the-contact-duet-as-a-paradigm-for-client

I work through the process of making contact, through gaining and maintaining trust, using the duet form, sometimes using touch, developing support, taking risks, and using spontaneity a

The Contact Duet as a Paradigm for

Client/Therapist Interaction

Adwoa Lemieux

Coyright, Adwoa Lemieux, 1988, All Rights Reserved

"If you want to get to a new place, you can't know where you are going." (Steve Paxton)

Submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Masters of Arts in Dance/Movement Therapy

Naropa Institute Boulder, Colorado

The thesis of Adwoa Donna Lemieux has been accepted by this committee: Charirperson of Committee:

_

Lin Vernon ADTR Date

Committee member:

_

Nancy Stark Smith Date

Committee member:

_

Sally Bowersox MA Dance/Movement Therapy Date

Acknowledgements:

I wish to thank my committee, friends and family for their support during the writing of this paper

I wish to give a special thanks to Danny Mack for listening, for reading, for dancing, for his devotion and love through this process, for believing in me, and for sharing with me the joy of spellchecking and tending to little details Without his patience and help, I would still be on a typewriter and using whiteout Thanks Mack and mac! You've both been incredible

I also wish to thank Marjean Mckenna for my first contact improvisation dance and for all those that followed TABLE OF CONTENTS

I Introduction 1

A Purpose 1

B Personal Motivation 2

C Contra-indications 5

II Definition of Terms 7

III Review of Literature 10

A Movement Therapy 10

1 Mary Whitehouse 12

2 Marion Chace 17

B Contact Improvisation 23

1 Steve Paxton 23

2 Nancy Stark Smith 27

IV The Two Forms 37

A Comparison of Contact Improvisation and Dance/Movement Therapy

37 B My Experience of the two forms 54

V Paradigm 57

A Making Contact 57

B Trust 60

C Duet 62 D Touch 64

E Support 67 F Taking Risks 70

G Round Robin/ Spontaneity 71

H Closure or Warm-down 73

VI Experiential 75 A Brief Overview of Anorexia, Bulimia, Bularexia 75

B Case Study One: Anna 81

C Case Study Two: Susan 95

D Partnership 100 E Personal healing 104 VII Tools for the Therapist 108

VIII Closing 110 Bibliography crouched in the corner allowing for was i a safety net back of distance between us pressed against the wall just being there muscles gently

painfully taut, whispering breathing long forgotten words all but non-existant, soothingly

eyes caressing

darting watchfully- with her presence

guarding against the terror within me

the threatening she waited

disjointed movement with me

shadowing, patiently,

the sun-filled room watched with me

huddled in the corner neutrally,

was i permitted me my fear

heat belching from her promise

somewhere, to stay at a distance

unrelated noises, kept

unpredictable noises did i know then

shattering security, i would come to

blaring out danger trust and love

she approached, that gentle soul?

low to the ground

This poem, written by a client of mine, who I'll call Anna, describes our first encounter It was the beginning of our work together She was unsure, frightened and hid in many of our first sessions I felt both her fears and yet her longing for contact with another I knew it would take time and I trusted the process We've worked together eight and one half months It has been a rich journey I began this paper shortly after my initial encounter with Anna through writing about my work with her The rest of the paper followed

In beginning this paper, I too approached scared I felt unsure, "Can I articulate on paper what I know in my body and in my mind?" I am afraid that no one will understand what I say Although this kind of work is being done by a few others in different ways, I feel that I am pioneering this style of work I feel that I can no longer hide I need to share the work that is so much part of who I am

My purpose in writing this paper is to introduce the form of contact/movement therapy Contact/movement therapy

is the unity of two forms that I believe overlap In this paper I wish to stress the importance of contact in movement therapy I also wish to stress the need for the therapist to be in contact with him/herself while oscillating her/his awareness to the client in a session I wish to look at the "dance" between the therapist and the client There is a duetthat takes place The client is not alone but is affected by the presence of the therapist It is my intention in this paper

to create a paradigm that is useful for the movement therapist I feel it is important for movement therapists to experience contact improvisation as part of their training before using this work in their sessions

As a contact improvisation dancer and teacher and a beginning movement therapist, I feel the forms spill into each other The intention in each setting is different However, there is a common paradigm There are steps involved in each which are similar The two forms support one another In this paper I will look at how contact improvisation supports a movement/dance therapy session I will share my paradigm and show how the contact form is a rich resource for the dance therapist I will use some of the vocabulary of the contact improvisation language as a 'metaphor' to describe the paradigm and show that the therapist/client relationship parallels the duet relationship in contact improvisation

In looking at the history and theories of two dance/movement therapists, I recognize the founding principles of theseare similar to the principles of contact improvisation In the review of literature I will discuss this further

B Personal Motivation

I wanted to study the principles of movement therapy before I ever knew of contact improvisation I studied in Africa where dance is integrated into nearly every aspect of people's lives I studied the meaning and the language ofthe dance in Ghana This dance integrated into everyday life was therapy The notion of the healing of dance as part

of one's life has stayed with me It was years later that I discovered contact improvisation

Contact improvisation has been healing for me personally When I began contact improvisation I was a student in the modern dance department at the University of Utah I had just injured my knee and was unable to dance or to ski, both of which were a big part of my life at that time I met a woman, Marjean McKenna, who was a 'contact

improviser' She needed a partner Contact improvisation is done primarily in pairs I began dancing with the limitation of one knee that wouldn't support me The dance accounts for individual differences My limitation was simply integrated into the dance The process of learning the dance form was slow I loved the movement I slowed down and felt the sensation of my body moving Although I had danced for many years prior to this, I began to remember the joy and simplicity of my movement This movement had gotten lost in my formal study of dance I was supported by Marjean both physically and emotionally We built a strong trusting relationship over the next three years of dancing together

After a year and one half we began to form a small group Three other people became 'core' One person was an acupuncturist, macrobiotic and jin shin do practitioner, another an acupuncturist, a deep tissue body worker and a polarity balancer, another a Feldenkrais practitioner, Marjean an acupuncture student, Tai Chi teacher and Alexandertechnique student and distributor of natural foods and me We all danced for the delight and play of the movement but I was the spark We practiced in a studio in Marjean's home She the hearth, I the fire, the inspiration After dancing each week, we lay in the living room talking and trading body work sessions and acupuncture treatments

We would have 'needles' or massage or do exercises My trade was my love for the dance I gathered us We all contributed to each other's healing

We were each accepted as we were We brought individual flavor and richness to the dance Sometimes one of us had an injury and we danced with that limitation Often one of us had something emotional going on yet we danced and let the energy move We grew to trust and to support one another Our weekly dancing time was a joy for each of

us The healing for me was deep It was not just my physical being that changed, it was my whole being Partially because of this beginning into contact improvisation, this dance means healing to me This idea has affected life my contact improvisation dancing, my teaching and into my therapy practice

Since that time I have moved geographically, yet my connection with these people still remains intact I have continued to deepen my relationship with contact improvisation

I began this study and practice of contact improvisation eight years ago I felt immediately drawn to the dance In the last eight years through this dance practice I have a clearer understanding of myself I also have had time to look

at my relationship with contact using various partners, students and clients

I have found that through practicing contact improvisation, its principles have filtered into my life I feel contact improvisation is the most prominent factor in my personal healing As a teacher of contact, I witness the healing in

my students They change They become more comfortable in their bodies and with others in the group Students sometimes cry or share some of their process; issues around fear come up, needing to be touched, afraid of getting support or giving support, wanting and needing contact This has inspired me as a movement therapist to explore this work more deeply

