Addresses pragmatic aspects of somatics in the public sector, investigating the fit of somatics within various institutions and settings, including universities, professional schools, and community programs. The article explores issues such as somatic movement approaches, certification, academic degrees in somatic study, confusions within the…

This book features 128 exploration exercises to help dancers improve their focus, observe and explore movement systematically, and refine their techniques to create better dances. It explores the fine line separating dance and movement. Nine chapters include: (1) "Creating Spatial Awareness" (using personal and general space and focusing…

Provides a transcultural perspective on somatics, reflecting on the evolution of somatics in different dance communities around the world, noting shifts that have occurred within specific cultural contexts, and discussing the presence of somatics in academia with the challenge of conducting research that retains somatic integrity. The article…

Examined how the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education informed a series of contemporary technique classes in a professional setting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Collaborative research findings highlighted three themes: transfer of learning, movement awareness facilitation, and construction of the dancing bodies. This study works toward a shift…

Describes why and how to make movement part of the teaching routine to enhance the curriculum. Information is presented on movement logistics, managing movement, and music. The article explains how to integrate movement activities into specific science, social studies, math, and language arts units at various elementary school levels. (SM)

This volume contains 30 unit suggestions for dance lessons in elementary or secondary education. The volume opens with a preface, a discussion of the value of dance in education and of how learning takes place in dance, and a glossary. Each of the units that follow is arranged in sets of five lessons on a theme. Each lesson has a structure:…

This volume contains 30 unit suggestions for dance lessons in elementary or secondary education. The volume opens with a preface, a discussion of the value of dance in education and of how learning takes place in dance, and a glossary. Each of the units that follow is arranged in sets of five lessons on a theme. Each lesson has a structure:…

This paper examines two very different approaches to dance training, ballet technique and the somatic discipline of Topf technique ("TT"). It explores and evaluates the application of TT to ballet training. Initially, what is meant by the term "mind/body connection" is discussed, and then the paper examines, in a theoretical and a practical sense,…

This book illustrates why and how movements and dance are powerful tools for learning and creativity in K-6 classrooms. Designed to be a workshop on paper, the book helps teachers build on what they already know about movement and implement techniques that tap into children's natural interest in moving. Chapter 1,"Moving To Learn," explains the…

Dance educators must define the concepts that distinguish dance from other disciplines and other forms of movement. Dance makes use of space, time, and force to become a distinctive art form involving kinesthetic perception and emotional self-expression, as well as motor skill development. (PP)

The concern of this text is the need that many individuals have for nonverbal, primarily physical forms of expression, and how this need has fueled the development of a new psychomotor discipline. The book treats the theory and practice of dance therapy, and examines the entire field from its inception through the present. Dance therapy, the use…

Explores applications of somatics to school and university curricula, addressing somatic knowledge as content and methodology in dance education, proposing strategies for bringing the body back into dance and dance curricula, exploring cultural diversity issues within dance and somatic education, and concluding that somatic knowledge and practice…

The effects of practice on the bilateral transfer of complex dance movement patterns were studied by having subjects learn two sequences under eight different conditions. Results indicate that teachers have been correct in expecting students to transfer movements bilaterally (from one side to the other) but should teach to the nonpreferred side.…

The author discusses how nonverbal actions in young children are powerful communicators of experience, both past and present, and proposes new ways to observe, analyze, and reflect about these silent signals. The article describes the author's Ways of Seeing program, which uses principles of dance movement psychotherapy, the discipline of…

This document provides supplemental assessment information to "Missouri's Framework for Curriculum Development in Health Education and Physical Education (Healthy, Active Living) K-12." The assessment annotations found in the third column of this document are intended to provide information for administrators, curriculum directors, and…