"This study explores the pedagogy of Kinetic Awareness", a somatic practice developed by Elaine Summers. I trace the legacy of Summers and the work of future practitioners through a qualitative research project. As a Kinetic Awareness teacher, I, as researcher, discuss my own insider status and subjective positionality during the project. The major data collection tool was one four-hour interview. Additionally, I spent two weekends with Summers, interviewing her, spending time with her, working on Kinetic Awareness board activities, and conducting an extensive member check by asking her to review my manuscript and make changes accordingly. Thus, field notes and observation, as well as a systematized self-reflexivity were also included. Summers and I spent much time sharing sometimes conflicting perspectives and discussing directions of the work. The study may be characterized as post positivist since I juxtapose the diverse ways Kinetic Awareness may be perceived, applied, and conceptualized. I do not attempt to find one "truth" but layers of complexity in describing and characterizing the work." (Green 245)

"As i grow older, I see the need to recognize those who came before, and as he field of somatics in dance education continues to develop, I feel a need to distinguish those who contributed so greatly to the practice and pedagogy of the work. However, while I strive to bring recognition to my mentor and friend, I do so while searching for diverse directions the work is taking and may continue to take in the future." (Green 246)

"My conversations with Elaine Summers convey more than an attempt to discuss her work. Beyond depicting the legacy of a somatic educator, I attempt to look at Kinetic Awareness from the perspective of its developer as well as from a multitude of possible perspective of its developer as well as from a multitude of possible lenses and applications. In one sense this study is presented as a narrative about my communication with Summers. In another sense, it traces the directions and diverse developments of the work." (Green 247)

"When thinking about someone like Elaine Summers, I realize the significance of tracing the power of their life and work because she has affected the field of dance on so many levels and in so many ways. In fact, Elaine Summers has left us with a number of legacies. You may know Elaine through her choreography and as one of the members of the Judson Dance Theater in the 60s and 70s. You may know Elaine through her work with the visual arts, as a known filmmaker and prominent member of the downtown New York visual arts community. I know her mainly through her work with the development of Kinetic Awareness" (KA). It is through the teaching of this body-mind work that I have seen her touch so many dance lives.

Background

Because this system uses rubber balls to enhance body awareness and release excess muscular tension, KA is often referred to as "the ball work": "Balls placed under various parts of the body provide contact with inner sensations, bringing awareness to the inefficient patterns and psycho-physical processes" (p. 61).

However, the ball work is actually only one part of the practice. KA is really a way of looking at the body in dance. This attitude and pedagogy of the body was developed from the experiences and vision of Elaine Summers. Thus, Summers provided us with an approach, not just to help us move our bodies more easily, but also a way to explore bodily meaning, understanding, and influence within a number of contexts." (Green 249)

"I want to reiterate that this work is not merely an approach to deal with body issues and problems. Summers was working on a way of understanding the body. Epistemologically speaking, she was articulating a framework for how we learn to know our bodies and communicate the bodily knowledge that is in us. Rater than relying solely on external information, summers was interested in helping dancers take ownership of their bodies and "reclaim their bodies" (Powell, 1987, p. 39).

Subsequently, Summers relied on a very particular type of pedagogy to help her with this goal. Although, she probably would not consider herself mainly a dance educator, she does have a degree in art education and she has often acknowledged the importance of facilitating the creative self. For example, Summers said,

So, believing in the power of teaching, and attempting to help people take ownership of their bodies and explore their kinesthetic intelligences, Summers developed KA, which combined elements of Selver's sensory awareness and Gindler's breathing strategies but began to explore a specific approach based on bodily knowledge, balls and other tools and props, alignment, dance, and a student centered system for relying on one's own body knowledge and exploration.

This body reeducation system as described by Summers is based on an attitude towards the body that "the body is yours and you need to understand it; you need to listen to it." Summers explained the origins of the use of balls as a development of her work with Selver and Gindler." (Green 250)

"No matter how Summers views the work and in what directions she is willing to take it, it is clear to me that she opened a valuable door to look at the work in so many significant contexts and possible applications, practically and theoretically. While doing this she encouraged others to find new ways to look at the work, even though she may not personally agree with these ways all the time. For me, this work has been a treasure personally, emotionally, physically, theoretically, professionally, politically, culturally, and in ways I probably have not yet imagined of visualized. I thank Elaine for these extraordinary gifts." (Green 256)

Kinetic Awareness" Pedagogy: Elaine Summers and Second Generation Practitioners by Jill Green is taken from Dance: Current Selected Research Vol. 5, Edited by Lynnette Young Overby and Billie Lepczyk, 2005, AMS Press.

If you would like to contact the publisher, click HERE.
If you would like to purchase the book from Amazon.com, click HERE.

^ back to top