I began noticing that there was a parallel between students and clients There were steps in common I began using

my strength as a contact improviser with being in contact with my clients This does not necessarily mean physical contact Being in contact with a person is designed by each person's particular needs This is a sensitive energetic connection with a person while maintaining contact with one's self This will be discussed in more depth later in the paper What has become clear to me is that this style of working works well for me It integrates strengths of mine in

a form that feels right This allows me an ease to be fully present and in touch with a client The work has been powerful

One population that I work with is people who presently have an eating disorder I work through the process of making contact, through gaining and maintaining trust, using the duet form, sometimes using touch, developing support, taking risks, and using spontaneity and improvisation Through this I have seen changes in clients' body images, in their physical bodies and how they feel about themselves This work has been the single most powerful factor in some clients' recoveries Most of the people that I work with are part of an inpatient treatment program for people with advanced eating disorders

I would like to share in this paper the way I work In my training as a dance/movement therapist I continued to practice contact improvisation quite extensively I chose this consciously as a personal need and as an integral part

of my training as a dance/movement therapist

C Contra-indications

I feel that this paradigm is applicable and appropriate for any clientele The nature of the form is such that it takes into account individual needs and differences The paradigm may be used with individual needs respected The stepsmay move slowly and in fact some may be left out I feel that contact work is important and beneficial to all populations This work would be useful and beneficial for passive regressed people, for depressed people, for peopleseeking an outlet for emotions and who find speaking difficult, for children, for adults under everyday stress, for

people who are tense, for people who have difficulties with relationships, for people with physical handicaps, for people who are in recovery from addictions, and for people who need or want to learn to recover their own child It

is a very good way to relax For populations of very distressed people I move slowly and am alert and mindful before using physical touch I may use more structure for populations that are more disturbed

I have used contact/movement therapy with people in a phase of recovery from abuse and people in a phase of empowerment I have begun working with couples using contact/movement therapy I have found this both exciting and useful for a couple working through their patterns in movement I have worked with children and would like to continue this and add the possibility of working with a parent and child together Contact/movement therapy can work with a variety of relationships I have also used this paradigm with an emotionally disturbed institutionalized group of children and adolescents and with a population of hospitalized adult psychiatric patients

self-For the purpose of this paper, I will discuss my paradigm in reference to two case studies of women who are in a phase of anorexia/bulimia I will also describe my paradigm in relation to a partnership in contact improvisation I use this paradigm both with groups and in individual sessions

II DEFINITION OF TERMS IN HYPOTHESIS

Dance/Movement Therapy is defined as: "the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the physical and psychic integration of the individual It effects changes in feelings, cognition, physical functioning and behavior." (American Dance Therapy Association pamphlet) "The dance movement therapist combines verbal and nonverbal communication to enable a client to express feelings, to participate in human relationships, to increase personal self esteem, to develop a more realistic body image and through all of these to achieve some feeling of relaxation and enjoyment Direct communication must happen continuously between the leader and the client." (Marion Chace, Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 144)

Contact Improvisation: "Contact improvisation is a duet movement form Two people move together, in contact, maintaining a spontaneous physical dialogue through the kinesthetic signals of shared weight and a common or counterpoised momentum The body, in order to open to the sensations of momentum, weight, and balance, must learn to release excess muscular tension and abandon a certain amount of willful volition to the natural flow of movement at hand Skills such as rolling, falling, and being upside down are explored, guiding the body to an awareness of its own natural movement possibilities." (Danny Lepkoff, Contact Quarterly, Vol V #4)

Therapist/Client: The relationship between two people in a therapeutic context The therapist being the leader, the client being the person seeking professional assistance

Dance Therapy Session: a psychotherapeutic session lasting usually from 60-90 minutes in which a dance/movementtherapist focuses on movement behavior as it emerges in the therapeutic relationship Body movement

simultaneously provides the means of assessment and the mode of intervention

Contact:

• touching or meeting as of two things, people

• an association or relationship

• an acquaintance or relationship through whom/where one can get information or favors

• a junction of electric conductors

• to put and enter into contact

• to communicate with

Improvisation (improvise):

• to compose and perform without previous preparation

• to devise or provide from whatever material is available

Paradigm: an example or something serving as a model

Therapy: the remedial treatment of a disease or other physical or mental disorder

Therapeutic: of or pertaining to the remedial treatment of disease

Partner: a person who shares; one's companion in a dance

Duet:

• -a musical composition for two voices or instruments

• -two people moving in relationship to each other in a common

• space sensitive to the movement or energy of one another

Contact Improvisation Duet: A duet in which there is a point of contact usually maintained between two participants.Contact form: The form of contact improvisation

improvisation I have studied and practiced with her for several years I reviewed other styles of dance/movement therapy and of contact improvisation teachers and have seen these to be most useful

A Movement Therapy

Dance as a therapy has played an important role in native cultures It was used in rituals for healing with music and chants and with people in trance states in many primitive cultures This occurred in Bali, Africa, Greece, Mexico, India, with the Dervishes in Moslem East Asia, and with the Native American culture Often the ritual dance was lead by one individual; the medium person or shaman The shaman aids in receiving messages from the spirits, assisting in leading rites of passage and healing the sick This would include dances to bless a baby, to ensure fertility to a woman, to bring luck to a hunt, to send a spirit off, etc Although the dance as a ritual and healing continued to play a vital role in the native cultures of the Americas, Asia and in Africa, its role declined in Europe at the end of the twelfth century Religious sects feared its "potential inherent power" (Penny Bernstein, Eight

Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 5) Dance became more stylized and superficial This trend continued with court dances and the beginning of ballet Although folk dances continued in rural culture as a means

of social dance, it was not until the twentieth century that dance re-emerged as an emotional expressive art Isadora Duncan appeared "barefoot and emotive" on the stages of Europe and modern creative movement/dance was born

"The development of psychology has grown from Darwin's Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals through Freud's psychoanalysis It was not until the student's of Freud, Adler, Reich and Jung, began their work that the awareness of the whole body and person emerged Wilhelm Reich developed an elaborate character system based onthe defensive armoring of the body with exercises designed to contact blocked feelings in tense areas of the body allowing expression." (Penny Bernstein, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 5)

"Carl Jung's development of techniques in 'active imagination' gave the patient a tool for expressing unconscious material and paved the way for movement therapy." (Penny Bernstein, Eight Theoretical Approaches in

Dance/Movement Therapy, p 5) He used material from dreams and the artistic process to "dance one's dream" (Jung1961) and to express and contact symbolic information from the unconscious This was used to understand what was

"meant to be" for a person

Dance therapy as we know it today emerged gradually While Marion Chace was developing the groundwork of dance therapy on the east coast in the 1940s, Mary Starks Whitehouse began exploring a form of dance work that evolved from a creative dance class into a deeper process of exploration that was having an impact on the lives of people studying with her Both Marion Chace and Mary Starks Whitehouse had studied and performed dance quite extensively before exploring what has become known as dance therapy

Mary Whitehouse

"Mary Whitehouse was a European trained American dance teacher After Jungian analysis she began to draw connections between the authentic or genuine expressions of her students and the flow of symbolic material they shared at the end of the class." (Penny Bernstein, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 5) She worked primarily in a studio with people whom she called "normal neurotics." "'Normal neurotics' are people who are needing to discover and deal with personal life problems They are functioning at what are called normal They have just many if not as flagrant problems as people in hospitals It is only that they manage their lives with 'quiet desperation' instead of being markedly left out." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in

