Somatics in Action: How “I Feel Three-Dimensional and Real” Improves Dance Education and Training

The contemporary dance world, both in academic and professional settings, asks dancers to consistently engage with increasingly complex conceptual and physical dance work. Dancers in both settings must assimilate complex movement patterns, combine the technical nuances of multiple genres, reflect upon and critically assess their dancing, and achieve optimal expression in a frequently reduced amount of creative rehearsal. In the professional arena, budgetary constraints (the cost of rehearsal space and the cost of paying dancers for their time) impact the rehearsal process; and in the educational environment, lack of adequate studio space or accessibility to studio space impact dance programs that must share space with other programs. Somatics in Action: How “I Feel Three-Dimensional and Real” Improves Dance Training” details a pedagogical approach to preparing universitylevel dancers to become 21st Century dancers. The article focuses on incorporating multiple somatic theories, such as alignment-based yoga, Pilates, Bartenieff Fundamentals, and Ideokinesis, into one cohesive movement practice titled “somatics in action.” Further, how this movement practice is woven into the fabric of a traditional modern dance technique format allowing dancers to become cohesive, fluid, and mindful movers is illustrated. This article is part of the following collections: The Expanding Dynamics Between Somatics and Dance Education Notes *There are some in the Somatic community who argue that certain contemporary interpretations of yoga and Pilates are not somatic models because they place more value on controlling the body and less on inviting and attending to the individual's “innate wisdom.” I choose to include yoga and Pilates as somatic modalities based on the definition of somatics as “the kind of training disciplines that address the unification of the mind and the body.” Thomas Hanna originated the term “somatics” in 1976; http://www.hannasomatics.com.