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UNCG'S Center for Women's
Health and Wellness
is supporting the development of a project titled
Kinetic Awareness® and Women with Breast Cancer Project.
The purpose of this project is to develop a Kinetic Awareness®
movement program for women with breast cancer. During the Fall
2007 Dr. Jill Green and her assistants will teach a group of women
Kinetic Awareness®. Dr. Green will conduct a
qualitative investigation (case studies), exploring how the use of this
somatic practice may help women with breast cancer, particularly with
the side effects of their treatments. The class will meet two
times a week for seven weeks. Each class will be 90 minutes
long. Class will begin September 24th and go through the week of
November 18. We need 10 participants by August 24.
Kinetic Awareness® is one of a number of somatic practices
(body-mind approaches) currently being explored for their health
benefits. Research on the use of Polarity Therapy (Mustian
et al., 2007), Tai Chi Chuan (Mustian, Katula, and Zhao, 2006; Mustian,
Palesh, and Flecksteiner, 2007), relaxation training, meditation,
social support groups, music therapy, exercise (Mustian, Katula, and
Gill, 2002; Mustian et al., 2007; Mustian et al., 2006), yoga
(Mustian et al., 2007), and dance and movement (Sandel et al., 2005)
have been particularly useful with the side effects of treatment and
quality of life of women with breast cancer. Kinetic
Awareness® promises to provide many benefits as well. As described
in Green (1992),
Somatic
education provides a wealth of body-mind systems and approaches
that allow us to become aware of our inner psycho-physical selves and
movement capabilities. This focus on an experiential
understanding of
the holistic functioning of mind and body may enhance performance and
expressiveness. Kinetic Awareness® is one approach to somatic
education that provides an opportunity to explore movement potential
and develop movement possibilities. This system of body-mind
reeducation, developed by Elaine Summers, focuses on increased movement
efficacy and ease through heightened awareness of automatic and
conscious movement. It enhances the understanding the body uses to
communicate with ourselves. (p. 61)
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Because this system uses graduated rubber balls to enhance body
awareness and release excess muscular tension, Kinetic Awareness®
is often referred to as "e; the ball work."e; Balls, placed under
various parts of the body, provide contact with inner sensations,
bringing to awareness inefficient patterns and psycho-physical
processes.
Jill Green, Ph.D. ( jillgreen@uncg.edu,
334-3266) is an Associate Professor of Dance at UNCG. She is
certified to teach Kinetic Awareness®. Additionally, she is
certified as a Kinetic Awareness Master Teacher (able to teach teachers
of the work) and is a specialist in a number of somatic practices and
movement approaches.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH
CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO
DEPARTMENT OF DANCE
References
Green, J. (1992). The use of balls in Kinetic Awareness. Journal
of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 63(8), 61-64.
>read this article
further below
Molinaro, J., Kleinfeld, M., Lebed, S. (1986). Physical therapy and
dance in the surgical management of breast cancer. A clinical report.
Physical Therapy, 66(6), 967-969.
Mustian, K. M., Katula, J. A. & and Gill, D. L. (2002). Exercise:
Complementary therapy for breast cancer rehabilitation. Women and
Therapy, 25(2), 105-118.
Mustian, K. M., Katula, J. A., Zhao, H. (2006) Tai Chi, functional
capacity and fatigue in breast cancer patients post-treatment. The
Journal of Supportive Oncology, 4(3), 139-145.
Mustian, K. M., Morrow, G. R. Carroll, J., Figueroa-Mosely, C.,
J-Pierre, P. Williams, G. (2007). Integrative nonpharmacologic
behavioral interventions for the management of cancer-related fatigue.
The Oncologist (in press).Morrow et al., 2007
Mustian, K. M. Palesh, O. G.., Palesh, Flecksteiner, S. A. (2007), Tai
Chi Chuan for Breast Cancer Survivors. In Y. Hong (Ed.) Medicine and
Sport Science, S. Karger A. G. (in press).
Mustian, K. M., Griggs, J. J., Morrow, G. R., Roscoe, J. A., Atkins, J.
N., Issel, B., Conrad, M. (2006) Exercise among 749 patients during
treatment for cancer: A University of Rochester cancer center community
clinical oncology program study. Journal of Supportive Care in Cancer,
14, 732-741.
Sandel, S. L., Judge, J. O., Landry, N. Faria, L., Ouellette, R.,
Majaczak, M. (2005). Dance and movement program improves
quality-of-life measures in breast cancer survivors. Cancer Nursing,
28(4), 301-309.
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Click HERE for an excerpt
of the video
Starting with the Soma 2006 (6 mb)
Director/ Choreographer/
Visual Artist/ Camera/ Edit by Talani
Torres (c) 2006
Based
on six video dance artists who took part in a study on Kinetic
Awareness and preferred to be anonymous. This video is a part of a
multi-media performance.
Baby: Natalie Silver
Prof. Jill Green and Stephanie Leathers Therson
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina
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Jill Green
Excerpts From Kinetic Awareness® Pedagogy:
Elaine Summers and Second Generation Practitioners
"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
KA is an approach to
somatic education that provides an opportunity to
explore movement potential and develop movement possibilities. This
system of body-mind reeducation...focuses on increased movement
efficacy and ease through heightened awareness of automatic and
conscious movement. It enhances the understanding of the language that
the body uses to communicate with ourselves.
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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,
I would love to do a
whole thing about
my teachers and inspirations and why they have been so important...and
how serendipitously they seem to open up a world for you through their
understanding.
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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.
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