2001).

Dances in Europe

The earliest dances in prehistoric Europe were used with spiritual or societal meaning (Ernst, 2011). “Dithyramb,” a song and a dance by a group of people to honor Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility in Ancient Greece (D’Angour, 2013), and the Spanish dance Danza de los Zancos (a stilt dance) (Armstrong, 1978) are two examples of these early dances. By the effort of a 17th-century German ballet master, Bernhard Wosien, the Sacred/Circle Dance, a dance form originally from traditional folk dance patterns, was developed into a more spiritual-like dance practice (Scott, 2017). The Sacred/Circle Dance was ver}' popular all over the United Kingdom and Western Europe and is still performed (Watts, n.d.). Folk dances and country dances were very popular during the 18th and 19th century, mainly for recreation and social purposes (Pate, 2017). The appearance of the Romantic Ballet after the 1700s, and later, the modern form of dancing, led to the development of interpretive dancing, where the dancers tried to convey their emotions through dance movements (Ernst, 2011).

Dances in North America

Dancing in North America is mainly from three origins: the Native American dances, dancing traditions carried from Europe by immigrants, and African American dances. While most Native American dances relate to religious rituals or celebrate hunts, harvests, and so on (Weiser, 2018), dances originating from Europe mainly served social and entertainment purposes. From 1774 to the 1850s, the “American Shaker” was developed as a dance form in the Christian context (LaMothe, 2001). Due to their historical roots from slave dancers, the African American dances, on the other hand, are more emotional and soulful (Meade, 2006).

From these three traditions came hybrid dance traditions and movements. For instance, tap dance was developed from African dance and Irish clog dancing (Meade, 2006). Modern dances, however, particularly those developed in the early 20th century, represent a rebellion from European classical dance in terms of techniques and started to focus more on emotional expressions (Kahlich, 2011).

Dances in South America

The early indigenous dances in this area were mainly performed in ritual festivals and were also incorporated into spiritual practices related to honoring the natural forces, animal spirits, and celebration of events (Cashion, 2017). Alternately, the dance traditions carried from some upper-class, European immigrants were more for social or entertainment purposes. The strong infusion of the African culture between the 16th and 19th centuries brought new developments in Latin American dances. Since then, dancing has become “a mechanism for escape from emotional stress” and a mean to “restore the emotional and physical well-being of the individual and community” (Cashion, 2017). For example, the Argentine Tango, which combined the characteristics of African candombe dances and the Spanish-Cuban habanera rhythm as well as the European dances such as waltz, polka, and mazurka, was popular in the working class districts in the 19th century. It was danced with close physical contact between partners and gradually became an expression of passion and desire (Marshall, 2017).

Dances in Asia

Dances in different geographic areas, such as East Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia, vary in styles and traditions; just like they do in other places of the world, in all areas of Asia dances play an important role in ritual and spiritual practices and frequently are part of celebrations of harvests or prayers to ancestors. The Japanese folk dance, the Bon Odori', the lion dance and dragon dance in China; the shamanic fan dance Buchaechum in Korea; the Unicorn dance in Vietnam; and the Perndet dance in Bali (Indonesia) and in Bhangra and Garba in India are only a few examples of the frequently performed dances during traditional festivals or spiritual/religious practices in the region (Crawford, n.d.). Dances in Asia also cany a strong relationship with different religious practices, particularly for the Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic religions as practiced in this region.

Dances in Australia and New Zealand

Dances of indigenous Australians and New Zealanders share purposes similar to those in other places of the world; they are for use in worship, rituals, religious or spiritual practices, ceremonies and harvests. The Haka, one of the famous traditional dances of the indigenous Maori people in New Zealand, is a celebratory dance but is also performed to represent the preparation for battle, worship, and is even danced at funerals (Kings, 2017). In Australia, traditional indigenous dances have been performed to represent “the reality of the Dreamtime” where the dancers imitate particular animals and play stories related to their society and the environment (Brock, 2015). Other dances have also been developed in Australia and New Zealand with strong influences from European folk dances, and later, modern dances; and there are also locally developed dances like the Melbourne Shuffle and New Vogue. These dances are more for performance, recreation, and social purposes (Eiss, 2013).

Movement Attributes that Heal Across Cultures and History

Across the continents and time, dances have served some common and important purposes, including being part of rituals, worship, and spiritual practices; documentation of events; celebrations of success and harvests; enjoyment and social bonding; and emotional expression. Dancing is also the moment that dancers, and sometimes also observers, experience the contentment of communicating with higher forces, a sense of transcendence, the excitement of moving, and the venting of emotions and feelings. When people dance, they are endowed with these experiences and healing may happen. The transformation and healing processes of dancing have particularly been emphasized in the Jewish culture, as it has been said that “the one who cannot dance cannot heal” (Maron, 2010). Indeed, in Hebrew, the word for dance (ma’cho’t) actually relates to the word for illness or affliction (machah’laH). According to Maron (2010), dancing brings people into a state of happiness that will dissolve the negative energy caused by illness. Also, the reverse is true, for when someone is happy, they will dance-“his heart lifted his feet” (Midrash B’reisheet Rabbah}. Even more, when one feels sad, the sadness will lead the person to dance. These all substantiate the innate power of healing in dance.

With a closer examination of the attributes of dance movements across cultures that lead to healing, some consistencies can be observed. Firstly, the aesthetic experiences of dancing and moving allow people a taste of enjoyment, satisfaction, and beauty. This quality can be found in all the dances that serve the entertaining, recreational, social, and even therapeutic purposes of dance. Secondly, the expressive power of movement enables the expression of feelings, emotions, and thoughts beyond language, or the poetic quality of dance. This can be observed in dances that are performed by people who are suffering or those who have emotions to convey, though this should be equally true for the expression of positive emotions. Thirdly, the spiritual or contemplative experience of movement leads to a sense of transcendence, an altered state of consciousness, or a metaphysical experience. This is more commonly found in dances performed for rituals, worship, religious, and spiritual practices.

In fact, the three movement attributes identified from the dances across different cultures and times contributing to healing align with some of the active factors pinpointed by Koch in arts therapies (Koch, 2017). Koch aimed to identify the factors that make arts therapies work and tried to understand what functions arts serve during the process. Her framework described a holistic picture about arts therapies built on a model of embodied aesthetics (Koch et al., 2016) and cognitive sciences. Several concepts similar to the ones already discussed can be found among Koch’s active factors. Specifically, Koch’s aesthetic factors can be seen in the sense of beauty and authenticity that are universal attributes of healing dance. Additionally, the nonverbal communication/metaphor that Koch described can be likened to affective symbolism for self-expression and transpersonal symbolism in connection with some bigger (spiritual) forces. Other active factors identified by Koch include hedonism, enactive transitional support, and generativity. The movement attributes described here offer support to Koch’s theoretical framework. The three attributes are also the building blocks in dance movement that make it therapeutic and essential as a healing practice.