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Flash Feldenkrais for the Busy Dancer: Part II

December 28, 2015 by 4dancers

STREB FORCES at Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, Texas. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.
STREB FORCES at Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, Texas.
Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

Aloha! Nancy Wozny, our Somatics specialist on the 4dancers Dance Wellness Panel recently gave us Part I of “Flash Feldenkrais for the Busy Dancer” –  here is Part II. This one is focused on what to do after a trauma, like a fall, or a disorienting movement experience (like a hectic, packed rehearsal day!). Thanks again to Nancy, and Happy Holidays to All!  – Jan Dunn, Dance Wellness Editor


by Nancy Wozny

I scampered to the edge of my seat to watch Cassandre Joseph fall from a great height as part of the kinetic pyrotechnics of STREB FORCES. She falls (or flies) and crash lands unharmed, as all of the STREB’s super action heroes do during their recent show at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston. Part of Elizabeth Streb’s brilliance is her meticulous methodology of falling, flying and crash landing in a way that we feel the visceral excitement of the motion.

Falling, jumping, unusual landings and the like, are all part of the contemporary dance landscape now, as dancers need to be fluid movers on the ground and in the air. Even partnering has evolved to include fabulous eye candy lifts and maneuvers. But there are times when dancers take a tumble when it wasn’t in the choreography. Most often, you stand up without any apparent injury, just feeling little stunned. Whether one sustains injury or not, unintentional forces have entered our systems, and we may feel discombobulated for a while. We’ve taken a blow, and that has an impact whether or not there are any visible scars.

All of this leads us to the continuation of my Flash Feldenkrais for the Busy Dancer. During Part I, we focused on coming back to neutral in the joints. This next lesson addresses how we organize ourselves for action, and is especially aimed to help us regain a neutral organization after a tumble or trauma. Even a minor trip can have somatic repercussions and lead to unnecessary holding patterns. The lesson is also great at just calming us down, and who doesn’t need a little bit of that now and then in the dance biz?

STREB FORCES at Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, Texas. Photo by Amitava Sarkar.
STREB FORCES at Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston, Texas.
Photo by Amitava Sarkar.

Flash Feldenkrais Lesson #2: Organizing the Spine in Side Lying

When to do this lesson: After any form of trauma or disorientating movement experience.

Why do this lesson: The lesson will help you return to a more neutral organization, calm down, and improve well being, if you feel a bit shaken up from a minor fall or a hectic day of rehearsal. If post injury, check with your doctor first.

What you need to do this lesson: You will need about 20 minutes of uninterrupted time, a soft mat or blanket and a towel to support your head during this lesson.

Remember: Rest between each step and before you fatigue. Do each instruction just a few times. Make the movement as easy as possible.

Rest on your back and notice your contact. Determine your favorite side. You will be lying on that side during the lesson. Turn to the preferred side so that your arms and legs are at a right angle to your torso. Your knees are bent at right angles but your arms will be straight and not bent at the elbows. Your palms rest on top of each other.

Move your top arm forward in the direction of your fingers passed the lower hand and then back to your starting place, remembering to keep the top arm straight. Notice the shape of your back changing and your head rolling toward the floor in front of you. Rest on your side.

Now move your top shoulder backwards in the direction of the floor behind you. Your top hand will glide toward the elbow of your lower arm. Your top shoulder blade moves behind you toward the floor. Turn your head toward the ceiling as you roll backward. Rest on your side.

Combine both movements, so that your top hand is moving forward and back. Feel the movement go through your spine. Your head will also be rolling toward the floor in front of you and toward the ceiling. Rest on your back and notice the contact of the working side.

Return to your preferred side. Move your top knee further forward, so that it passes the lower knee. You should feel the top ribs articulating. It’s a small movement. Make sure to move the knee directly forward in the direction it is already pointing. Think of your knee as a headlight so keep the light going the same direction as you glide the knee forward in space. Rest.