Dance/Movement Therapy, p 51) It was at the end of each class that she began looking at what it was she was actually doing Mary Whitehouse felt she was "giving an opening for people to discover for themselves something different." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 61) She did not push

people but rather respected each person's process Mary gave people time and space to explore and discover through movement more knowledge about themselves

She realized that she was no longer teaching a dance class Something had shifted "In order to find what moved people, I needed to give up images in them and in myself of what it meant to dance." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 53) "The word therapy was already creeping into dance language I had some resistance to it It seemed to imply that I knew and that the person who came to me did not know; I had the feeling it could not possibly be true in my situation even if it was true of other people." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 53) Mary's work began being called Movement in Depth

The philosophy or theory of her work came out of doing it and learning by experimenting rather than analyzing or being taught She states that the person leading or teaching needs to be whole in him/herself; that there is not one way of working that everyone should follow She says that what needs to develop is an atmosphere of mutual trust Mary does not distinguish between teacher/leader/mediator nor between student-of-movement/client-who-comes forhelp/or patient She states that all are present in a session For simplicity, in this paper I will use the words

interchangeably when referring to Mary's work

Her first and basic attitude is that the teacher/leader must begin where the student/client is To do this one must be,

"willing to be anonymous of oneself in favor of observing, quickly and without barriers what is available to that individual." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 60) Mary tapped into the unconscious with imagery and let people explore for themselves

She worked with three basic concepts One was polarity This includes left/right, up/down, open/close The two sidesworked separately and then as a unit One might lie on the floor and visualize a line down the middle of one's body There would be time to feel each side separately, to become aware of each side's feelings, textures, etc When one was ready he/she would begin moving just from the right side When this was complete, the left side would begin moving At some point the sides might have a dialogue or conversation through movement Another possibility would be a drawing from the right side and one from the left side before this dialogue

Another concept she used was that of authentic movement Authentic movement is simple and "inevitable"

movement It belongs to the person It is unlearned It is the truth Mary uses the phrase, "I move, I am moved." Authentic movement is that in which I am moved The ego gives up control and surrenders to the unconscious A leader might guide a student/client in taking the time to tune into one's authentic expression A leader would then witness this process

The third concept is that of active imagination This is a concept that comes from Mary's work with an Jungian analysis "The process itself is one of discusses the living reality of the unconscious." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 54) Through improvising with one's imagination and moving the symbols, the unconscious is brought to a more conscious level One way that this could be used is through guided imagery A leader might guide a student/client to visualize his/her chest, to imagine what it looks like Someone might say an empty warehouse, or a dark cobwebbed cave Using that image, the leader would begin

by asking how large, what color, what does a warehouse feel like, is there anyone in there?, etc The leader would bring the symbol to more of a concrete level of awareness As a leader one watches the student/client until there is a completion of the process and more self-knowledge is attained

"The job of the teacher is to see how one who is moving feels." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 60) He/she needs to "allow the mover to find satisfaction in what is happening before more is suggested The mover needs to sink into the movement." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches

in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 60) "The teacher needs to give up all preconceptions of what would be good She needs to let go of all assumptions of the importance of what she knows." "She doesn't know anything in this particular situation." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 60) She needs to use hunches and intuition and yet be sensitive to a student's process and needs This may involve allowing time and space for a student to explore on his/her own "Since the process is a development of self-knowledge, with growth of individuation and conscious wholeness, there is no use in excessive verbal directions or explanations A chance is taken when seen, a chance that has to be taken, or the development from that point cannot be followed." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 61)

"Genuine" involvement is needed from the client/student She/he needs to be willing to allow whatever happens to show If a client is resistent or cannot do this, the therapist would work with the response that does surface This is the genuine response and can be worked with The leader/teacher and student have to hold an act of attention and follow what happens Mary says, "The movement leads, the mover follows."

The teacher also must be familiar with her own process and this way of working for her/himself "Physical

movement is a way of finding a revelation of the self It is a way of relating both to the inner and the outer world." (Mary Whitehouse, "Physical Movement and Personality")

Mary worked privately, individually and in groups People have their own individual experience within groups Some groups worked with their relationship in the group Sometimes she had weekly and ongoing sessions or did one day or weekend workshops "Each workshop contained a nearly equal number of technical exercises or actions plus improvisations based on the group or single explorations of specific situations Images were given, pictorial beginnings, allowing members to find their own responses."

"Any change has to come through consciousness; awareness first of one's actual condition and second of the possible meaning of that condition." (Mary Whitehouse, "Creative Experience in Physical Movement is Language without Words") There is a need to connect with ourselves There is a need for moving without purpose to become aware of ourselves Mary describes some awareness activities and other group work that is similar to that of

exercises in contact improvisation I will discuss them further in the paper

During the early part of Mary Whitehouse's work she read an article about, "a dancer who had made use of

movement to reach people who had no intention of becoming a dancer nor even of using dance purely as recreation."(Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 51) That dancer was Marion Chace

Marion Chace

Marion Chace also studied and performed as a dancer She studied at the Denishaw School She said that she was more interested in dance as a tool than in performing In the Denishaw company she learned that, "there are many ways to move depending on cultural, religious, philosophical motivation." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 9) She learned to function within a group with ideas of others or as a soloist initiating ideas This is the basis of her work After dancing in Denishaw she moved to Washington D.C and with Ted Shawn and her husband began a school At the school in the thirties Marion noticed that there were people at the school who never wanted to be professional dancers Two groups formed "One group was those receiving support and development as dancers and the other group was receiving support and development as human beings." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 11) She became interested in, "action and interaction of people who were lacking in the ability to move with rhythm or coordination She was interested in what they found to help them feel at ease." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 7)

This work and interest led Marion Chace into working in schools with children with the use of rhythmic action The use of rhythm came to be a foundation in her work She began exploring this work with a group of adolescents who were in detention centers and orphanages People began coming to her for private work One such woman was schizophrenic Word got around and a psychiatrist from St Elizabeth's Hospital, a large psychiatric hospital in Washington D.C., watched her work and recommended that she come to St Elizabeth's At that point Marion called her work "dance as communication."

Her contribution lies in the development of the interpersonal role of the therapist on a movement level Marion Chace developed what we now call dance therapy at St Elizabeth's She worked with all patients Most sessions were done in ward areas so that people could come and go Most sessions were group experiences, but Chace also worked individually with people who needed more direct contact Marion worked with people who were not comfortable in social interactions Through the use of rhythm and a circle, Marion was able to make contact with patients who were a problem for the staff In fact they were the people she preferred to work with because they needed the work the most She felt, "there are few, if any really inaccessible patients." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p.81) Her groups ranged in size from 8-10 people to 40-60 people

"The basic principle of the discipline of dance therapy is an aware communication in nonverbal terms." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 21) Marion Chase's work was based on "a movement of nonverbal communication and was therefore a medium which met even the withdrawn patient with tools that were understandable to him." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 22) By making use of this basic form of communication, Marion offered an individual a means of relating to the environment or to people when s/he was cut off in the majority of areas by the patterns of her/his illness

"The feeling that s/he is completely alone seems to be the overwhelming problem of the mental patient." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 55) Marion used rhythm as a means of breaking through the isolation of a patient, making contact and helping him/her to accept another person without fear This is similar to the initial phase of contact improvisation This was done by accepting the way in which a patient was moving and by withdrawing when the patient has had this close contact for as long as s/he could tolerate She began a relationship that cut through the isolation at least temporarily

She used a circle to bring people into group interaction and to receive group support She said the "circle was like a magnet drawing them in." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 53)

The goals of a session at St Elizabeth's were, "movement about the room, physical action in harmony with a group, and relaxation of tension (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 54)

