 The
need for expressive dance and movement to be integrated into people’s
lives has never been more important. As our lives get busier, faster
and fuller, there is a long search for meaning, and a deep need
for people to empty. We need to shed the expectations, conditions
and pressures of the culture that we carry in our body in order
to find those silenced voices, buried dreams, joys and hurts that
are often just resting, under the surface - forgotten.
Living Dance incorporates a large element of dance therapy as well
as influences from many other disciplines and practices. We turn
our attention inwards - feeling, sensing, breathing and embodying
ourselves through movement. We acknowledge that our body reflects
our life: sitting, walking, moving, doing. We notice the impact
of each day. We become aware how daily preoccupations affect our
sense of body, energy, posture, and state of mind.
Each exploration is intended to create a sense of openness, so
we can be available to the present moment and our physical reality.
People are invited to step outside of their familiar roles and discover
new possibilities of being, through expressive movement. We explore
the inner terrain of our body in easy, accessible ways, allowing
our physical anatomy to be a resource for movement and creativity,
a pathway to our imagination. We take the time to pay attention
and respond to subtle impulses that we receive from our bodies;
to roll on the floor, cry at the moon, expand the arms wide or curl
up in a ball. Gliding, splashing, melting, springing, closing, lengthening
and tumbling all become part of the language that gives a body its
voice - a means of expression. Focusing on feeling the qualities,
textures and shapes of the movements increases our awareness of
what movement actually communicates and expresses.
“For me, dancing is rediscovering the life process,
experiencing the intensity of existence with a finer notion of time.
While dancing, I gradually become aware of an inner world, of another
me and my dance is enriched by this new universe which I have discovered.”
(Unknown source)
Establishing a good movement foundation can help integrate our
physical, perceptual and psychological self. Through play, movement,
hands-on and dialogue, we can change how we feel, sense and act
in the world.
The reverberation of this work runs deep into the core of your
life, and profound change may occur. This is why I love to teach
- to be a witness to a person moving completely spontaneously in
a rhythm that they have discovered is uniquely their very own is
precious, and rare.
Expressive dance and movement offers a place to express all of
who you are, through the language of your body, in a playful, connected
and meaningful way.
“Throughout time dance has not changed in one essential function.
The function of dance is communication. The responsibility that
fulfills its function belongs to us who are dancing today. To understand
dance for what it is, it is necessary we know from whence it comes
and where it goes. It comes from the depths of man’s inner
nature, the unconscious, where memory dwells. As such, it inhabits
the dancer. It goes into the experience of man, the spectator, awakening
similar memories." ~ Martha Graham
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Rebecca Byrne is an independent movement artist who has been
working with movement and dance as a therapeutic and artistic medium
for over a decade. Her experience and expertise is based on years
of research and reflection in diverse fields of movement studies.
She founded the Living Dance Institute and studio in 1999, where
she runs courses and training programs in EDMT, and provides supervision
of teaching for Living Dance graduates.
Rebecca is a member of the Dance Therapy Association of Australia
and is committed to the development of Dance Therapy in Perth. In
2004 she had the role of Creative director for the community dance
project Moving Stories of Women an exhibition of photos, performance
art work and fabric.
Her latest achievement in 2005 was of choreographer and assistant
director for the community project Ran Away an evocative dance drama
based on the life of refugee women.
Underlying her work is a deep belief in the healing and creative
potential within each of us.
Underlying her work is a deep belief in the healing and creative
potential within each of us.
“To me dance is about inner freedom.
Throughout history dance has been used to express the basic needs,
struggles and strengths of the individual and group. My vision is
of a society that encourages and supports dance not only as an art
form but also as a healing modality. Moving us towards a life that
has deeper meaning, joy and individual expression.”
Click here for course details.
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