An email interview with Wilhemeena Monroe and Felicity Molloy.
Felicity:
Why somatics in the therapeutic/ bodywork/ movement sector? Please can you
describe your influences - e.g Unitec, Butoh, Skinner Releasing, East West,
Body Weather etc.
Wilhemeena:
It is my understanding that somatics is “of the body” the body as experienced,
the phenomenological body, subjective body or what Edward Maupin calls it the
“body epiphany”, an initial discovery of the body/mind unity, a discovery which
matures into a more sustained state of “embodiment”
In this
way the question of why somatics in these industries seems absurd. Without the
experience of the body in these industries we have no legs to stand on.
We are
merely looking at the body as an aesthetic and not an experience. Like
comparing a photograph of a dancer or a painting, with the living, breathing
organism which is multi-dimensional and has a life force, an energy and an
emotional body and a creative body as well as blood, bones and flesh that are
constantly moving, constantly changing. This is somatics – the living breathing
self.
So you can
look at a body as a therapist and just see mechanics and work on that level,
and the same with dance – you can see the mechanics of the body in that lift,
the beauty perhaps of that pirouette from a mechanical perspective.
Then you
can look at it from a somatics perspective – the breath, the energy, the magic
of the dance, the healing moment that changes your perception. As well as the
experience of the dancer, the experience of the audience, where they can feel
the dance moving in them. The
experience of the client – what they can feel, and the experience of the
practitioner – what they feel is important, from a somatics perspective.
For me my
“experience” of being a dancer and a therapist has always had this approach.
Perhaps I am not naturally a methodical person. I have always had a penchant
for the magic of the dance, the magic of the moment – and I found this in
somatics.
Over the
years I have studied a vast array of somatic modalities, among them Skinner
Releasing Technique, Shin Somatics, Chi Kung, Yoga, and Butoh, each with a
unique perspective – Skinner Releasing, Shin Somatics and Chi Kung for me are
pure somatics modalities because they are philosophically about the “felt”
sense. Yoga and Butoh, like anything else “can” be practiced in a somatic way –
but can also be practiced purely mechanically, or with an aesthetic in mind.
In Skinner
Releasing for example – you move from your felt sense. That is the key to the
work. This way you can find new pathways of moving that aesthetically are not
what you would choose, but come from a creative source that is deeper than
aesthetic.
It could
be said that somatics maybe a longing for individual authenticity, because it
has become more and more clear to me that our bodies are a key to a more
authentic reality. Authenticity is a function of embodiment.
Felicity:
Why somatics in NZ tertiary dance – what has the study brought to tertiary
dance? can include other avenues where your somatic practices have surfaced -
e.g drama/ bodywork?
Wilhemeena:
In my mind somatics is essential in the training of dancers, as it cultivates
creative impulse and a freedom and variety of movement. There is nothing sadder
to watch than a beautiful dancer who can kick their leg high but lacks an
essential spark – once they have done one or two high kicks, I am bored.
However, a dancer with a somatics based training may be able to be engaged in
the most inane task on stage and for some reason draws you into their world –
how do they do this? Somatics! It is through their felt experience.
It is
essential in dance training to cultivate this felt experience in our dancers.
As a choreographer I want to work with dancers who know and can experience
themselves as moving, as opposed to a dancer who is good at picking up movement
taught to them. I want them to be able to think and move for themselves.
Felicity:
What has this got to do with yoga and Pilates? – or Alexander and Feldenkrais?
If you think of significant differences between the modalities that make them
more or less "somatic" can you add..
Wilhemeena:
Yoga and Pilates fall into the same camp for me. They can be approached through
a somatics lens and practiced somatically. However there are plenty of people
with a strong yoga practice who have never actually explored how an asana feels
to them – they are simply putting their body in a position. It is aesthetically
based.
Alexander
and particularly Feldenkrais where onto something by slowing down the movement
and asking the clients to become more aware of their movement pathways – this
is a beautiful introduction into working in a somatic way – it is about
awareness of self and I would say it is awareness of the moving self or the
self moving.
Of Ida
Rolfs work “Rolfing”, “If one tries to apply “the line” in Rolfing as an
external standard, it is indeed an imposition, a coercion. But if one looks for
the line internally, kinesthetically, then it is a powerful concept, leading to
an inherently recognizable reality.”
Felicity:
Who has been integral to the practices developing in NZ?
Wilhemeena:
My first experience of somatics was a class with Raewyn Thorburn – Skinner
Releasing Technique at the then Auckland Performing Arts School in Hargreaves
street – this was an innovative dance school run by Ali East. This is where I
discovered dance – in a whole new way, a way that fostered creativity and
uniqueness and the whole person moving through space. It was a haven. I studied
SRT with Raewyn, Contact Improvisation with Catherine Chappell and contemporary
dance with whoever was the hottest teacher at the time.
As I
became ready for full-time dance training, the Performing Arts School was
bought out by UNITEC and the school was shifted there, the teachers remained
the same and Ali East and her contemporaries created an innovative program
which stood up to the then global phenomenon of “new” dance development – a
much more somatic approach to training dancers. Among the tutors there was
Felicity Molloy who was my first “somatics” teacher, she has and still does
hold a leading presence in the somatics industry in NZ as a dancer, educator
and therapist.
She paved
the way for me to think about dance therapeutics and the marriage of dance and
therapy as a valid career option – although there was nothing of that kind here
at that time.
Charles
Koroneho, although he may not think of himself as a somatic teacher, developed
a strong sense of holistic creative process and introduced me to butoh, which
become another main practice for me, which I developed through a somatics lens
later in my creative process.
As I
finished UNITEC, I segued into teaching SRT and choreography there until they
slowly began filtering somatic practices out of the program.
Of those
golden years of new dance, there are still some dancers who have held the flag
for somatic practice here in NZ, among them Val Smith – who has kept Contact
Improvisation alive, Brent Harris, Sarah Campas, Felicity Molloy and myself but
there still wasn’t really anywhere to fully immerse yourself in it.
As a
lifestyle I wanted to “Live” somatics and so with no where to go – I decided to
create somewhere. A hub for somatics practice here on the outskirts of
Auckland.
Since conception 8 years ago, SOUL – Centre of the Body and Mind has been creating and
hosting workshops and classes with some of the worlds great somatics
practitioners and dancers, including Al Wunder,(AUST) Stephanie Skura(USA), Nate Dryden(USA), Ged Sumner (UK) - to name a few and also fostered and
hosted Sondra Fraleigh of Shin Somatics to come to NZ for the last 4 years to
teach her butoh inspired somatics work here. This provided a host of NZ dancers
and practitioners being trained in Shin Somatics methodology. And resulted last
year in the first international somatics symposium in NZ in Dunedin, hosted by
Ali East, and Otago University. Sublime.
SOUL now
runs an annual somatics summer school where you can taste test a host of somatics
dance and wellness practices, including Contact Improvisation, Skinner
Releasing (Release Me), Butoh, Authentic Movement, Halprin Life/Art process,
Embodied Massage, among others. It is glorious!!!!
