Development of mental imagery for dancers using tools from somatic education and sport psychology

Bowes-Sewell, Karen GCFP, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Krasnow, Donna MS, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

Dance educators traditionally use mental imagery to clarify issues such a dancer?s use of space, the dynamics of movement, artistic expression and postural alignment.  Methodology is often unique to each teacher or choreographer.  While there have been systems, particularly in somatic practices, that make extensive use of imagery, there has not been consistent development of methods to train dancers how to develop and use imagery.  In sports psychology, mental imagery has been used with elite athletes for the purposes of honing technical skills and reducing anxiety in competition.  This development in sports has been evolving in Eastern Europe since the 1960?s and in North America since the 1980?s.  It has produced materials and methods that can easily be used by a wide variety of individuals, and applied to their practice.  The efficacy of these systems has been validated in the sports research literature.

The purpose of this movement session is to provide participants with a practical methodology to teach dancers how to develop, implement, and sustain the use of mental imagery in daily dance practice.  Further, participants will be guided in the design of images that are specific to an individual?s movement and postural habits and imaging preferences.  Some of the tools that will be employed in this session include: strategies to create mental imagery from a range of dance and sports literature, somatic practices that incorporate imagery into awareness systems, and imagery related to dance expressivity and quality.

The work in this movement session will be valuable to dance artists, educators, researchers, and health practitioners who involve imagery in their treatment of dancers.  They will leave the session with concrete strategies for developing personalized imagery, and for engaging this imagery in daily dance and teaching practice.