Day One

I had soooo much fun yesterday. I feel like I am with people that I am comfortable with in terms of consciousness, language and culture. We knew what we were talking about because we were dancers who could articulate what we feel when we use our bodies. And being therapists / psychologists, all attitudes are neutralized because a non-judgemental environment is required for therapy.

Well I knew I was still limited in my articulation because the other girls were mostly taking both dance and psychology as majors or minors. So they were able to pick out things that made fruitful contribution to the discussions. I kept quiet, mostly.

We watched a video made in the 60s but that was still extremely relevant for today. It was footage of a therapist with her young patients, a two year old and five year old. Both girls were diagnosed psychotic! How sad is that? They had no form of verbal communication and no concept of relationship. But as the therapist worked with the girls individually, you could see how a seemingly unruly and unresponsive child stuck in her own world begin to realize the concept of relationship. And this is hard to explain because regular people take this for granted. But it was a defining moment when it dawned upon the child that there is a human here. And "I" am also human. And "I" can do something and "you" would respond. It was so impactful to see the child reach out to the therapist for hugs when previously she would not allow the therapist near her. And as the therapist picks her up into a full bear hug, you could see the pleasure on her face as they relax into her arms. I can only imagine the new sensations the girls must be feeling... And this is what I think impacts me most. To be able to reach a trapped human being without the use of words. Because movement is innate to every human being, dancer or not. So it can be very gentle, very simple, and very deep.

I was completely spent by the time I got home from day 1. It wasn't the movement work that tired me, but the constant interaction with 13 new people and having to verbalize what I felt after every movement activity. The good thing was that I finally got to sleep through the night. I'm not sure how I'll feel about all these socializing by Friday though. We'll see.