Dance/Movement Therapy in Virtual Spaces: Building Practices for Connection

The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant changes to multiple aspects of study, practice and teaching in dance/movement therapy. As dance/movement therapy clinicians, educators, and students adapted their practices to virtual settings, questions arose around the concept of embodiment and community building in these new spaces: what does it look like to embody connection and kinesthetically attune to one another through the screen? In this phenomenological study, researchers focused on the experiences of dance/movement practitioners and students as they navigate online tools to innovate teaching, learning, and practice. Through individual interviews and a focus group, researchers invited conversation across diverse perspectives to support emergent knowledge in techniques and practices examining theory and ways to grow and innovate as a field. Participants were able to share their own experiences and model engagement in embodied conversation in a virtual space to speak about these emerging themes.