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DOCTORAL THESIS Dance, Empowerment and Spirituality An DOCTORAL THESIS Dance, Empowerment and Spirituality An ethnography of Movement Medicine Kieft, Eline Award date: 2013 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 Dance, Empowerment and Spirituality. An ethnography of Movement Medicine. by Eline Kieft [BA, MA] A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Dance University of Roehampton 2013 Dr. Andrée Grau, Director of Studies Dr. Anna Pakes, Co-supervisor “We should not lose the mystery and magic of dance, the anima mundi of our body in its continuity with nature, culture, and community.” (Sondra Fraleigh, 2000: 55) 3 Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................8 Gratitudes ..........................................................................................................10 Introduction .......................................................................................................13 Chapter 1: Research turned inside out: on theory, methods and representation ............................................................................................................................27 1.1 Research questions and design ....................................................................27 1.2 Anthropology of the Dance .........................................................................30 1.3 Related fields of dance research ..................................................................36 1.3.1 Therapy and Movement Education .......................................................36 1.3.2 Healing and Transformation .................................................................39 1.3.3 Leadership, Corporate training and Research........................................41 1.3.4 Mental Health.......................................................................................42 1.3.5 Discussion............................................................................................43 1.4 Symbolic and Sensory Anthropology ..........................................................45 1.5 Triple Hermeneutics....................................................................................48 1.6 The Multimodal Framework (MMF) ...........................................................51 1.7 Culture and the Field...................................................................................53 1.7.1. Anthropology at Home and the Researcher as Insider ..........................55 1.7.2. Advantages and Challenges of the Insider Position..............................59 1.8 From theory to practice: the research tools ..................................................64 1.8.1 Participant Observation ........................................................................64 1.8.2 Interviews.............................................................................................66 1.8.3 Newsletter ............................................................................................71 1.8.4 Other written sources............................................................................72 1.9 Qualitative Analysis....................................................................................73 1.10 Inclusion of the Subjective: on Autoethnography, Writing and Representation .....................................................................................................76 1.10.1 An experiment in embodied research and writing................................77 1.10.2 Representation and Choices: Writing as Weaving, Thesis as Tapestry 81 4 Chapter 2: Movement Medicine’s Cosmology and Framework....................... 85 2.1 Development of Movement Medicine.......................................................... 85 2.1.1 Personal background of the Founders................................................... 85 2.1.2 Shamanic Techniques .......................................................................... 86 2.1.3 Dance and Movement .......................................................................... 88 2.1.4 Environmental awareness..................................................................... 89 2.1.5 ‘Family Constellations’........................................................................ 90 2.1.6 Other influences................................................................................... 91 2.2 The Mandala............................................................................................... 92 2.2.1 ‘The Centre’ ........................................................................................ 94 2.2.2 ‘The 4 Elements’.................................................................................. 98 2.2.3 ‘The 5 Dimensions of Awareness’ ......................................................103 2.2.4 ‘The 9 Gateways’................................................................................104 2.2.5 Translation of the Mandala to Workshops...........................................106 2.3 The ‘School of Movement Medicine’ ........................................................109 2.3.1 Away from the 5Rhythms™ ...............................................................109 2.3.2 Marketing tools and advertising strategies...........................................112 2.3.3 Venues, Food and Holistic Presentation ..............................................114 2.3.4 Facts and Figures................................................................................117 2.3.5 Business Ethos....................................................................................121 2.3.6 Participants and Emerging Community...............................................123 Chapter 3: Internal Coherence of Movement Medicine and its Relationship to other Traditions................................................................................................127 3.1 Underlying Concepts and Resources..........................................................128 3.1.1 Nature, Interconnection and Technology.............................................128 3.1.2 Healing and Balance ...........................................................................130 3.1.3 ‘Medicine’ ..........................................................................................134 3.1.4 Altered States of Consciousness..........................................................136 3.1.5 Spirit World and Interaction with Spirit ..............................................137 3.1.6 Rituals, Initiations and Ceremony .......................................................139 3.1.7 Choice, Responsibility and the ‘Dancing Warrior’ ..............................140 3.1.8 Notions of Self and Identity ................................................................143 3.1.9 Metaphoric and Neuroscientific Language ..........................................143 3.2 Critical Observations and Comparisons .....................................................147 3.2.1 Postmodernism and Spirituality...........................................................147 3.2.2 Relationship to the mainstream and the New Age................................151 3.2.3 How Movement Medicine differs from (neo-)shamanism....................153 3.2.4 Uniting (too) many traditions? ............................................................154 3.2.5 Sectarian or Cultish movement?..........................................................157 3.2.6 A Personal Approach ..........................................................................159 5 3.2.7 Movement Medicine and Gender........................................................162 3.2.8 Relationship to (neo-)tantra ................................................................166 3.2.9 Spirituality, Sustainability and Social Justice......................................167 Chapter 4: The Ritual Space and the Dance...................................................171 4.1 Preparations and Pilgrimage......................................................................171 4.2 Arrival and Welcome ................................................................................173 4.3 Physical Features of the Dance Space........................................................175 4.3.1 The Altar and the Mesa.......................................................................176 4.3.2 The DJ Desk.......................................................................................180 4.4 The Teacher ..............................................................................................182 4.5 Creating a safe environment......................................................................184 4.6 The Music.................................................................................................188
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