Marion Chace started her session the instant the door was unlocked and she entered the ward She respected the mood of the ward with her choice of music She did not impose or try to change what already existed Marion worked with four basic concepts in her session The first was body action She viewed distortions in body shape and functions as responses to conflict and pain The patient needed to feel ready to move The therapist helped the patient when s/he was ready to move and be moved

The second concept was the use of symbolism She would give a patient time and space "to recall, reinforce, and relive" parts of his/her life or unconscious Through dance, a patient was given expression to her/his subjective emotions, to convey in a single moment the complexity and depth of feelings that could not be put into words

"Chace entered a patient's world by reenacting the essential constellation of movement characterizing her/his expression By reproducing the significant gesture at the right time and for only as long as the patient would accept

it, Chace established trust, leading patients to communicate repressed ideas and feelings and to risk new experiences and relationships." (Marion Chace, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, P 18) The

therapeutic movement relationship was the third concept Marion Chace worked with in a session "I know how you feel," was the message that she conveyed moving with a patient She did "not merely try to mirror the movement, she used her own body motion to understand, and thereby communicate, the acceptance and validity of expression." (Marion Chace, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 22) This was done initially with eye contact or with some reflective movement This was with or without physical contact depending on the patient's needs "Chace was aware that answering movement in similar forms dissipates the feelings of apartness whereas a battle of words increases that feeling." (Marion Chace, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy,

p 23)

The first three concepts are part of the warm-up The warm-up was to mobilize the group's capacity for emotional expression and social interaction This went on until the group was committed She knew this when the group was ready to come together and form a circle She then chose themes that came from the warm-up to work with the group together

The fourth concept was group development and support in a rhythmic activity This included structure in time or everyday activities put into movement, the ebb and flow of breath which she felt were personal human rhythms and the group moved together with one breath and one pulse Individuals received security and strength from the group Chace saw rhythm as a therapeutic tool for communication and body awareness The leader, she felt needed to go the speed of the lower half of the class The faster or more efficient people could take care of themselves and the slower people could get an opportunity to be in a socially interactive situation that could be positive for them Marion often used waltzes in her groups because she found them to be neutral Sometimes she would have people waltz in couples for about five minutes as the circle was forming She made moment to moment decisions following the group The spontaneous changes in the group enables the patient to meet new situations with new responses There was always a warm down or time of resolution for the group Closure was important for people to return to the circle as individuals part of a whole group It was a time to slow down and prepare for ending

"Chace set long range goals in keeping with the limitations of each individual Aware of possible directions that she might take for each person and for the group as a whole, she structured each session with its own goals Short rangedgoals changed from moment to moment as relationships developed and patients risked new experiences." (Marion Chace, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 21) "Dance is a way for a mental patient to make initial contact with others, to get support form a group and finally a means by which the patient becomes moreaware of her/himself as an entity functioning with others." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 77) "Dance is a means of relating when other means are restricted or absent."

The leader was there to help the process The leader needed to be a relaxed participant and needed to take part in the session "actively and with personal enjoyment." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 79) In fact Marion felt strongly that there were no observers Staff, nurses, etc joined into the session Everyone was equal and part of the group She felt this was a place where "relationships got strengthened." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 55)

Marion believed that mental patients were "people living in their emotions." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 62) She states that she was "merely a person creating a favorable situation for others to make use of the dance and for a moment to live." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 62)

Patients comment on her work They call it "nourishment", "essential", "food for our soul" She commented that "thefrequency of comparing music/dance rhythm to food and to the bridge it makes for communication with other is because both lie in the area of physical satisfaction and gratification One must have a feeling of self, an energetic

self, before one can reach out to others Physical satisfaction comes from the awareness of self and others at the same moment, while participating in some form of tonal harmony." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 65)

Although Marion Chace and Mary Starks Whitehouse had styles that are unique and individual, their work with dance and movement was similar Both respected the people that they worked with People became more aware of their bodies and their selves For some it broke a pattern of isolation Work was done with the unconscious as well asbeing in contact with themselves and others on a movement level The work was powerful and healing It changed people's lives They started working and later looked back and began figuring out just what it was they had been doing

B Contact Improvisation

Steve Paxton

Steve Paxton, the founder of the form of contact improvisation, began an exploration of movement that continued to grow as a process Steve had studied modern dance with Limon, Cunningham and other modern dancers He began using ordinary or pedestrian movement in his dances Steve attended a choreography class taught by Robert Ellis Dunn at Cunningham's studio Dunn was a piano accompanist who had played for Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham A group of dancers, most of whom had been part of Dunn's class, wanted a place to perform and share their own work with an audience This began to take place at Judson Church Yvonne Rainer, one of these people, later began 'Continuous Project Altered Daily' This eventually grew into a leaderless improvisational group called Grand Union During a Grand Union residency at Oberlin College in Ohio in January of 1972 Steve developed a piece of work with 11 men in which, "they threw, caught, flung, collided and fell continuously for 10 minutes Then they stood for a few minutes This was called Magnesium." (Contact Quarterly, Vol V #3/4) This piece was the seminal work of contact improvisation

It was in June of 1972 that Steve gathered together "some of the best athletes that I had run into in the course of a year or two." (Nancy Stark Smith and Lisa Nelson, Contact Quarterly, Vol V #3/4) These were both men and women who came together at Weber Gallery in New York City to explore the principles of communication that werefirst uncovered in Magnesium The people were, "Laura Chapmen, Steve Christiansen (video), Barbara Dilley, Leon Felder, Mary Fulkerson, Danny Lepkoff, Nita Little, Alice Lusterman, Curt Siddall, Nancy Stark Smith, Nancy Topf,David Woodberry, Emily Seige, Tim Butler, Mark Peterson, Tom Hast."(Nancy Stark Smith and Lisa Nelson, Contact Quarterly, Vol V #3/4)

This group worked for two weeks exploring what they called 'Contact Improvisation.' It was raw material and new work for these people They were working with the physical forces of gravity, momentum, inertia, the force of one body hurling into another and finding out what has to happen

During the second week of this group's work, people were invited in to watch what this group was doing This established some of the norms of contact improvisation Many performances to follow were informal "You Come We'll Show You What We Do" was the title of a series of performances in California in 1973 that some of the peoplefrom this original group created Several years later some of this group regathered and developed a group called ReUnion Other groups slowly began to spring up There has become a community of contactors that network all over the world A newsletter was set up as a form for further communication This newsletter has now become a journal, Contact Quarterly - a vehicle for moving ideas Nancy Stark Smith is one of the co-editors

The work from the original group was documented on video "Chute" was a video made from this work "Fall After Newton" is a new video documenting the years of 1972-1983 Steve narrates both of these video documents What is contact improvisation? There has always been some ambiguity as to exactly what contact improvisation is

"When, in 1972, this group of dancers began work on contact improvisation, it was a was a study of the way communication was possible through touch The movement which resulted from contact improvising was non-rationalized, intuitive movement leading to unforeseen phrasing, positions and gambits Basing movement upon intimate communication was appealing to me, after years of technical modern training." (Steve Paxton)

"Contact improvisation is not a form of set movements phrases but an approach to movement in which the student moves from the motivations of reflex and intuition If a student has been rolling the body on the floor for 20 minuteshe/she might search for further thoughts The student's mind becomes witness to the body and the sensations of movement." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol VI #2) "Contact improvisation is an activity related to familiar duet forms such as the embrace, wrestling, martial arts, and the jitterbug, encompassing the range of movement fromstillness to highly athletic The exigencies of the form dictate a mode of movement which is relaxed, constantly aware and prepared, and on-flowing As a basic focus, the dancers remain in physical touch, mutually supportive andinnovative, meditating upon the physical laws relating to their masses: gravity, momentum, inertia and friction They

do not strive to achieve results but rather, to meet the constantly changing physical reality with appropriate

placement and energy." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol IV #2)

