Summer Somatics – About the Workshop

The study of body theories and somatic practices in dance, and Eddy’s application of somatic movement therapy and somatic dance to conflict resolution, cancer recovery, body issues related to dance performance, choreography, and pedagogy, socio-cultural issue related to the dancer’s body including the construction of gender and how the body is inscribed by the lure in which we live. Learn how the interplay of a morning dance class, Eddy’s somatic dance class-Body Mind Dancing, verbal deconstruction of class and experiential laboratory time, the presentation of videos and other media and the practice of hands-on touch work, and planning can be recuperative in and of itself.

Designed for the dance educator and movement practitioner interested in increasing their somatic-awareness, Summer Somatics: Dynamic Embodiment™ with Martha Eddy addresses a broad spectrum of somatic methods and applications including the somatic approaches to Perceptual Motor Development as taught in Bartenieff Fundamentals and Body-Mind Centering®. We will refer to other forms of Somatic Movement Education & Therapy such as Laban Movement Analysis, and the work of Alexander, Continuum Feldenkrais and more. Eddy will share her LMA–BMC blend of hands-on work called Dynamics of Touch™ as one way to integrated movement experiences. She will also share her applications of Dynamic Embodiment to movement therapy and dance for adults, children, and people dealing with illness, injury and movement challenges.

This intensive hands-on course provides skills and strategies for bridging somatic practice and dance education. Teachers and practitioners will have time to build their own explorations or lessons to address their choice of affective, cognitive, perceptual, kinesthetic, aesthetic objectives through movement. For instance, as desired by the group – we can address how somatic dance and movement can be applied in handling conflict and violence, to improve attention in the classroom, or to enhance learning of a subject, and most importantly to bring health and pleasure to the experience of dancing. This course’s curriculum is rooted in experiential exercises and is supported through lectures, practicum experiences and readings.