Cultivating Presence in Movement: Student Refections on the Practice of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® in Dance Training

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate an experimental course investigating the effect of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) on students' self-image and its transference to concept related dance phrases, motif based improvisations, outside training and performance, and their daily lives. As a dancer and teacher, I wanted to understand more clearly how participants perceive Awareness Through Movement and how it affects their self-image. I wondered how this kind of work might be transferable. Would participants be able to integrate changes in movement, sensation, feeling and thought experienced during Awareness Through Movement lessons into concept related movement phrases, motif based improvisations, their outside training and performance, their way of learning, their daily lives? Participants practiced ATM lessons, concept related dance phrases and motif based improvisations. Data include entrance and exit questionnaires, journals, written summaries of the students' experience, field notes taken by the researcher, and videotapes of the sessions. Participants reported: an enhanced self-image; greater internal authority; transfer of experiences from ATM lessons to dance classes, other forms of movement training, and daily life; and recognition of the pedagogic model used within ATM and its potential effectiveness in dance training. A cross check of the various data sources corroborates these participant reports.