Now move the knee backwards so that the top hip moves toward the floor behind you. Put both of these movements together so that the knee moves forward and backward in space. Rest on your back. Notice how the contact of the working side.

Return to your side. Move the hand and hip forward and backward. Notice the movement of your head. Make the movement as fluid as possible. Rest on your back and notice the difference between your sides.

Repeat the entire lesson on the other side.

Rest on your back and notice your contact. Come to standing and notice your posture.

Remember you can do these lessons any time, whether you’ve taken a tumble or just want to come back to a calm place. Enjoy the lesson and stay tuned for Flash Feldenkrais Part III.


Nancy Wozny
Nancy Wozny

Nancy Wozny is editor in chief of Arts + Culture Texas, reviews editor at Dance Source Houston and a contributor to Pointe Magazine, Dance Teacher and Dance Magazine, where she is also an contributing editor. She has taught and written about Feldenkrais and somatics in dance for two decades.

 

Filed Under: conditioning Tagged With: Elizabeth Streb, feldenkrais, Flash Feldenkrais, nancy wozny, STREB FORCES

Flash Feldenkrais for the Busy Dancer: Part I

October 29, 2015 by 4dancers

We’re pleased to offer you “Flash Feldenkrais for Dancers” — by Nancy Wozny. Nancy is the Somatics expert on our Dance Wellness Panel — she wrote the article introducing Somatic work, and why it matters for dancers, “A Somatic Update for Dancers” in August of 2014. Nancy is a Feldenkrais practitioner herself, and is sharing her expertise with you in this series of “Flash Feldenkrais” postings — here is the first one.  Try it  –  I think you will like it.  Enjoy!       – Jan 

Jacob's Pillow
B: Brandon Collwes, Molly Griffin, and Brandin Steffensen of Liz Gerring Dance Company in glacier. Photo Christopher Duggan

Note: This is the first in a series of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Lessons that have been streamlined for dancers.

by Nancy Wozny

Watching Liz Gerring’s dancers in glacier this summer at Jacob’s Pillow navigate their way through a glorious feast of highly nuanced movement reminded me of how somatically rich some contemporary dancers’ lives are these days. Because Gerring’s vocabulary is so mind bogglingly detailed, her dancers are neurally nourished with novelty on a daily basis. Gerring’s dancers also move as if each step is a question, embracing an exploratory process, so that each movement feels like an act of discovery. The sheer abundance of specificity not only makes for compelling choreography, but has an added benefit to the dancers, and possibly the viewers as well. Just watching these deft movers made me feel as if I was getting a month-long Feldenkrais retreat thanks to those handy mirror neurons at work.

Sometimes, we forget just how diverse a dancer’s life is when considering the role of Somatics for today’s dancer. Somatics, defined by philosopher Thomas Hanna, is the study of the body as a lived experience. In my first piece for 4dancers, A Somatics Update, I outlined the characteristics of the field, which include cultivating an accurate sense of awareness, the use of non-habitual movement, resting between actions and attention to our habits, to name a few. The Feldenkrais Method, one of many somatic practices, is particularly useful for performing artists, especially dancers because of their complicated movement lives, which includes both repetition and novelty.

Contemporary choreographers and educators regularly look to change the status quo in what they are asking dancers to do. The movement in today’s dance classes and choreography is considerably more varied than it was say 20 years ago. What does all this have to do with Somatics?

You are busy, and all of us dance health folk are always trying to make you busier. Do this! Do that! The list of what a dancer needs to do besides daily technique class to stay healthy seems to grow each year.

I understand the demands of today’s dancer enough to know that anything can be streamlined to fit an artist’s schedule, even the prolific work of Moshe Feldenkrais, who created over 3,000 brilliant Awareness Through Movement lessons. And trust me, each one is a gem. Although it’s always beneficial to do longer and more complicated lessons, especially when you are in recovery mode, it’s possible to receive a benefit from shorter lessons.

