Authentic Movement was created in the 1960’s by dancers interested in the intersection between the movement arts and the healing arts, influenced by Jungian psychotherapy and dream-work, particularly what C. G. Jung called active imagination. This exploration, by founders including Mary Whitehouse, Marian Chace and Trudi Schoop, contributed to the development of Dance Movement Therapy and Somatic Psychotherapy. Authentic Movement has continued to be developed in this county by Zoë Avstrieh, Joan Chodorow, Neala Haze and Janet Adler. It has been integrated into dance studies and contemplative creative process by Daphne Lowell and Barbara Dilley, among others. Authentic Movement’s benefits are recognized across many fields and segments of society. For example, Naropa University’s Authentic Leadership Program teaches the form to corporate employees and Peggy Hackney considers it an essential part of her Laban/Bartenieff Certification program in Berkeley, CA.
Authentic Movement is a self-guided form of contemplative practice with movers and witnesses, in which movers move with eyes closed in the presence of non-judgemental witnesses. The practice is easy to learn and accessible to anyone. Deceptively simple, it opens a space for a profound experience of deep listening to “what is” in the moment, allowing this to become the impulse to move. Movers encounter the impulses, themes and images held in the unconscious. Authentic Movement cultivates the ability to integrate the body’s experience with verbal, cognitive tracking in order to become more present, aware and accepting of oneself and others. Benefits of practicing this form can include increased self-awareness (growth of the inner witness), learning to witness others, the ability to “stay with” one’s direct experience, awareness of relational and attachment characteristics, freedom from habitual behaviors or thoughts and freeing and vitalizing life-force energy.
Authentic Movement is a self-guided form of contemplative practice with movers and witnesses, in which movers move with eyes closed in the presence of non-judgemental witnesses. The practice is easy to learn and accessible to anyone. Deceptively simple, it opens a space for a profound experience of deep listening to “what is” in the moment, allowing this to become the impulse to move. Movers encounter the impulses, themes and images held in the unconscious. Authentic Movement cultivates the ability to integrate the body’s experience with verbal, cognitive tracking in order to become more present, aware and accepting of oneself and others. Benefits of practicing this form can include increased self-awareness (growth of the inner witness), learning to witness others, the ability to “stay with” one’s direct experience, awareness of relational and attachment characteristics, freedom from habitual behaviors or thoughts and freeing and vitalizing life-force energy.