The Artist Within – Follow up project Name and contact of the person/oragnisation: -
Szamosi Judit, szamosij@gmail.com / www.szamosijudit.com Target group Adults (from around age 20-to age 60)
Description of the activity The name of the activity is: Bodytime workshop. I am a trainer of somatic movement, and dance. Bodytime is a technique influenced by: - Somatic approaches: Feldenkrais, Klein technique, Body Mind Centering, Skinner Releasing Technique. - Movement improvisation, contact improvisation, composition -
Relaxation techniques: autogenic training, progressive relaxation, mindfulness techniques and other meditative practises Quigong and hatha joga
In the last couple of years (2011- ) I have been working on developing this system, and it is still evolving in it’s own way. Every interaction with dance, movement, art and therapy have been influencing (and is influencing) this work. The artist within training organised by IKTE also had an impact on this work. In this description I am trying to grasp what aspects of the training was influential on my work. I also find this a difficult task, as the approach I am using is very similar. (There are many differences, however this document is focusing on the follow up project, which does not reflect on these differences.) I am going to outline one of my workshops as a follow up project that occurred after the training. This workshop was held in 2015 September the 10th at the conference of the Hungarian Psychology Association, in the frame of “Summer University”. (Magyar Pszichológiai Társaság: Nyári Egyetem) Out of hereby undescribed reasons my follow up project was held and written much later than the deadline. I would like to express my apologise for this delay. I hope this paper is still relevant within these circumstances.
There were 13-16 participants present on this occasion. The follow up project was built up this way: - verbal opening round, introduction of the participants and on what will happen on this occasion - interacting each other non-verbally still sitting than standing in the circle -
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arriving physically: moving in the space/walking slowly, then faster, backwards, giving different tasks on speed, directions and later on in relation to each other while still moving in the space mirroring: we have focused on a mirroring exercise during this session, because I find this very direct and simple exercise to interact each other. The way I introduced it was: First A is leading the movements then B follows them / change (we broke it down for the movement of arms, legs, spine etc.) After the task was a little different: The leader and follower roles disappeared, as A and B mirrored each other. The task was to give 100% attention to the space between them, and allow this mirroring to happen by itself. At first it’s not simple to grasp the essence, but then it is a shift from the above mention leader/follower roles, as the dance happens specifically from giving undivided attention to each other. (The mirroring exercise was also influenced by the IKTE training, although I have also been applying it prior as well.) From here I have opened the possibility to interact with other couples, to dance alone. Couples started moving in space, to interact with each other. Some people were ready to leave the mirroring task and express themselves authentically through movement improvisation. At last we have made a verbal sharing round based on the experiences of the participants.
• Results -
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There haven’t been any statistics made on the results of my activity or on this specific follow up project, although I did get feedback from the group members. The mentioned results are a short and subjective description based on the participant’s verbal sharing round at the end of this project. It was a positive experience for most of the people, although personal issues and topics did come up. The verbal round is not aimed to share only positive experiences with each other, (same way as I have experienced it at the IKTE training) as this direct work with the body may invite deep and sometimes difficult emotions-memories from our earlier lives (childhood etc.) One lady for instance did share that is was very interesting, but at times difficult to stay in the dances. From the leading and following exercise she had realisations on how she behaves in specific human relationships in her everyday life. Two people left the room in the beginning, when we did a little mindfulness breathing practise (not everybody is opened and/or ready to slow down and listen to their breathing for example) However most of the people did share they felt joy and had fun during this workshop, and we (me and the helper called Janka) have evaluated this as a meaningful occasion. I find it difficult to make sharp and explicit distinction and describe precisely what were the effects of the IKTE training and what weren’t, because my work is already very close to this approach. We did not use other modalities, we focused only on the body entirely.
• Pros and contras concerning the used methodology
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Pros: I personally like to work with the body explicitly and less with other artistic modalities because I am experienced in this field, and less familiar with other modalities. My interest is directed to the body in motion (and in stillness, although motion is present all the time as long as we are alive). I did enjoy the offered modalities offered by the trainers, and they had a big impact on me (making the masks, working with clay etc.) I am still thinking how I could integrate that more into my work. If that is going to happen, (working with clay, mask, painting) than it is explicitly going to be the effect of this training. Contras: Working with movement can be a very difficult task. People have to loosen up first and feel secure for this kind of approach. I find it difficult sometimes to break down these barriers that people have in their minds when it comes to movement and dance... Interestingly people generally really enjoy these sessions, because they can feel free and are encouraged to express themselves in their authentic way. I think it is a cultural phenomenon, because logical thinking is overrated in contrast to artistic expression and intuitive thinking. I think it should be more balanced, and we should give more space to artistic expression generally. This is why IKTE and other art therapy modalities are very precious and should be spread more in schools, universities, workplaces etc. Both halves of our brains and our entire bodies should be used equally in my opinion‌
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Recommendations on the methodology
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I recommend the IKTE methodology for those adults who are interested to develop personally via an integrated art-therapy approach. I believe that art and creative approaches have intensive transformative potential. However IKTE is a special approach because it integrates different art modalities and therapy. The possibility for personal development is offered for adults who are opened to invest time and energy into this process. I recommend it for people, because taking part in this kind of work develops and encourages creativity. I think everyone should to experience their creative potential regularly in their everyday lives.
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How did the training in Hungary support/challenged/altered my professional approach? As mentioned before it is difficult to distinguish my previous experiences from The Artist within training. Professionally and personally this training gave me time, space and a supportive environment. It gave freedom to express myself and to interact with others. I think it was a very good opportunity to process personal issues and to recharge my batteries.
Copyright Recipients are free to use all or parts of this document for personal use however are requested to inform the author. Recipients are requested to acknowledge The artist within – Applied eMOTION consortium and the author in any reference to the content of this document. In the event of any further queries please consult the author. Acknowledgements This project was possible with the financial support from the Erasmus+ program. The methodological resources and inspiration came from the The artist within – Applied eMOTION long-term adult education project (www.theartistwithin.eu). The generosity from the fund and these organisations is much appreciated.