“Toward a Shamanic Daily Life”

This article contributes to the discussion on reactions and responses to the coronavirus pandemic in Japan, with specific reference to the field of “new spirituality” and, within this broad category, of shamanic spirituality. The case of the dance therapist, or “dance movement shaman,” Ms. Hiroda demonstrates how she managed to keep in contact with her practitioners and to design new ways to help them cope with the situation. The solution she offers, in line with the characteristics of shamanic spirituality, is to help each individual to acknowledge the importance of interconnectedness. In particular, Ms. Hiroda emphasizes body, community, and nature: to become aware of one’s own body again and of the necessity of connection with others and nature, especially in times of interpersonal distancing and crisis. Her response to the first wave of COVID-19 is thus to offer a strategy to live peacefully with—and despite—the virus.

Collaborative Couple Dance Therapy

Dance has been used as a metaphor by couple therapists such as Johnson (1996) for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) (Johnson, 1996). However, Johnson preferred to have the couples do the leading in the therapy albeit staying at the realm of metaphor. As a result, the therapy is slow and her outcome studies take at least 12 sessions (Johnson, 1996). Whilst dance as a metaphor is useful, couples need more direction. They are like the novice dancer coming to learn some form of dance new to them or to brush up their dance steps of a dance they have not been dancing for a while and expect the therapist to be much more leading as the expert dance instructor. Instead the Emotionally Focused Couple Therapist (EFCT) would spend many sessions doing just validation of both parties - in order to de-escalate their communication dynamics (Johnson, 1996). This akin to allowing the couples fumble in their out of rhythm dance steps. In this paper a new model of couple therapy based on the dance metaphor which is much more directional and collaborative than that used in EFCT will be presented and it will be shown that this model is more efficient and effective as a form of couple therapy and psychotherapy. Of course, the same dance still needs to be adapted for each couple differently as they have different needs - different heights, different tastes and different passions. The specific dance steps for the couple will be collaboratively created by the Couple Collaborative Dance Therapist (CCDT).

My House Burned Down

This article, originally presented in the context of and following a dance performance, discusses how the author, also the choreographer/performer and a dance therapist, works with movement and meaning as part of the therapeutic journey. Following some discussion about dance, the language of dance, and dance therapy, the article presents the view that the concept of relinquishment, as represented by the title of the paper, is intrinsically linked to the concept of home, and that, without recognising the significance of relinquishment, we cannot fully know or understand the concept of “home”. Both the dance work, represented in pictures in the text, and the paper itself explicate this link between home and relinquishment: presenting the idea that by recognising and embracing relinquishment we come closer to knowing wholeness and wellness. The article also describes how the performed dance My House Burned Down can be interpreted as a therapeutic process and, as such, can be seen to move through struggle to a new perspective on presently held ideas about ‘home,’ ‘self’ and the capacity and potential of one’s self. Ko tēnei tuhinga, taketake ake i whakaatuhia i roto i te horopaki whakaari kanikani, ā, whai muri mai i matapakihia i pēhea tā te kaituhi, me te kaiwhakarite/kaikanikani me tētahi kaiwhakaora kaikanikani, whakamahi i ngā oreorehanga me ngā tikanga hai haerenga whakaora. I muri i tētahi matapakinga kanikani, ko te reo kanikani, me te whakaoranga kanikani, ka whakaatuhia e te tuhinga te aroro tuku, e ai ki tā te ingoa o te pepa, e mau pū ana ki te aroro mō kāinga , ā, inā kore e mōhio i te takenui o te tuku, kāre tātou e mōhio whānui, e mātau rānei ki te aroro o “kāinga”. Takirua ko te mahi kanikani whakaahuahia nei i roto i ngā whakaata kei roto i te kupu, me te tuhinga tonu e whakamārama ana i tē hononga o te kāinga me te tuku: he whakaaturanga i te ariā mā te kitenga, tauawhinga tukunga ka tata atu tātou ki te mōhiotanga o te kotahitanga me te oranga. Ka whakaahuahia anō hoki e te tuhinga me pēhea te whakaaritanga kanikani I Wera Taku Whare e taea ai te kī he takinga oranga ā, ka kitea te wheta ki tētahi tirohanga hou tae atu hoki te tētahi whakaarohanga hurihanga.