Expressive Dance Therapy

Project report
Abstract
Introduction:
Many young children in their school years struggle to figure out who they are as individuals and what values and morals they hold. There are many other difficulties they face in their journey from childhood to young adulthood such as ineffective communication skills and low self-esteem or self-worth. Being able to communicate feelings effectively with friends and family can have a positive influence on the person a student becomes.
Children are more likely to be more comfortable in expressing themselves with some crayons and markers, for example, than at expressing emotions and feelings through words. A question and answer type of format can be overwhelming and frightening for a child, especially when
they have to try and explain themselves with their already limited vocabulary. Because of this, expressive art therapy for children can be a much more viable solution for communication than simply having a conversation and talking about things. The expressive arts combine the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other creative processes to foster deep personal growth and community development. Art is a universal facet of human expression and is believed to be as old as human civilization. “The use of art for healing and mastery is at least as old as the drawings on the walls of caves” (Aron-Rubin, 2005, p. 6).
Expressive arts therapy is the practice of using imagery, storytelling, dance, music, drama, poetry, movement, horticulture, dream work, and visual arts together, in an integrated way, to foster human growth, development, and healing. It is about reclaiming our innate capacity as human beings for creative expression of our individual and collective human experience in artistic form.
If a child experiences something tragic, that event usually gets buried in their subconscious where it affects them in the future.
Children find it difficult to express deep-rooted emotional issues. Through expressive art therapy children can help bring these suppressed emotions to the surface.
Expressive art therapy can also aid a child in achieving better self-awareness, relief from stress or anxiety, learning disorders, autism, and other traumatic experiences. Through art therapy, children receive treatment that is based on their existing strengths, weaknesses, interests, and concerns. It can help children of all ages and races.
According to the American Dance Therapy Association website (2009), dance movement therapy is defined by the association as “the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration of the individual.” Levy (1988) described Dance Movement Therapy as “the use of dance and movement that allows the body movement to reflect inner emotional states and changes in movement behavior can lead to changes in the psyche, thus promoting health and
growth.”

Review of Literature
“The use of art for healing and mastery is at least as old as the drawings on the walls of caves” (Aron-Rubin, 2005, p. 6).
Creative arts allow children the opportunity to grow and develop self-awareness through self-expression. This has been shown to reduce stress and accelerate psychological and physical healing. For many children and adults imprisoned in German concentration camps during World War II, drawings and paintings were used to cope with the horrors they saw each day. (Orstein, 2006). They responded to an imperative psychological demand to put on paper what they saw and what they felt (p. 395-396). Painting and poetry were a way for them to survive and cope.
Children frequently repress painful emotions and horrific experiences as a basic survival mechanism (van der Kolk, 2002). Children with a history of trauma experience multiple losses and carry the toxic memories from their past. They have a higher risk of experiencing mental health problems as adults. Expressive arts have long been used with children to promote psychological health and social support. They offer children “a way to express their feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and memories in ways that words cannot” (Malchiodi, 2005, p. 9). Studies indicate that expressive arts assist healing from childhood trauma and aid in overall mental health “by providing opportunities to share experiences in an empathic environment through symbolically expressing emotions in a concrete way” (Smilen, 2009, p. 381).
A child’s spiritual awareness and development can be improved by the use of expressive arts. The use of dance deepens “children’s spiritual awareness and provides a context for the development of a kinesthetic intelligence, which allows children to embody and give expression to abstract concepts and ideas” (Bhagwan, 2009, p. 229).
A study was conducted by Mary K Corteville in 2009. The objective of this study was to determine if Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) contributed to improved self esteem, body image, and communication skills for females struggling with relational issues with their paternal figure. In a pre-test post test design, The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was administered to the girls followed by DMT activities for a period of 2 months, and the questionnaire being given again post the sessions. The post test results indicated that DMT was an effective therapeutic technique with improved scores on the self esteem scale. The objective of this study was to reduce feelings of low self esteem and poor body image in adolescent high school aged girls in a school setting as well as enhancing communication skills they use with their parental figures, by the use of dance movement therapy.
A study by Asmita Vilas Balgaonkar, provides detailed information about Dance Motor Therapy and its impact on the cognitive development of children. It examines the factors influencing dance therapy and its positive effect on cognitive development. The results show that Dance movement Therapy can create a good environment for cognitive development and that it is beneficial for most number of children and implementable for maximum number of teachers.
Dance Movement Therapy is not like teaching dance. Quite to the contrary, DMT is a therapy where a therapist is led by the clients; both go through the movements while the therapist empathically mirrors and senses (Wennerstand, 2008). According to Spindell (1996), DMT differs from standard exercise or movement programs in that it is designed to inspire creativity and a sense of wholeness in the clients. This in return, promotes feelings of essential well-being. Background of the project
-Anubha Doshi and Artsphere
Anubha Doshi is a Clinical Psychologist, Arts Based Therapist and member of the International Dance Council. She topped Pune University with a scholarship and attained her degree in Clinical Psychology from Fergusson College, Pune. She has trained in dance therapy under Tripura Kashyap and earned her Arts Based Therapy (drama, music, visual art) diploma from WCCL foundation. She has conducted dance therapy workshops for corporate houses, counseling centers and colleges. She is the pioneer of the dance therapy course in Pune based on Mindfulness.
She is the Founder, Director of Artsphere, a very well-known performing Arts and healing centre in Pune. Artsphere is an exciting multi utility arts venue that fosters participation, engagement with performing arts and offers therapeutic and spiritual initiation through artistic activities.
The Art forms:
Capoiera: Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music, and is sometimes referred to as a game. It was developed in Brazil mainly by West African descendants with native Brazilian influences, probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known for quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for a wide variety of kicks, spins, and highly mobile techniques.
Drumming:
West african djembe: A djembe or jembe is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying "Anke djé, anke bé" which translates to "everyone gather together in peace" and defines the drum's purpose. In the Bambara language, "djé" is the verb for "gather" and "bé" translates as "peace."
Along with technique on how to play the djembe and various rhythms, students will learn authentic background information of when and why these rhythms were originally played.

