"Dance can give the inarticulate a voice"

Pamela Brown, 1928

Dance and movement therapy (DMT) utilises the most fundamental of the arts - direct expression through the body - thus becoming an intimate and powerful medium for therapy or self-discovery.    

In DMT the whole person is valued.   DMT is fun! Neither age nor body-shape will exclude you from the enjoyment and creativity of DMT.   I have had the pleasure of joining teens to septuagenarians as they delighted in dance and movement sessions.

In DMT you will develop and enjoy the joy of dance and self-expression, giving you positive body awareness, co-ordination, a boost in self-confidence, creativity, communication, problem-solving, emotional freedom, wellness, and growth.

DMT promotes health of body, mind, and emotions.  It also provides a way of knowing more about yourself, your interactions with others, and helps to bring about positive changes.  It does not require prior dance training.  Anyone can dance!  Just as words are the medium of verbal therapy, movement is the tool for the dance therapist.  The basis of DMT is the mind/spirit/body connection.  DMT is an effective means of communication which can be used to increase bodily awareness, stimulate spontaneous expression of feelings and promote social interaction.

DMT is a psychotherapeutic process of using dance and movement (and other related arts) to explore images, memories, feelings, the meaning of one's life experiences,  improve communication skills, and to facilitate emotional, physical, social, mental, and spiritual growth. 

Dance has existed in every human culture.  In indigenous civilisations dancing, religion, music, and medicine were linked - connections largely lost in our own society.  Modern DMT therapists use the power of dance and movement to help individuals access their own natural ability to heal and to grow.      Techniques used by fully-trained, professional therapists are based on present-day knowledge of the human body, the nervous system, the psyche, and dance.

"Dance is the language of the soul"

Martha Graham

Dance and Movement Therapy sessions are a minimum of an hour in duration, and you are welcome to  join a class for a session to experience the benefits for yourself.   DMT usually run as a block of five sessions, taken at weekly intervals.  You can then choose to carry on for further sessions if you wish.

Dance and Movement Therapy

An article published in the Input Magazine, October 2002.

By Allison Lamont

"Dance has the power to destroy sorrow, affliction, disappointment and despondency.  It also causes nobility and bravery."

Above all, DMT is enjoyable!  Neither age nor body-shape will exclude you from the enjoyment and creativity of DMT, whether you are a teenager or a septuagenarian.  Participants wear comfortable clothing with bare feet, socks, or sneakers - no lycra in sight!  There are no steps to learn, nothing to get wrong!  There is, however, the opportunity to be yourself and to be with others who also want to shake up the predictability of the way we relate both to ourselves and to each other. 

"Dance can give the inarticulate a voice"

DMT promotes health of body, mind, and emotions.  It also provides a way of knowing more about yourself, your interactions with others, and helps to bring about positive changes.  It does not require prior dance training, needing only a willingness and desire to encourage our own and each other's movement.  Anyone can dance!  Just as words are the medium of verbal therapies, movement is the tool for the dance therapist.   The basis of DMT is the recognition of the interrelationship between mind, spirit, and body.  Therapists believe that mental and emotional difficulties are often held in the body in the form of muscle tension, and this will constrain movement.   On the other hand, therapists' experience with clients leads them to the firm belief that the state of the body can affect attitudes and feelings, both positively and negatively.

DMT actively promotes healing in a number of ways.  Moving rhythmically eases muscular tension, diminishes anxiety, encourages self-expression, opens up new ways of thinking, and increases energy.  Physically, DMT provides the benefits of exercise such as coordination, a sense of well-being, and muscle tone.  Emotionally, it helps people feel more confident and allows them to explore issues such as anger, frustration, and loss that may be too difficult to explore verbally.  In addition, DMT enhances mental skills, motivation, and memory.  Specific problems can also be targeted.  For example, in helping a client to reduce stress, the therapist would first identify how the individual's body reacts to stress and then teach specific techniques to enhance the breathing, increase circulation, and reduce the body tension. 

"Dance is the hidden language of the soul"

Dance has existed in every human culture.  In indigenous civilisations dancing, religion, music, and medicine were linked - connections largely lost in our own society.  Throughout the ages, people have used dance to express powerful emotions, tell stories, treat illness, celebrate important events, and maintain communal bonds.   DMT harnesses this power of movement in a therapeutic setting, using it to promote personal growth, health, and well-being.  Techniques used by fully-trained, professional therapists are based on knowledge of the human body, the nervous system, the psyche, and dance.

DMT therapists work with individuals and groups of all ages and in a wide variety of settings. They focus on assisting their clients to improve self-esteem and body image, develop effective communication skills and relationships, expand their movement vocabulary, to gain insight into their habitual patterns of behaviour, and help to create new options for coping with problems. 

Dance therapy was pioneered by Marian Chace (1896-1970) who established a dance studio in Washington, USA, in the 1930s.  Chace utilised the work of such dancers as Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and Doris Humphrey, whose creativity, spontaneity, and individuality were revolutionary in the dance world.  Also key to the development of dance as therapy was Rudoph Laban who worked specifically with artists, enabling them to understand how their body worked to express the inner state.  Because Chace's style of classes provided unique opportunities for self-expression, communication, and group interaction, psychiatrists in Washington began sending patients to her.  Thus began an interest in using dance and movement to help people with a wide array of emotional, mental and physical problems.  Chace's theory was that dance was a form of communication which fulfils a basic human need.  in 1966, dance and movement therapy gained professional recognition in the United Sates of America and today is practiced in some 20 countries around the world.