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La vida es danza. El arte de la ciencia de la Danza Movimiento Terapia, edited

by Hilda Wengrower and Sharon Chaiklin

Article  in  Body Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy · April 2010

DOI: 10.1080/17432971003612607

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Maarit Elena Ylönen

Private Clinic, MCK, Finland, Jyväskylä
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Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy

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La vida es danza. El arte de la ciencia de la Danza Movimiento Terapia,

edited by Hilda Wengrower and Sharon Chaiklin
Maarit Elena Ylönen

Online publication date: 23 April 2010

To cite this Article Ylönen, Maarit Elena(2010) 'La vida es danza. El arte de la ciencia de la Danza Movimiento Terapia,
edited by Hilda Wengrower and Sharon Chaiklin', Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 5: 1, 101 — 104
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 Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy
Vol. 5, No. 1, April 2010, 101–104

BOOK REVIEWS

La vida es danza. El arte de la ciencia de la Danza Movimiento Terapia, edited

by Hilda Wengrower and Sharon Chaiklin, Victor Fishman (trans.), Barcelona,
Editorial Gedisa, 2008, 382 pp., E26.50 (paperback), ISBN 978-84-9784-227-3
La vida es danza. El arte de la ciencia de la Danza Movimiento Terapia [Life is
dance. The art of science of DMT] offers a review of DMT theories, their
application, and presents movement observation models. As a Spanish book, it
is a welcomed addition to the DMT world in general; more particularly, it
brings an insight into the world of Latin American DMT. The authors,
renowned specialists in this area, are DMT therapists, educators and
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researchers from three continents. Some are pioneers who have influenced
the development of DMT worldwide. In my writing I focus on presenting the
main ideas of the book and shortly reflect some of these ideas through my
experiences as a dance movement psychotherapist, DMT teacher and
researcher.
The essence of the book consists of psychodynamically oriented DMT. The
first section concentrates on DMT history and its theoretical frameworks. The
second section describes practical examples and case studies, relating them to
the applied theories. The third section is a collation of models of movement
observation and diagnostics. The editors of the book, Hilda Wengrower and
Sharon Chaiklin, have given free rein to the authors, and as a consequence this
book forms a multi-faceted review of DMT.
The book starts with a chapter by Sharon Chaiklin, which introduces the
history and the roots of DMT in a very personal and detailed style. She
introduces the DMT pioneers in America and the transformation from dance
as performance to dance as therapy. The second chapter, by Hilda Wengrower,
provides a thorough review of the role of creativity and the arts in the healing
process of DMT. Besides traditional psychoanalytic theory, Wengrower
introduces theories of creativity, as well as object relation theory. Describing
Authentic Movement, Joan Chodorow’s chapter introduces a theory of
emotions and affects, and links it to Jungian psychoanalytic tradition. This is
an extremely interesting contribution as it invites further questions related to
the possibilities of using Authentic Movement with different client groups and
links to Pallaro (2007). In her chapter, Diana Fischman from Argentina
concentrates on non-verbal interaction and kinaesthetic empathy. She also
discusses the concept of embodiment in the light of new neuro-scientific
research. Her ideas consolidate the position of DMT amongst other
psychotherapies in the postmodern society.

ISSN 1743–2979 print/ISSN 1743–2987 online

ß 2010 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/17432971003612607
http://www.informaworld.com
 102 Book Reviews

The second section of the book is divided into two further sub-sections. In
the first chapter, Patricia Capello collates various applications of DMT in
mental health and tells us about the healing elements of DMT within adult
psychiatry. Capello suggests the application of DMT in the areas of body
image, body awareness, awareness of space, selfhood, and creativity, and
introduces DMT methods as means for development in these areas. In her
chapter, Varda Dascal is influenced by the experiential semantics and
metaphorical thinking by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 1999) and applies these
ideas to DMT. She very skilfully connects case examples as a means to
introduce key parts of the psychotherapeutic model of DMT. Dulicai’s and
Tortora’s chapters about systemic family therapy and children’s DMT
complement Capello’s earlier chapter on the applications of DMT to the
practice of therapy within mental health. Diane Dulicai discusses movement
observation models of Laban and Kestenberg as non-verbal observation tools.
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Tortora’s point of view on DMT with children is an eclectic selection of ideas.

