The mothers: Life and death in dance therapeutic processes in Dansergia

Abstract

This research paper is based on embodied, phenomenological and narrative methodologies and is a movement psychological narrative about Clara's and Asta's dance therapeutic processes in the dance therapy form Dansergia1,2. As fate would have it, they are both currently preparing themselves to say goodbye to their mothers. Asta meets love behind the hard realities of life, while Clara, by accepting her mother's approaching death process, opens up for new life energy beyond stiffness in her own body which has lasted for years. The theme of the article is how birth and death, taking leave and new beginnings are woven together in rhythmic wave movements which affect all human movement processes. In a societal context, the article may be regarded as a critical voice. It points to the division between fast-paced, youth-fixated western society's often hidden death processes on the one hand, and Clara's and Asta's existential processes on the other. In the dance therapeutic space, there is room to look at both death and life.

Keywords:

• embodied research
• change waves
• movement psychology
• life
• death
• birth

Notes

1. The article includes a word that is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trademark. Its inclusion does not imply it has acquired a non-proprietary or general significance for legal purposes, nor is any other judgment implied concerning its legal status.

2. Dansergia is an energy-based dance and body psychotherapeutic method developed during the past 30 years by Stèphano Sabetti and colleagues. Dansergia is accredited by the EABP (European Association of Body Psychotherapy).

3. All names and identifying features have been changed to protect the clients' confidentiality. The clients named Asta and Clara have given permission for their narratives to be used in the article.

4. This article and the focus of The Mothers is based on the research project Movement Psychology – the language of the body and the psychology of movement based on the dance therapy form Dansergia.