Feldenkrais could very well be the father of cross training as well as somatics, as he addressed expanding our habits head on by introducing the role of novelty in movement as a neural refresher.

We also need to keep in mind that Feldenkrais Method and dance share some of the same domain, which includes inventive movement. The average dancer has no shortage of novelty in their lives, as they regularly meet the demands of today’s choreographers who tirelessly look for new ways to put the human body into action.

Maintenance mode doesn’t quite need the same time commitment, especially when you are getting a good amount of somatic diversity in your daily classes and rehearsals. However, a dancer’s time and energy budget is tight, so perhaps a need-to-know approach may be more doable when it comes to maintaining your somatic health.

With all of this in mind, I offer Flash Feldenkrais for the Busy Dancer, streamlined lessons that address common conditions in a dancers’ working life, which sometimes involves an abundance of novelty. That can be discombobulating in its own right. Sometimes, we need to scale back, look to more central organizations, and simply calm the whole system down. And because it’s Feldenkrais, a tiny bit of novelty pops in at the end because we always need a little post Feldenkrais play time.

Flash Feldenkrais Lesson #1: Returning to Neutral

When to do this lesson: When you have been doing a lot of performing or traveling, or both at the same time. Anytime something has thrown you off from your center, this lesson will help reel you in. I find it to be a somatic palate cleanser, and a “returning to your baseline” lesson.

Why do this lesson: You will find a wonderful ease in your limbs afterward. It’s the Feldenkrais equivalent of straightening out your holiday lights when they get all in a jumble.

What do you need to do this lesson: A soft mat or blanket and 15-20 uninterrupted minutes in a quiet room.

Remember: Rest between each step and before you fatigue. Do each instruction just a few times. Make the movement as easy as possible.

Lie on your back with your legs long and your arms by your side. Sense your contact against the ground. Bring your right arm up so that your fingers point to the ceiling and your palm faces your midline. Notice the effort it takes to do this movement.

Bend up your knees and bring your feet to standing. Bring your right arm up again and move your right arm slightly toward and away from your midline. Notice the “sweet spot” when you pass through neutral.

Bring your right arm up again and move it slightly toward your head and then toward your feet. Notice when you pass through neutral.

Bring your right arm up again and move it toward the midline and away, then toward your head, then your feet, always returning to neutral between each movement.

Repeat steps 1-5 with the left arm.

Repeat steps 1-5 steps with both arms at once.

Repeat steps 1-5 with the right leg in the air.

Repeat steps 1-5 with the left leg in the air.

Bring all limbs into the air and spend some time improvising. Play with the limbs moving toward and away from each other in various configurations. This is where the imagination can slip in while you find some new and fun ways of moving your limbs in space.

Rest on your back again. Lift your right arm into the air and notice how easy it is now. Come to sitting, then standing. Walk around and notice your sense of ease and grace.

NEXT UP: Stay tuned for the second installation of Flash Feldenkrais for the Busy Dancer, which will focus on organizing oneself for a shift and cleansing the kinesthetic palate.


Nany Wozny

Nancy Wozny is editor in chief of Arts + Culture Texas, reviews editor at Dance Source Houston and a contributor to Pointe Magazine, Dance Teacher and Dance Magazine, where she is also an contributing editor. She has taught and written about Feldenkrais and somatics in dance for two decades.

Filed Under: conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: choreographers, contemporary choreographers, cross training, dancers, feldenkrais, Feldenkrais Method, Flash Feldenkrais, jacob's pillow, Liz Gerring, mirror neurons, nancy wozny, somatics, Thomas Hanna

A Somatic Update For Dancers

August 7, 2014 by 4dancers

Ami Shulman with participants from the 2011 Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob's Pillow; photo Cherylynn Tsushima, courtesy Jacob's Pillow Dance
Ami Shulman with participants from the 2011 Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob’s Pillow; photo Cherylynn Tsushima, courtesy Jacob’s Pillow Dance

Our guest author for this Dance Wellness posting is introducing a topic I have been wanting to bring to our readers–integrating somatic work into dance. Nancy Wozny has long been associated with somatics and dance, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Arts + Culture Texas, in Houston. She is a Feldenkrais teacher and has taught at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Women’s University, the Jung Center, and other institutions, and has been a guest lecturer at Rice University since 2005.