Samba:
Samba is a lively, rhythmical dance of Afro Brazilian origin in 2/4 time danced to Samba music whose origins include the Maxixe.
Samba is a dance authentic to black/African people in Brazil who brought much of their music and dance culture into Latin America with, them upon arrival into many Latin American countries. Samba music is very similar to and has been influenced by many Angolan music genres. It has also been influenced by many other Latin American music genres and dances. The Samba music rhythm has been danced in Brazil since its inception in the late 16th century. There is actually a set of dances, rather than a single dance, that define the Samba dancing scene in Brazil; thus, no one dance can be claimed with certainty as the "original" Samba style.

Story Telling: Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, sound and/or images, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view. The term 'storytelling' is used in a narrow sense to refer specifically to oral storytelling and also in a looser sense to refer to techniques used in other media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a story.
Dance Therapy: Benefits of DMT
1. Facilitates self-awareness
2. Enhances self-esteem
3. Reduces anxiety
4. Encourages reminiscing
5. Maintains and/or increases mobility
6. Enhances body-mind connectivity
7. Focus on non-verbal communication as method of therapy It helps the participants achieve emotional, cognitive, physical, and social integration. Beneficial for both physical and mental health, dance therapy can be used for stress reduction, disease prevention, and mood management. In addition, DMT's physical component offers increased muscular strength, coordination, mobility, and decreased muscular tension.

References:
American Dance Therapy Association (2009, November). What is DMT? http://www.ADTA.net.
Aron-Rubin, J. (2005). Child art therapy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, Inc
Balgaonkar, A. (2010). Effect of Dance/ Motor Therapy on the Cognitive Development of Children International Journal of Arts and Sciences 3(11): 54 - 72, Solapur University, India
Bhagwan, R. (2009). Creating sacred experiences for children as pathways to healing, growth and transformation. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 14(3), 225-234.
Corteville, Mary K., "Dance Your Way to Communication: Dance Movement Therapy to Increase Self-Esteem, Poor Body Image, and Communication Skills in High School Females" (2009).
Counselor Education Master's Theses. Paper 21.
Levy, F. (1988). Dance Movement Therapy A Healing Art. Virginia: National Dance Association.
Malchiodi, C. (2005). Using art activities to support trauma recovery in children. Trauma & Loss: Research & Interventions, 5(1), 8-11.
n.d. (2003), Appalachian Expressive Arts Collective, Expressive Arts Therapy: Creative Process in Art and Life. Boone, NC: Parkway Publishers. p. 3
Ornstein, A. (2006). Artistic creativity and the healing process. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 26(3), 386-406.
Rangparia, Rakhi, "Dance/Movement Therapy in India" (2011). Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling Theses. Paper 3.
Smilan, C. (2009). Building resiliency to childhood trauma through arts-based learning.Childhood Education, 85(6), 380.
Spindell, M. (1996). Dance/movement therapy opens communication pathways. Brown University Long-Term Care Quality Advisor, 8(13), 1-4.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2002). In terror’s grip: Healing the ravages of trauma. Cerebrum, 4, 34-50.
Wennerstrand, A. (2008) Dance/Movement therapy: learning to use dance to help others. Dance Magazine, 82(10),
86-88.