Nancy Stark Smith said that, "The definition is in the doing."(Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #3/4) The practice itself is how one learns what it is The practice teaches the form

"Teaching has taught me that humans operate under a wider variety of senses and perceptions than I had imagined, that each student has tuned his/her senses differently in relation to his/her experiences One of the first jobs is to tunethe senses for the dance at hand New perceptions should not be forced, but instead, suggested or invited It began as

a communicative movement form, then there were technical developments to implement extremes of the form We were contact improvisation Contact is not a form of solitaire It is done in the form of a duet." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol VI #2)

The form was not named after Steve Paxton He left enough ambiguity that anyone coming to do contact

improvisation had to go into the form to explore what is and not have a set technique to practice

Nancy Stark Smith once heard a woman talking after a discussion about contact improvisation, "'They know what it

is but they just won't tell That Steve Paxton has passed on a legacy of ambiguity that keeps everyone from saying what it is, but they know.' I laughed when I heard her but I've thought about what she said a lot since then And I think she's right Not only did Steve offer a dance, but a built-in way of keeping it alive." (Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #3/4)

"Contact improvisation was chosen as a name because it expresses itself well It is definitely a physical art and you deal with the other person physically but there also is all the other aspects of a person that are contacting each other."(Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #1)

When someone asked Steve what the point of contact was he answered, "Just the pleasure of moving and the pleasure of using your body is, I think maybe the main point And the pleasure of dancing with somebody in an unplanned and spontaneous way; where you're free to invent and they are free to invent and you're neither one hampering the other - that's a very pleasant social form." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #1)

Although there is not a set technique, there are guidelines, pieces that have been developed over the years that have aided beginning contactors in learning to give their weight, to experience gravity, to experience disorientation and create a safety for partners and for oneself in learning to fall, roll, relax The form itself is the real teacher Each person learns form his/her own body, gathering information from each dance, from each partner The teacher/leader guides this process

"The learner learns to be partly the self and partly the teacher thus the implantation continues through the

generations so that the skill for our arts is the model of no model The dancing does the teaching The teacher points

to that (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #1)

Nancy Stark Smith

Nancy Stark Smith is one teacher/leader whose style I have chosen to discuss because of my personal connection with her work She is one of the original members of Steve's first group in Weber Gallery Nancy Stark Smith is one

of the people who has developed the teaching of contact improvisation

Recently I was involved in a project of 16 people in Northampton, Massachusetts exploring and deepening into the work of contact improvisation Nancy Stark Smith was the organizer We were also exploring improvisation as a form I have studied with Nancy Stark Smith for several years, in large classes and in small groups I feel she is not only articulate verbally but also clear in her body I respect her style of working and the way she integrates her life into her work and her work into her life I interviewed her after a session of work during this project Most of the tape did not come out Therefore I am relying on my memory The quotes in the next section are from this interview

in January 1988 unless otherwise noted I have also chosen to paraphrase some of the conversation because I can not

be sure of the accuracy of my memory

Nancy Stark Smith first met Steve at Oberlin College She took a morning sunrise class from him They met and did 'soft movement' and other practices at sunrise every morning She saw the performance of "Magnesium" and was interested in what Steve was doing She told him if he ever got a group together again and wanted to work with women to give her a call Later that year she went to New York City to work with Steve and other people that he hadgathered

Nancy Stark Smith was an athlete and a gymnast She had been dancing for a few years before she met Steve She began teaching because, "people asked me to." She began without an idea of how she would teach It was different than working with the group People had different experiences, some did not know how to roll or give weight She had to see what was known what was needed and then develop exercises or ideas to work out some of the missing pieces She said that there were a few fundamentals or basics that were usually present "They do change a bit over

time which ones I'm focusing on at a given point or thinking are missing from the work at a given point that need to

be restimulated or that I'm working on or new ones that are growing as the ground spreads."

There are basics that continue to be important One of these is learning to experience one's own weight and to experience the physical forces, such as gravity Another skill to learn is the sensation of the skeletal structure so that one can take weight safely It is also important to feel the distinction between muscular and skeletal support Relaxing seems important in feeling any of this Disorientation and working in spherical space are important skills

to learn There are probably more These are basics that Nancy might focus on during a warm up or class by class depending on what kind of work she was doing

We talked about the safety needed for contact We both briefly acknowledged that there was emotional safety involved which was individual for each person Nancy felt most people came to her classes wanting to dance, knowing something about contact improvisation and were drawn to it She suggested that, if a person's physical safety was taken care of that perhaps the emotional safety would be also (Sometimes I have found the reverse to be true too If a person's emotional safety was taken care of then a person felt secure enough to take more physical risks.) Nancy felt that the floor or the surface needed to be safe such as no cracks or loose boards or rocks (if outdoors), etc She said initially in beginning classes she matched partners in being close in size for safety She includes falls and rolls in a warm up and works within the sphere of one's ability

I asked Nancy if she felt contact improvisation was appropriate for anyone Nancy felt that, "Some situations may not be appropriate for everyone For example, it may not be appropriate for someone with a physical disability to be

in a large mixed ability class, though this does not mean that this person is not appropriate for contact improvisation

It might mean that this person might need a situation in which he/she could have more specialized attention or on a one to one basis." She also said it might not be appropriate for people on drugs that have side effects to be in a class For example, Nancy once had a student in a class who had recently been hospitalized in a psychiatric setting and was on a prescription drug that affected her perception and balance She had hallucinations Nancy felt concerned that she wouldn't know what was real to this woman The woman's reactions and affect was not necessarily in relation to the actual situation "It was difficult to read what was really happening with her." They talked and workedout an arrangement in which the woman sat on the side when she herself perceived too much disorientation Nancy felt on a one to one basis this kind of situation could possibly be better worked with; though it did work

In my experiences issues do arise for some people in regard to touch, being supported, giving weight, being close, being uncomfortable, etc I asked Nancy how she dealt with this She said that especially with people new to the form that she simply directs their attention to what they are doing Initially it's mostly physical survival People are needing to be present in what they are doing in order to work safely People come because they want to be there

I asked her who should teach Nancy felt that through teaching people tend to learn more, and get clearer There are

no inherent limitations as to who teaches She felt that people begin teaching for a variety of reasons; one might need a partner, there are a number of people asking for a teacher, etc It is important to respect the entity of contact improvisation so that a beginner would know what contact improvisation is She also was supportive of people taking the form and stretching within it, or stretching it into new forms as I am doing, bringing contact improvisationinto my work with movement therapy There are no restrictions or rules about who can use the work There is new work that is being created As the people that do contact improvisation grow so does the dance However, references need to be clear as to what contact improvisation is so that it stays distinct

Through workshops and projects and jams that have been created around the country a community has developed People often have danced with a person who danced with you at a certain point The dance feels familiar, perhaps you know a person who rolled on this back

Contact Vocabulary

There also seems to have become a vocabulary in contact improvisation that is familiar to contact dancers I am going to select a few terms to describe that I will use later in my paradigm of 'contact/movement therapy' in this paper Some of this vocabulary is more confined to work with Nancy Stark Smith I will make reference to these There is often a personal warm up in a contact improvisation class This is a time in which a person enters the studio and begins moving in a way which his or her body needs in order to 'arrive.' This means bringing one's whole self to the class This might mean lying on the floor for a while or running or slowly stretching Although everyone is individually working, often the group begins to establish a group mind, a shared energy