For example, she links psychodynamic theory with Laban and developmental
psychology.
The second sub-section of the second part of the book explores possibilities
of DMT in general health care. Heather Hill, from Australia, describes
examples of DMT application for people with dementia and Cynthia Berrol,
from America, describes the use of DMT within the context of cerebral injury
rehabilitation. These topics are extremely important examples of multi-
dimensional applications of DMT.
The third part of the book concentrates on the issues of observation and
diagnostics. First, from America, Elissa Queyqep White applies Rudolf
Laban’s Effort-Shape model to DMT. This chapter systematically introduces
the main principles of Effort-Shape theory. The second chapter, by fellow
Americans Susan Loman and Mark Sossin, focuses on the Kestenberg
Movement Profile (KMP). This movement profile system is strongly influenced
by the heritage of psychoanalytic theory. The authors present the possibilities
of KMP in the treatment of autism. The chapter is an updated version of a
paper published in 1992 (Sossin & Loman, 1992), enriched by current research
on KMP (for example Amighi, Loman, Lewis, & Sossin, 1999). It is however
surprising that recent neuro-scientific findings on autism (including mirror
neuron system in DMT; Berrol, 2006) have not been included. In Finland, for
example, the psychoanalytic perspective on autism is nowadays uncommon
and has been overtaken by neuro-scientific models. The paper raised my
interest and I wish to have the opportunity to deepen my understanding of
KMP in future. Still, this leaves me to wonder how can psychoanalysis and
neuroscience benefit from each other?
The third chapter of this ‘Observation and Diagnostics’ section is about
‘Emotorics’, Yona Shahar-Levy’s, from Israel, psychomotor model (2001). It is
based on the link between body movement and mind. The theoretical
framework of ‘body-movement-mind’ is the basis of DMT introduced
by American DMT pioneers, including Evan, Siegel, and Chaiklin. In
addition, DMT is informed by body therapies such as Feldenkrais (1949),
and movement analysis systems such as Laban (for example Laban, 1960) and
 Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy 103

Kestenberg (1967). DMT also has roots in psychoanalysis (including Mahler,

Pine, & Bergman, 1975, and Kohut, 1977, among others) and recent research in
neuro-sciences. I was looking for more clear links between these theories, DMT
and psychomotor model, ‘Emotorics’. In continental Europe the psychomotor
model is a well-known methodology and practice, yet this is hardly referred to
in this chapter.
From the USA, Meg Chang’s chapter gives a thorough presentation of
cultural aspects in DMT. I agree with Chang’s criticism that Western DMT is
culturally biased and ethnocentric. In the new global world, DMT must be able
to have an open dialogue with other cultures and find new ways to carry out
clinical work and research. Greater appreciation of cultural aspects widens the
possibilities of DMT in theory and praxis. Cultural relativism in DMT can
strengthen the link between individual, social and cultural spheres in the post
modern world.
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Teresa Monsegur’s, from Spain, chapter presents the experiences of

practical DMT studies on the DMT Masters Programme at the University of
Barcelona. The results were gathered by way of interviews with representatives
of the participating institutes in health care, social welfare and special
education. Participants’ experiences are positive and indicate that co-operation
between the participating institutes will most probably benefit the position of
DMT in Spain.
Finally, from the USA, Lenore W. Hervey writes about the research
tradition in DMT. Her chapter emphasises the strong influence of the
American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) in DMT research. The chapter
is a general review of the practise of American DMT research but fails to
discuss existing DMT studies globally.
This book strongly reinforces the existing mainstream traditions in DMT.
Although it offers a refreshing and inspiring reading experience, some chapters
would benefit from being updated with the latest findings in psychotherapy and
DMT and reference made to journal articles, for example, Karkou and
Sanderson (2006) and Koch (2006) discussing the history of DMT in Europe.
Furthermore, as an ethnographic researcher, I was looking for more thorough
discussion about the topic ‘embodiment’. This theme could have been made
more three dimensional and multi-faceted by showing the constructive links
and overlaps with other sciences, such as philosophy (phenomenology of body)
and cultural studies (symbolic anthropology) amongst others. Overall, this
book is a very good endorsement of the existing DMT theory and praxis
literature. It will be very useful for Spanish speaking DMT students as well as
for professionals of health care, social welfare and special education who want
to deepen and complement their knowledge of DMT.

Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Michael Anderson and Marja Cantell for their assistance with the
English translation.
 104 Book Reviews

References

Amighi, K.J., Loman, S., Lewis, P., & Sossin, M. (1999). The meaning of movement,
developmental and clinical perspective of the Kestenberg Movement Profile.
New York: Routledge.
Berrol, C.F. (2006). Neuroscience meets dance/movement therapy: Mirror neurons, the
therapeutic process and empathy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33, 302–315.
Feldenkrais, M. (1949). Body and mature behaviour. London and New York: Routledge.
Karkou, V., & Sanderson, P. (2006). Arts therapies. A research-based map of the field.
London: Elsevier.
Kestenberg, J. (1967). The role of movement patterns in development. Psychoanalytic
Quarterly, 36, 356–409.
Koch, S. (2006). Report from 2nd International Research Colloquium in Dance
Therapy, Pforzheim, Germany. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, 12,
161–163.
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Kohut, H. (1977). The restoration of the self. New York: International Press.
Laban, R. (1960). The mastery of movement (2nd ed.). London: McDonald & Evans.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its
challenge to Western thought. New York: Basic Books.
Mahler, M.S., Pine, F., & Bergman, A. (Eds.) (1975). The psychological birth of the
human infant. New York: Basic Books.
Pallaro, P. (Ed.) (2007). Authentic movement: Moving the body, moving the self, being
moved. A collection of essays, Vol. 2. London & Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley
Publishers.
Shahar-Levy, Y. (2001). The function of the human motor system in processes of
storing and retrieving preverbal, primal experience. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 21, 3.
Sossin, M., & Loman, S. (1992). Clinical applications of the Kestenberg Movement
Profile. In S. Loman & R. Brandt (Eds.), The body mind connection in human
movement analysis. Keene: Antioch New England Graduate School.
Maarit Elena Ylönen
Finland
Email: maarit.elena.ylonen@kolumbus.fi

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