Somatics (the term is derived from the Greek word for the living body ‘ Soma”) many years ago was called “The Body Therapies”, and has long been a topic close to my heart. In the 1980’s / early 1990’s, I was Director of the Workshops for Professionals at The American Dance Festival, which included The Body Therapy Workshop–and in that capacity, I had the privilege to learn about and experience many forms of somatic work, and could see their benefits for dancers.

Nancy’s article will be the first in a series of articles I hope to have for you, our readers. This one is meant as a general introduction to the subject, and down the road we will have separate articles on some of the major somatic systems that are being used in dance. We have already talked about some of them – Pilates, for example, and Franklin Method, could be considered to be in this category.

I’m very pleased that Nancy has agreed to write this initial article on a very important topic —Enjoy !

Jan Dunn, MS, Dance Wellness Editor

______________________________________

by Nancy Wozny

“How do you allow the movement to be reversible at any moment?” asks Ami Shulman, while teaching in the contemporary program at the school of Jacob’s Pillow. Shulman, formerly of Compagnie Marie Chouinard and now a Feldenkrais teacher, is part of a new generation of movement educators shaping the dance field one plie at a time.

Somatics has come a long way since I was once introduced by accident as an expert in “somnambulism,” which technically is a sleeping disorder. We do, in fact, become a little sleepy when doing a somatic practice, but that’s not the point.

Much of what makes up the field of somatics was in motion way before the term was coined in 1976 by philosopher Thomas Hanna. Somatics derives from the Greek word for the living body, “soma,” and is the study of the body experienced from within. More simply put, it’s the skill of being able to sense one’s state of being. You would think we wouldn’t need help with that, but due to the habitual nature of our modern lives, we do.

Today, if you mention you attended a Feldenkrais Method or Alexander Technique session, many of your peers will have some idea of what you mean. The years of “Feldenwhat?” and “Alexander who?” are fading. The Alexander Technique even got a mention in Lena Dunham’s popular HBO hit show GIRLS. There’s also a much greater chance that you might run into somatic principles and concepts in your daily life.

Ami Shulman with participants from the 2011 Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob's Pillow; photo Cherylynn Tsushima, courtesy Jacob's Pillow Dance
Ami Shulman with participants from the 2011 Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob’s Pillow; photo Christopher Duggan, courtesy Jacob’s Pillow Dance

Listening to Shulman pepper in instructions with words like “soften,” “feel,” “explore” and “sense,” reminds me of just how fluid the boundary can be between somatics and a dance class. There are a multitude of ways the work surfaces in a movement class. If your dance or yoga teacher starts with a body scan on the floor, that’s somatics. If you have worked with a foam roller with your physical therapist, yep, somatics. (Moshe Feldenkrais was first to use those handy cylinders. Back in the day, they were made from wood.) If you have tried any wobbly balance challenging gadget, yes, that too has its origins in the somatics goal of enlisting a non-habitual environment to elicit new movement. If anyone has asked you to stop and pay attention to what you are actually doing in that moment, boom, somatics.

The idea that we can better pay attention to our actions to control our movement can be traced back to the late 19th-century European Gymnastik movement, which used breath, movement, and touch to direct awareness. François Delsarte, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Bess Mensendieck encouraged a kind of inside-out expression that questioned the traditional nature of movement training. They seemed to be saying “the body is the person,” thus joining mind and body in a celebration of the human form.