At some point there is often time in which people begin making contact with others in the room There becomes an intention in the room of "exchange or the desire to communicate." (Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol IX

#2) Sometimes this is done through duets or through a whole group movement in which different kinds of contact might be explored (i.e using glances or eye contact; using movement in a small space, using light touch (physical

touch in which no or little weight is exchanged); falling together etc.) This may develop naturally or may be guided

by a teacher or leader

One exercise Steve used in "Magnesium" and continues to be used is the 'stand' or the 'small dance' "Well, first of all, it's a fairly easy perception: all you have to do is stand up and then relax -you know- and at a certain point you realize that you've relaxed everything that you can relax but you're still standing and in that standing is quite a lot of minute movement the skeleton holding you upright even though you're mentally relaxing Call it the 'small dance' It was a name chosen largely because it's quite descriptive of the situation and because while you're doing the stand and feeling the 'small dance' you're aware that you're not 'doing' it, so in a way, you're watching yourself perform; watching your body perform its function And your mind is not figuring anything out and not searching for any answers or being used as an active instrument but is being used as a lens to focus on certain perceptions." (StevePaxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #1)

There are some variations on this theme Nancy Stark Smith describes basically the same exercise with a slightly different focus "Align your skeleton along the forces of gravity, sending your weight evenly down through your bones back to the earth Remember the center of the earth, its density Empty of idea, full of sensation, feel the smalldance, the delicate inner balancing act of a two-legged creature; falling gently on and off center, weaving about youraxis Feel the rise of the Earth's strength back through your bones, supporting your stand." (Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #1)

During 'the stand' or 'small dance there is a condition of vertical rest, one in which the skeleton is balanced so that the muscles don't have to work to hold the body up There are small adjustments and rebalancings that occur Some

of which are not distinguishable from the outside to an onlooker "In exploring the small dance of skeletal alignment while standing, I am sensing subtle falls of parts of the skeleton." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #3/4) This is an exercise in sensitizing the self to the inner movement of one's own body and experiencing the pull of gravity while remaining grounded, allowing one's weight to fall through the foot into the ground

Another term that would be familiar to contactors that have worked with Nancy Stark Smith is states Nancy refers

to an energetic, sometimes emotional quality that is reflective in the movement Most often this arises from a physical movement that creates an atmosphere or environment Examples would be the five elements (earth, air, water, fire, ether) or a heavy state, or what Nancy would call an oceanic state

Counterbalancing is another term This is done usually in twos There is a shared control between the two people This may be done with arms or other body parts The two balance their weights by creating a tension through pullingaway from or pushing toward each other A balance is found in which either person alone would fall without the support of the other's weight The two play with slow shifts changing the point of balance

Another word that Nancy Stark Smith refers to is 'depth of touch' This is the level at which one person contacts another One may contact through the level of skin or deeper by contact the musculature Although this refers to the physical contact of one person to another, I experience the energetic contact as well One exercise that works with this is when one the person puts physical weight into the touch or point of contact of another One person stands while the other places a hand on a place on that person's body Both allow weight to pour into that point of touch andthen let the point empty of weight This may lead into a duet which Nancy refers to as light touch This is a dance continuing with a point of contact between two people with little or no weight bearing

'Giving weight' is another term common in the contact language There is an image often used of sand pouring One might be lying on the floor imaging sand or his/her weight slowly pouring into the floor or this might be done in partners, pouring weight into one point of contact of the partner It may also be done quickly

There is also receiving weight or being a support There are different ways of practicing this One way is 'surfing' This is when one person is doing a log roll (literally rolling like a log) the other rolls or glides over as if catching a wave and gets a ride Another is called 'sluffing' One person stands, the other leans into the person and slides off maintaining a point of contact as his/her weight falls with gravity towards the floor One other practice is 'the table

or posting' This is done in various levels One is on all fours A person drapes all of his/her weight on the table and then rolls off This can also be done in an ironing board stand, or by taking the weight on a hip or shoulder The practice of these simply is a practice Since the dance is improvised, it is also necessary to practice improvising with these concepts

A 'jam' is a practice environment in which no one is leading It is usually unstructured People come to dance Sometimes included in a jam is a 'round robin' In a class environment sometimes a round robin is a done as a practice It is done in a circle One person (A) goes in and dances Another (B) joins in They dance At some point a third person (C) joins in and (A) leaves (B) and (C) dance and eventually (D) enters and (B) leaves, etc Who goes with whom is not arranged and the dancing is improvised Mary Whitehouse also used this format in her groups

"As the participants circle around the space a dynamic environment is created; in response to this environment, the dancers allow certain beginnings to occur Intention and forcefulness have nothing to do with all of this The dance

is ever changing, never the same A series of events takes place as uninterrupted, pure transition from a beginning to

an end Working with contact improvisation is discovering how it feels to let this transition take place organically Ineach individual duet it becomes apparent when an ending needs to happen The dancers are obligated by the form to let these endings occur." (Curt Siddall, Contact Quarterly, Vol II, #1)

These are some exercises and vocabulary that are familiar to most contactors Contact improvisation is a form in which a person could enter another city and be able to dance with an unknown partner from that city without discussing how it is to be done Half of the name of the form is improvisation It is moving without knowing or planning the next step Being in contact with another person, feeling both weights physically and allowing the physical forces to be present allows the mutual freedom of movement in body and mind

"This brings us to the non-physical part of this dancing; the state of being or mind permitting mutual freedom, with mutual reliance The mind is kept empty of preconceptions and memories; it is in the present moments only, meditating on the potentials and on the easiest paths in the energy construct which are available to both dancers: it is

a state of abandon; trust in the self and in each other must be total The ability to help each other and one's self must

be ever ready: through constant movement one pursues mutual ease in constant mutual change The dancer's weight

is only his to give; not to possess." (Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol X #2)

In summary, contact improvisation is a movement form that includes trust, support, taking risks, touch, moving into the unknown and remaining in contact with another It is playful, nurturing, opening and expanding

IV THE TWO FORMS

A Comparison of Contact Improvisation and Dance/Movement Therapy

In practicing and teaching contact improvisation for years I have often heard, "Maybe it's not therapy but it sure is therapeutic." This statement has been provocative I have witnessed my own change and transformation physically and emotionally over the years of doing contact and even during a single session or class I have seen students walk out in a state far different than when he/she came in There is something about rolling for an extended period, about being touched being supported physically and supporting others that is indeed healing; that is indeed therapeutic What distinguishes it from being movement therapy? What is it in the form that is similar to dance/movement therapy? How can contact improvisation support me as a therapist? How does contact improvisation affect my therapy sessions?

