“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.”    

                                                                                   Dr. Charles Schaefer

the modern dance awareness society       

situation specific dance encounters

dance with us-

According to social researcher and psychologist, Hugh Mackay “The real magic of the arts – like the magic of sport – is about doing it, not just watching it.” He goes on “When you consider the pressures generated by life in a big city, the argument for encouraging more widespread community participation in the arts seems compelling. Can you think of a better way of fostering a sense of community, promoting mental health and wellbeing, and reducing the debilitating effects of our competitive, materialistic way of life?”

 

why dance? 

Dance reminds people of the physicality inherent in being a human being. In our production/ consumption oriented culture where more and more time is spent in front of screens, in cubicles, making products for consumption, dance reminds us of the complexity of the physicality we inhabit.

 

why improvisation? 

The act of improvisation is an act of creative problem solving, play and decision making. How do we take up space? How do we share and negotiate space? Dance improvisation is one way that bodies negotiate space and time in the moment. Improvisation is a game of listening to an environment its inhabitants and responding physically. Dance improvisers tackle this area with their bodies and consciousness.

 

“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.” G. K. Chesterton

 

why interaction/invitation to participate?

Mental health today found in a 2007 study, that participation in art improved participants sense of empowerment and social inclusion.

 By inviting spectators to enter the dance, we are not only encouraging active participation, we are offering spectators an embodied experience, in other words, an experience that is experienced through the body and mind. This creates the potential  for expanding our perceptions, pushing our boundaries and realizing the role we take as co-authors of our respective cultures and reality. Human touch and play, something that is natural to children, is forgotten as we become adults , entrenched with social rules and anxieties. By inviting participation, we aim to empower our audience and include them in our creative process thereby increasing their ability to think and act outside the box. By inviting the “audience ” to play with us, we provide a break from the ordinary, an experience of creative negotiation.

 

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” Joseph Chilton Pearce

 

http://www.psychceu.com/Schaefer/adults.asp

 

http://www.niamh.co.uk/infosheets/MHT200707ArtMentalHealth.pdf

 

http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2008/11/06/1225561036759.html