The American contribution to somatics also deserves mention. Mabel Ellsworth Todd’s classic text, The Thinking Body, introduced dancers to the role of the mind in dance training back in 1937. Her student, Lulu Sweigard (who later taught at Juilliard), developed a process of activating the imagination to affect movement called “ideokinesis.” (from the Greek words for “idea” and “movement”) Irene Dowd, who won the American Dance Festival’s 2014 Balasaraswati/Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching award, carried the work even further. Eric Franklin, with the Franklin Method, continues to explore and develop new ways to incorporate imagery and neuroplasticity concepts into dance training.

The American Dance Festival, in Durham, NC, under the leadership of Dean Martha Myers, introduced somatic work to thousands of dancers in the 1980’s and ‘90’s, with The Body Therapy Workshops and by having specific classes and faculty as part of the regular Festival schedule. Myers, while not a somatic practitioner herself, early on recognized the value of this work for dancers, and through her, ADF became one of the seminal places where somatics integrated into dance training. Her 6-part Dance Magazine series “The Body Therapies” (1983) is considered one of the best early sources for learning about the field.

Soon, it seemed people from all over the world, from a variety of disciplines, were exploring the same territory from different entry points. Because dance is a body-centered art from, it has always been ahead of the body/mind game.

In fact, so many of the American somatic pioneers harked from the dance world. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Body-Mind Centering) was first to consider how our developmental structures are mirrored in our movement. The late Emily Conrad (Continuum) considered the primacy of the fluid system. Joan Skinner (Skinner Releasing Technique), Elaine Summers (Kinetic Awareness), Susan Klein (Klein Technique), and Judith Aston (Aston-Patterning) each added their own approaches as well.

Ami Shulman with participants from the 2013 Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob's Pillow; photo Christopher Duggan
Ami Shulman with participants from the 2013 Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob’s Pillow; photo Christopher Duggan

And then we need to consider all the somatic smoothies going in dance, yoga, Pilates and fitness classes. The material is out there and people are using it, whether they know where its origins are from or not.

So what defines an activity as somatic? Here are some basic guidelines. Know that there are differences between each somatic discipline that may stress one of these principles more than another. While the modalities differ, the goal of living a more complete and embodied life remains central to the somatic domain.

Starting in a neutral place:

Somatics is a subtle process, if we don’t know where we are in the first place, it might be hard to tell that anything is different at the end. We need a baseline to know that change occurred. Most somatic classes begin with some kind of inventory of how a person is operating. It may be as simple as lying on the ground and sensing which parts are heavier.

Slower than slow:

If you have ever listened to someone playing a familiar song on the piano so slowly that you forget what song it is, you will know exactly why we move so slowly in a somatic class. When we move slowly, it gives us the time to pay attention, and our habits are less likely to commandeer the train of our body and take over. We get a fresh start and a better chance for improvement. Keep in mind, things aren’t always slow; that would be too habitual.

Using images:

When Shulman asks her students to use their feet like a tongue, suddenly the quality in the room shifts as they consider the contact of their body against the floor. Many somatic practitioners have used visual images to evoke certain ideas, direction or quality of movement. The mind/body card has been since backed up with mirror neuron theory concerning the power of thinking yourself through a movement.

Reflection:

Whether its Emily Conrad’s open attention, or Alexander’s inhibition, or Feldenkrais’ many rests, there is always the pause that matters. Somewhere in the process, you will stop what you are doing. Somatics enlist a discontinuous process, and the pauses are built into the lessons. In Feldenkrais, the pause is when the work does its work.

Habit:

Somatics practitioners talk a lot about habit. The first thing to know is that we need habits. Life would be a huge bore and a chore without them. We would spend all day trying to figure out how to tie our shoes. Habit is not the bad guy. But not having enough habits, or using the wrong habit to accomplish a certain action, can lead us into trouble.

