Dance Therapy by Primitive Expression

By Johan Dhaese danser, choreographer and dance therapist. Generaal Belliardstraat, 5A 2000 Antwerpen – Belgium [email protected] http://www.andha.be

The World Health Organisation defines “illness” as a perturbation of the equilibrium between the physical, mental, psychic and social components of the human being.

If we consider this definition, we realise that dance, and Primitive Expression in particular, provides an extremely efficient working tool to restore the equilibrium between these four core elements of the human being. This is however subject to some constraints:  At the physical level: dance should invite the whole body to move in harmony. It must seek for the body well-being, inviting all the muscles to move in a smooth and progressive motion.  At the mental level: dance should translate into a structured form of expression. It has to respect and memorise simple rhythmic structures and forms of movements.  At the psychic level: dance should be a communication mean to express one’s desires and emotions. It offers a way to get closer to one’s own life.  At the social level: dance must be performed in group. It must also offer the opportunity for inter-individual exchanges.

A dance that gathers these four conditions will unavoidably have preventative and curative effects.

Knowing this, it is less surprising that the human being has always danced, in all times and all cultures. Dance has always been a way to structure one’s world by imitating the environment. Such imitation can still be observed in so called primitive societies where dance celebrates every important life step. A good harvest, a new-born, a funeral, etc. will be as many opportunities to organise danced celebrations. These primitive societies still integrate life, love, work, nature, rituals, … Our so-called modern societies have lost this integration leading to many diseases.

To this extent, it is interesting to read how the Papuans from New Guinea explain the creation of Humanity: “A long time ago there was only one Human Being in the whole world. His name was Fumeripits. He wanted to have a roof to protect himself, and so he built the first man’s house. However, there he felt very lonely. So he sculpted people in sago palm wood. Despite he was now surrounded by these statues, he still felt very lonely because they were only statues, and not people with whom he could communicate with. He thus took his drum and began to play music. And so the statues came to life. Slowly, their knees and elbows that were stuck together were taken apart, and the statues started to dance. This is how humanity came to life.” “Free translation from ASMAT, the Papuans from New Guinea)”

This story tells that dance is an activity that creates life. Life has begun. It must go on for the whole life. It must go on for a good quality life.

If by any event, there is a sudden obstacle or trouble, whatever the reason – internal, external, etc., quality of life will be influenced.

Often, the first influence of such obstacles can be observed in the respiration. The rhythm of the respiration becomes irregular. You sigh, your respiration becomes superficial, and it looses its life. Progressively, you also become silent. The voice stops.

If the trouble persists, you become slower, you loose your energy, and you stop. You wish to lay down. You are spiritless. The movements stop.

Going a step further, you come to wish that everything would stop. You may even wish to die. The rhythm stops. At this point, if we come back to the Papuans’ story of humanity, we have run the way back.

Knowing this, what is our role as dance therapists? How can we prevent that life becomes “lifeless”? And when it is too late to prevent, how can we re-install this life?

The tool I use to reach these goals is a form of dance therapy called Primitive Expression.

Primitive Expression is a simple and therapeutic form of dance, which goal is to make the relation with yourself and the other more positive.

“In each of us, there is a spring. A spring that gives life” Marcel Messing

Whatever you are dancer, musician, teller, choreographer, housewife, employee, worker, student, … you all have a wonderful instrument: YOUR BODY.

The body is a temple, a place where you feel at home, a place from which you leave, you discover, you meet, you learn, … a place where you come back to feel safe and well. This infinite, “there and back” is the basis of the balancing that gives birth to the dance. It is a game that includes transformation and change in itself.

Primitive Expression utilises the body. It makes the body parts vibrate and it tunes them by the rhythm, the movement and the song.

First, this form of dance goes back to the spring. It is a way back to our common roots through the rediscovery of simple structures that can be found in the “primitive cultures” (in which we often recognise ourselves) on one hand, and in the own human being’s evolution from childhood to adulthood on the other hand.

The “primitive cultures” can be explored thanks to anthropology. Anthropological observations enable to describe, analyse, and find the universal structures of the primitive dances. They also demonstrate that primitive dances are transposable to our cultures and our times.

In traditional societies, ceremonies have considerable importance, both for the group and the individual. They function as both social cement and individual therapy, thanks to a double function of regulation and expression conveyed by two essential activities of festivities: playing and dancing. They may take place separately or be associated.

These two modes of behaviour incarnate energetic but ritualised (and therefore authorised) models, which allow the awakening of contained or repressed feelings, their canalisation in recognised and admitted forms by all the group members, and their sublimation in a language which is aesthetic (in case of dance), ludic (in the case of play), and jubilatory (in both cases).

Thanks to the “play of symbolic acts” , on the sound of the drums, and sustained by the voice, Primitive Expression opens a way through which it canalises actions and emotions that are deep inside each of us to bring them to expression.

The psycho-analysis helps us to understand the therapeutic efficiency of these dances and how they can be phased with the different stages of the human evolution.

Can this secular, efficient and agreeable mean of therapy be transposed into our contemporary therapies, and if so, under what conditions?

The anthropological approach of dance therapy, called Primitive Expression, was created by Katherine Dunham, a black American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. It ties in with traditions and transposes them to our western society by eliminating their magical or religious connotations, and by endowing them with a theoretical, anthropological and psychoanalytic base.

As any traditional therapeutic ritual, Primitive Expression lies within a global perspective. It is holistic and is much reinforced by the very nature of dance: an activity that is at the same time physical, mental, psychic and social. The integration of these 4 elements defines the individual’s well-being or not well-being, his good health or his illness.

Dance therapy favours the harmony of these elements by systematically using the qualities of dance: energy, aesthetics, play, and jubilation.

Primitive Expression attempts to untie the pathogenic expression to create a new link enabling a positive re-orientation of the impulses. It proposes a true symbolic reorganisation through the rhythm, the voice and the movement.

Rhythm awakens. It is the first symbolic support. The dancer will put himself in harmony with the external rhythm of the drums, and will express the internal feelings that the rhythm creates. This expression may translate into simple things such as a tiny swinging of the head, the shoulders, the feet … The external rhythm of the drums is close to our internal rhythm. The conjunction of these two rhythms leads us to move, sing and play. The repetition will help to make this conjunction more powerful, and it will make movements larger, leading to a greater liberation.

Movements are a second symbolic support articulated on the first one. The dance therapist will propose the movements. They will be simple and easy to imitate. They are made of symmetrical, complementary or contrasted pairs that express the dancer’s inner world. It channels and feeds deeply hidden impulses and acts. Again, the repetition of these movements will lead to relaxation and to the catharsis.

Finally, the voice is the third symbolic support also imbricated on the first two. Traditional societies always combine dancing and singing. The voice gives a vibration that contributes to life. An intense liberation of the voice wakes up the body. Singing together will also create social links.

Using these three elements appeals to the whole human being.

Simplicity, beauty, force, play, celebration, art, communication are the essential elements that bring us back to the spring of the human being. They re-establish the balance between the body and the mind. They give us a sensation of freedom, of well-being, and of energy.

“The way is under our steps” Zen proverb.