Marian Chace Foundation Lecture 2019: Reflection, Evolution and Risk Taking
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Marian Chace Foundation Lecture 2019: Reflection, Evolution and Risk Taking Nana Koch1 Accepted: 12 October 2020 © American Dance Therapy Association 2020
In preparing for this talk I undertook a research perspective. I’ve been sensing an ebb and flow of energy in our field and as a result the questions that have been gnawing at me are: 1. Is the field growing, shrinking or in stasis? 2. Does dance continue to define and drive our work? 3. How has the field evolved in light of forces within and outside of it? These questions are what led me to communicate with people in the field from around the world. After decades as a clinician and educator, I am more curious than ever about the potential longevity of our work and how it has weathered the changing landscape and trends in health, wellness care and education. In essence, I wanted to understand more about how we have progressed from the time when I began my career until now and ascertain whether dance/movement therapy is still viable-thus, the questions asked and the title of this talk: Reflection, Evolution and Risk Taking. I have been trained to view the world from a systems perspective. As such, I try to take a holistic approach to interpreting information. Therefore, as a way to frame this talk, I’ll be looking at how experiences—and the contexts in which they occur—provide meaning in 1. How we interpret our work; 2. How we evolve personally and as a field; and 3. Ultimately, how we move forward to attain our dreams and plans for the future. For a perspective on the field, my intent today is to focus on the following to help answer the essential questions posed. First, I will discuss a brief history and reflection on where the field, and I along with it, has been as a way to inform where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. After that, I will present the research I conducted and the trends revealed by dance/movement therapists from around the world. I’d like to begin with personal reflections, as they give rise to all that I will discuss. What I am about to say isn’t primarily about me, although at times I will be using myself as an example of how the field grew and how I grew with it as a therapist and educator. Perhaps the parallels between your own evolution and that of the field will resonate for some of you, too. * Nana Koch [email protected] 1
New City, USA
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
American Journal of Dance Therapy
History For me, the evolutionary path toward our field started as a young girl growing up in the 1950s in Queens, a borough of New York City. I enjoyed observing people and often wondered how and why they moved this way and that. I remember traveling on a subway with my father, who told me that it wasn’t polite to stare at others because it made them feel uncomfortable. However, regardless of this warning, I persisted wherever I went. I was fascinated by the variety of people’s body types, movements, gestures, facial expressions and interactions. Perhaps, you see a bit of yourself in this example. Without knowing it then, my int
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