I have chosen to compare dance/movement therapy with contact improvisation using two dance/movement

therapists, Mary Stark Whitehouse and Marion Chace for reference and Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith and a few other members of the contact community for references I will compare both the similarities and differences in theory and practice comparing how touch is used in each, how support is used, and how change is perceived I will also discuss the duet form in each form: the two partners in contact and the therapist/client in movement therapy I will explore the nature of improvisation and contact in each form To complete this section, I will discuss my personal connection with both forms and how I perceive my role and my connection with each

As a partner, the dance therapist is somewhat different than the contact improvisation partner However, as a model, the contact improvisation duet is useful for the dance therapist In contact improvisation each person is a witness for both him/herself and for his/her partner I feel this is similar to dance therapy Mary Whitehouse described an experience using dance/movement therapy "It was here in the passages of movement between two people that it became clear how much more immediate movement is than words The physical situation, the actual movement can

be felt directly in the nerves and the muscles, not glossed over by politeness or distorted by automatic agreement I saw how some tend to lead and some to follow, some take the initiative and some lay back; how some want to give continuously and some wait to receive." (Mary Whitehouse, "The Tao of the Body")

The contact improvisation partner responds to the movement of her/his partner The feedback is immediate, direct and physical This communication is often in relation to a partner's weight or touch It is a sensitive relationship in which one is aware of oneself and one's partner creating a dialogue, a conversation Through this awareness something happens One may arrive physically in a place that was unknown Often both partners are moved to a newplace both physically and emotionally

I feel that this is also true of movement therapy (and ideally happens for both partners) By witnessing a client, the therapist invites an awareness that encourages a client to become more aware of what he/she is feeling By also being aware of her/his self the therapist becomes aware of his/her feelings Through responding from this place of being aware, he/she gives the client direct feedback This feedback often brings a deeper awareness to the client of what is happening to him/her A client may realize more about his/her process He /she may 'own' his//her feelings

by responding back to the therapist in some way A dialogue may occur in which each partner responds honestly

Sometimes there becomes an acceptance of each person's feelings Through this there may be a change or a new awareness

Cycle

In both forms there is a cycle Sometimes this is quite instantaneous and sometimes the process takes longer In both forms there is a need to make some sort of contact (not necessarily physical), to build trust, give or receive support, develop the partnership or relationship, and end it

The intention in each relationship seems to be one of the primary distinctions to me In a therapy situation a person contracts in some way to this particular relationship There is permission and training for the therapist to work in a psychotherapeutic mode which may include the person's history, emotional states, etc The person also has a certain permission in the way he/she responds to the work and a certain expectation of what he/she can expect from the relationship

This differs from the contract of being both in a class and in a contact duet As a person in a class, the contract for the person is loosely stated as being present and for the most part cooperative In the partnership relationship a person is responsible for him/herself first, especially in terms of safety Then he/she is responsible to his/her partner Although there is no spoken contract to be emotionally supportive to a partner, there is often support given Often partners do not even know each other's name, let alone what they do for a living or if they had a difficult childhood

A teacher also knows little about people in the class, perhaps a little about their contact history In both forms peoplecome to 'improve' There is desire for change

Improvisation

In both forms the partner or the therapist 'improvises' Marion Chace walked into a room and found out what she needed to begin without many questions Her work with patients was primarily nonverbal Mary Whitehouse also utilized the moment to determine the next step Contact improvisation too derives its moves from spontaneous responses This is felt physically through the point of contact with a partner A partner remains open and sensitive to the other person and follows the path of least resistance

The Duet

I would like to compare the similarities and differences between the dyadic relationship between the client/therapist relationship and that of a contact duet partnership The areas that I will discuss are in reference to breaking isolation,nurturing, touch, trust, support, taking risks and improvisation/spontaneity

Breaking Isolation

A duet or partnership inherently involves at least two people This breaks the isolation of a

client/patient/student/partner Being in contact with another involves some level of intimacy and sharing This itself may be powerful Both contact improvisation and movement therapy use the duet in their practice "Marion used rhythm to break the isolation of a patient, making contact." (Marion Chace, Eight Theoretical Approaches in Dance/Movement Therapy, p 23.)

dependency on the therapist that the patient can come back and be able to use his/her own body to create his/her ownbody image." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 223)

In contact improvisation people often come to this form of dance for its nurturance It is often relaxing Many describe it as a moving massage There is not a specific series of movements a person is required to learn but rather movement from a view point of one's own body The physical touch is nurturing

As a partner there are times in which one might "work with the possibility of being involved solely for the sake of our partner," (Randy Warshaw, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #3/4) By this I am referring to a one sided relationship

In a therapy situation, a therapist is often involved for the sake of the client In a contact improvisation duet this might mean giving one's partner ledges or places to climb onto or supporting the partner's entire weight There is an activity in which one partner is completely passive and the other is the active person or mover One surrenders, the other takes care of I have also used this activity in a dance/movement therapy session with clients who have difficulty receiving

Weight and Support

The giving and taking of weight and the giving and receiving of support have somewhat different qualities in contactimprovisation and in dance/movement therapy, yet there is some similarity also Mary Whitehouse describes an activity that is similar to Steve's 'small dance; or the 'stand' "Give attention to the body as it is sitting Movement is the flow of energy that belongs to all livingness because it is natural for us to move We can discover a great deal about ourselves We can explore sensations and feelings that we did not know we had We can extend the range and freedom of our physical gestures We can learn to trust and express our own spontaneous reactions We can allow all movement to be creative."

She also describes an exercise about experiencing weight that is similar to a beginning exercise in contact

improvisation " feel the contact of part of your body touching and even pressing into and out of the floor The floorbecomes a partner; the focus is on up and down Up and down becomes mutually inter-dependent; they connects pushing into and away from the earth They connect lifting and reaching with sinking into the floor Connect with the floor up Find a connection inside." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches to Dance/Movement Therapy, p 66)

Steve describes an exercise that is similar to the one Mary Whitehouse described "Begin to move slowly around the room, not just on your hands, not just on your feet, not just on your legs, not just on your arms, rise and fall a lot, move on all surfaces feel the weight how 'down' is functioning It's a deliberate and patient journey, travel on any surface See, because your weight is being taken by the earth and vice versa Your mass at your center of gravity The giving is where the play comes There's you and the room to play with Every so often pause and feel what stops When you start, feel what goes " (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol III #1)

The use of weight can be used as support "The weight of my arms can help you to lift your arms." (Marion Chace, Her papers, p 223) This can also be emotional weight Physical exercises in experiencing weight can bring

emotional weight to the surface Feeling the weight of one's head and moving it, allowing the weight of the body to pour into the floor as sand might, and pouring one's weight onto a post are examples of contact exercises in weight

"Trying to stop or hold too much weight is dangerous The idea is to discover what is simplest to do (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #3/4) This statement could apply to the physical weight of a partner, the emotional weight of a client or partner or to yourself One needs to feel the support before giving or receiving weight

Support is another area that a partner or a therapist provides One contactor simply says, "We support each other Welearn the skills of support." (Keriac, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #1) This is done through giving and taking each other's weight I feel this also translates to support emotionally as well "Contact improvisation directly strengthens one's presence Contact improvisation nurtures a basic physical trust between two people and among a group The form demands a care and consideration of one's partner, and towards this end seeks to develop sensitivity and confidence." (Danny Lepkoff, Contact Quarterly, Vol V #2) "Within the form, this tendency is countered by working in close contact with a partner who is in a position to remind you that there are options you hadn't

considered Appreciating that invitation is one of the basic challenges improvising offers (Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol X, #3)

"How can I support another's weight?, How can I give my weight?, What is safe? In a therapeutic context, such questions provide the bases for an authentic level of interaction between client and therapist." (Rick Knowlton)

In contact improvisation one also finds support from the floor Mary Whitehouse's exercise described above with theuse of the floor as a partner is one way It is nurturing and safe to get support from the floor "There is another reasonfor being well acquainted with the floor By making direct, conscious contact with our primary source of support, weachieve a sense of stability; we become grounded In the psychological realm, grounding is a fundamental basis for confidence, and all types of sure-footedness." (Rick Knowlton)

In contact improvisation the sharing of support is more or less equal between partners The counter-balance is one activity in practicing the balance of weight and support between two people In movement therapy, the therapist takes on more weight and responsibility She/he frequently takes on the role of supporter

on its information to protect me, to warn me, to feed back to me the data to which I am responding." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, "Chutes Transcript", Vol VII #3/4)