Non-habitual movement:

If you find yourself doing the same thing week after week, it’s not somatics. We like to change it up on planet soma, so there is very little repetition. Most often you are doing movements that you have never done before, which will feel awkward and sometimes, even annoying. Dancers don’t like to be beginners, but they should give it a try more often. When you do a movement that is new to you, it’s hard to bring old habits to the floor, because you don’t have any.

Exploration rather than accomplishment:

This is a tough one for dancers, who are used to getting somewhere, and generally speaking, the faster the better. The “there” of somatics is not one place, but many places. Lessons are designed for you to explore through. You navigate a constrained playground set up by the lesson or practitioner.

Feel rather than see:

When I was a young dancer, moving away from the mirror meant I basically disappeared. I had no idea where I was in space without my BFF, the mirror. I was constantly getting lost on stage because of this over reliance on my reflection. In a somatic experience, the mirror should and will be covered. You will be sensing yourself from the inside. This is a skill, and a rather handy one at that. As mirrors do not follow us around in our lives, I suggest you learn it well. (Editors’ note: Do you remember from the Sally Radell articles on mirrors? – I gave you Master Limon Teacher Betty Jones’ favorite quote: “mirrors put you outside of your body, not in it”!)

Ami Shulman with participants from the Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob's Pillow; photo Em Watson, courtesy Jacob's Pillow Dance
Ami Shulman with participants from the Contemporary Program of The School at Jacob’s Pillow; photo Em Watson, courtesy Jacob’s Pillow Dance

How does somatics fit in with a dancer’s overall training regime?

In my day, some dancers went off the deep end of the somatic pool and forgot that they needed daily training to keep up their technique. This is the contradiction we need to embrace in any kind of elite training. It takes hard work to make a dancer, with tons of repetition and time in the classroom. Somatics doesn’t replace training, it augments it, preventing the strict training regimes necessary in dance from becoming injurious. It helps spread the neurological load, so we move with more of ourselves in terms of effort. We don’t build strength in a somatics activity, we gain easier access to our strength. Just like a diet, we need and crave variety, and a chance to reboot our system so that we are operating in the most optimal way. That’s what somatics offers.

Do I have to go to a dedicated somatics class?

These days, a somatic experience can be slipped into just about any kind of movement class. There are ballet teachers who have been known to bring in a little somatics between tendus and grande battements. As I said earlier, the material is out there and being used in all kinds of innovative ways. You would be hard pressed to find a physical therapist not using some somatic principles in their work. A dedicated class is terrific for injury prevention and deep learning, but know there are many ways to access this wealth of knowledge.

What will seem downright weird to newbies?

Honestly, just about everything. You will think you are wasting your time on the ground sensing yourself when you could be stretching. Your teacher may not be a dancer or even look remotely like a dancer. I remember thinking during one of my early Feldenkrais classes that the movement was ugly. You will wonder how these simple movements will help you. You might doubt everything. All of this or some of this will probably happen. Carry on anyway. It will be worth it in the long run.

So why add this to your already jammed back training regime?

A few reasons: you will have a longer career, you will gain skills that will stay with you way beyond your dance career, and finally, you will simply be more graceful to watch, whether you are fetching water or doing a 32 fouettes.


Nancy Wozny, photo by Christopher Duggan
Nancy Wozny, photo by Christopher Duggan

Nancy Wozny picked up the somatics cause when she was 22 and never put it down. She has taught Feldenkrais classes to a broad range of individuals and has taught at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Women’s University, Rice University, the Jung Center and other institutions. Her stories on dance and somatics can be found in Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher and Pointe. Currently, she is editor in chief of Arts + Culture Texas, based in Houston, TX.

Filed Under: conditioning, Dance Wellness Tagged With: alexandar technique, american dance festival, ami shulman, bonnie bainbridge cohen, dance conditioningmartha myers, dance training, dance wellness, emily conrad, feldenkrais, judith aston, mabel ellsworth todd, nancy wozny, sally radell, somatic practice, somatics, susan klein, the thinking body

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