Integrating Fundamental Principles Underlying Somatic Practices into the Dance Technique Class

Integrating somatic practices into the dance technique class by bringing awareness to the bodily processes of breathing, sensing, connecting, and initiating can help students reconnect the mind with the body within the context of the classroom environment. Dance educators do not always have the resources to implement separate somatics courses within their curriculums or to incorporate this body of knowledge into their technique classes. This article introduces the fundamental principles central to many somatic practices (The Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais Method, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis, Body-Mind Centering, and Ideokinesis) and provides a model for integrating these ideas into the dance technique class. The exploratory movement activities provided allow the dance student to re-learn how the exteroceptive and proprioceptive systems work together and can be used to detect and correct movement problems.