"Most people come to contact improvisation drawn to the touch Other cultures have not deprived themselves of touch and the rest that Contact provides, so they don't need it as much." (Keriac, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #1)

"Touching is defined as 'the action, or act, of feeling something with the hand etc Although touch is not an emotion, its sensory elements induce those neural, glandular, muscular, and mental changes which in combination we call an emotion When we speak of being touched, it is the state of being emotionally moved that we wish to describe The verb 'to touch' comes to mean to be sensitive to human feeling To be 'touchy' means to be oversensitive 'To keep in touch' means that however far we may be removed we remain in communication." (Ashley Montagu, Touching, p 128)

There is a need in contact improvisation to allow oneself to be touched This is similar to dance/movement therapy The term 'to be touched', to allow another to touch you, to feel or empathize with another is a foundation of

movement therapy "We have to let ourselves be touched, moved It is no accident that when we are touched we call

it a 'moving experience'." (Mary Whitehouse, "Reflections on a Metamorphis")

In contact improvisation one needs to be 'touched' to move with another In contact improvisation the touch extends

to the physical dimension The touch of one's partner is felt and one responds to it through the point of contact This

is sensitive, focused work In my experience, connecting my body and mind brings me "present" in my whole body

I become committed to the dance and my partner through bringing my whole self to the moment in the dance I continue to find that it is when the physical touch comes into my warm-up that I truly 'arrive' It is similar to a boundary or a piece of cloth which I have used in movement therapy sessions I sometimes sense my self clearer when I have something to push against or when there is something sensitizing my boundary It also brings a playful quality to the dance

Similarly in movement therapy one can be touched to work with another Physical contact through touch is used, though selectively Mary Whitehouse wrote, "The touching is both an asset and a danger When you touch someone, you are touching the Self Not only do you touch the physical body in front of you but, through the body, you touch the outer layers of existence constituting the entire person You are activating the flow of energies, positive and negative When you touch, even to facilitate something so simple as sensation, you touch the larger entity that we call in Jungian language, The Self This makes touching productive to transference; it calls up the unconscious responses lying in want, responses that the conscious mind is not aware of If you take on what is brought up by touch without knowing what touch can produce, trouble may arise before you realize you are in deeper that you intended This does not mean that you ought to be guarded; it only means that knowing something about what you are touching is essential There is no such thing as making mistakes; there is no such thing as doing it right; there is

no such thing as being wise enough to avoid it It is foolish of a therapist, I think, to fend this off." (Mary

Whitehouse, "The Transference and Dance Therapy")

In one of Mary's groups in which there were equal number of men and women working with the relationship among themselves as a group there was a communication problem between the men and the women Mary separated them and slowly cued them to come into each other's space The men approached slowly and eventually made direct gentle contact with the women "When they were put in physical touch with each other, the door opened There followed a gradual growth of trust between them They could accept each other again They could give up their defensiveness and begin to work, they could communicate again." (Mary Whitehouse, Eight Theoretical Approaches

to Dance/Movement Therapy, p 69)

Marion Chace also talks of the use of touch in working with patients with distorted body images, "By touching or rubbing the skin or by moving muscles which stimulate the skin we delineate the surface of our bodies Since the sensations just below the surface of the skin are the primary source of body image the dance therapist uses the muscles to stimulate the areas under the surface of the skin It helps a patient find where the body is All of the therapeutic body movement is geared toward getting in touch with as much of the skin surface as you can You can

sometimes put your hands under the patients hands and let them push your hands down You are continuing the identification with your body because they have used your hands as part of themselves Then later begin work for differentiation between the two bodies." (Marion Chace, Her Papers, p 223)

Marion also talked about playing with the contact in the space between the therapist and the patient Similarly, in contact improvisation contact does not necessarily mean physical contact Contact may mean the energetic contact

or connection between two dancers

In dance/movement therapy, the use of touch is not the primary means of communication as it is in contact

improvisation In both forms touch is used and its use in both dance/movement therapy and contact improvisation has a similarity in communicating, sensing boundaries, support, feeling the self and nurturing

Trust

Before the depth of touch can occur either on a physical level or on an emotional level, a partner or therapist needs

to develop trust This involves safety on both physical and emotional levels

"It seems to me the most important element in private movement sessions has to do with trust; the client's trust of you and your trust in yourself and also your trust of your client and the client's trust of herself Mutual trust allows both of you to say yes or no according to the way she really feels This relationship is not transference, which is compelled by the unconscious The more human - the more your actual self - you manage to be in your movement sessions, the less chance there is of confusion never resolved One cannot provide reassurance, caring, approving, listening, directing until safety has been established Trust arises as soon as the individual feels there will be no betrayal, then it truly doesn't matter how quickly or how much he/she responds." (Mary Whitehouse, "The

Transference and Dance Therapy")

Marion Chace developed trust through approaching her patients from a distance She played with the space that was comfortable between her and her patients She did not move closer until an opening was clearly available She respected a person's personal space and through this respect developed a trusting relationship

In contact improvisation trust is necessary for the dance Similarly to Marion Chace's way of working, a contact partner needs to respect the personal space of one's partner "But it seems the edge is movable - that by sensing the limit, respecting it, you encourage it to open A push comes to a shove But if you go only as far as you are welcome,you are invited back." (Nancy Stark Smith, Contact Quarterly, Vol II #2)

The element of physical trust in both one's self and in one's partner is essential in contact improvisation "In a state

of trust of the body and the earth, we believed we could learn to handle the forces involved in physical interactions between two people who permit each other the freedom to improvise." (Steve Paxton, Contact Quarterly, "Chute Transcript", Vol VII #3/4)

"It's important that students notice the trust and confidence they gain in themselves and their partners to stay with a moment, and meet the needs of each changing moment Trust, patiently nurtured through confidence and familiarity,prepares the way for diversity Through trust, awkward, uncomfortable moments of vulnerability, and powerful moments of virtuosity become equally rich (Randy Warshaw, Contact Quarterly, Vol VII #3/4) Through this richness, this vulnerability, one gains information about oneself and one's partner

The Approach

Mary Whitehouse remarked that she, "had an approach, not a method much less a theory It is the moment of total awareness, the coming together of what I am doing and what is happening to me It cannot be anticipated." (Mary Whitehouse, "The Tao of the Body") This sounds very similar to the attitude of most teachers/leaders of contact improvisation Marion Chace also entered the room and felt what was needed, though perhaps her style was more structured than Mary's or Steve's style In many beginning contact improvisation classes there are exercises or ways

to focus on specific areas The teachers often have a way to begin that 'checks in' with everyone both personally and sometimes with a larger group and have a specific warm down similar to Marion Chace's warm down period Clearly the basis for both approaches is improvisation

Social

Marion Chace refers to her movement therapy sessions in context of the social element; the creation of community and interactions that positively affirm the patients Contactors also have a community or social connection that is part of the support, that nurtures the individuals and affirms the dance Participation is not limited to 'dancers', but rather to anyone who wants to develop new skills in movement There are workshops, projects, jams, conferences that connect people from all over the world Self Growth/Change

Mary Whitehouse said, "Any means of self knowledge is therapy." (Mary Whitehouse, "The Tao of the Body") With this notion, contact improvisation certainly fits into this category There are many contactors that feel that they have gained self knowledge through the practice of contact improvisation and have grown emotionally through the work

I feel the commitment to the work is primarily because of this "Contact improvisation is an expression of sensitivity

in both the physical and emotional realms It demands, above all, the ability to yield to the present moment People,