Dancing Intercorporeality: A Health Humanities Perspective on Dance as a Healing Art

Purser, Aimie

doi:10.1007/s10912-017-9502-0

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Arntzen et al . 2021; Normann 2020; Purser 2019; Øberg, Normann, and Gallagher 2015), which has seen cognitive-scientific justification in contemporary works building on discovery of mirror neurons (Sinigaglia 2008). The idea of intecorporeality builds on the fact that one’s corporeality is ‘communicable’ or ‘participable’, which means that bodily subjects are originally capable of positioning their experiences in relation with others’ (Merleau-Ponty 2002, 71; cf.…”

Section: Physiotherapy As a Reorganisation Of Bodily Intentionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenomenological physiotherapy: extending the concept of bodily intentionality

Halák

Kříž

2022

Med Humanities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study clarifies the need for a renewed account of the body in physiotherapy to fill sizable gaps between physiotherapeutical theory and practice. Physiotherapists are trained to approach bodily functioning from an objectivist perspective; however, their therapeutic interactions with patients are not limited to the provision of natural-scientific explanations. Physiotherapists’ practice corresponds well to theorisation of the body as the bearer of original bodily intentionality, as outlined by Merleau-Ponty and elaborated upon by enactivists. We clarify how physiotherapeutical practice corroborates Merleau-Ponty’s critical arguments against objectivist interpretations of the body; particularly, his analyses demonstrate that norms of optimal corporeal functioning are highly individual and variable in time and thus do not directly depend on generic physiological structures. In practice, objectively measurable physical deviations rarely correspond to specific subjective difficulties and, similarly, patients’ reflective insights into their own motor deficiencies do not necessarily produce meaningful motor improvements. Physiotherapeutical procedures can be understood neither as mechanical manipulations of patients’ machine-like bodies by experts nor as a process of such manipulation by way of instructing patients’ explicit conscious awareness. Rather, physiotherapeutical practice and theory can benefit from the philosophical interpretation of motor disorders as modifications of bodily intentionality. Consequently, motor performances addressed in physiotherapy are interpreted as relational features of a living organism coupled with its environment, and motor disorders are approached as failures to optimally manage the motor requirements of a given situation owing to a relative loss of the capacity to structure one’s relation with their environment through motor action. Building on this, we argue that the process of physiotherapy is most effective when understood as a bodily interaction to guide patients towards discovering better ways of grasping a situation as meaningful through bodily postures and movements.

show abstract

Section: Physiotherapy As a Reorganisation Of Bodily Intentionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenomenological physiotherapy: extending the concept of bodily intentionality

Halák

Kříž

2022

Med Humanities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Indeed the connection achieved when we 'listen' to the Other through the body in this way can be so strong that it is often spoken about as a momentary 'blurring of the boundaries between self and other' (Mullis 2016, 67; see also Fraleigh 1996, 57-70;Kozel, 2008, 136-160). Dance can be healing in its ability to combat isolation and alienation by grounding us in our fundamental capacity to experience a sense of intersubjective (or 'intercorporeal') connectedness with the Other (Purser 2017; see also Weiss 1999).…”

Section: Attunementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement as Method: Some Existential and Epistemological Reflections on Dance in the Health Humanities

Purser

2021

J Med Humanit

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The embodied creative practice of dance facilitates a particular kind of awareness or attunement which can inform both the therapeutic and the intellectual work of the Health Humanities. This paper therefore considers dance as a way of ‘doing’ Health Humanities in two interlinked ways: dance as a way of healing and dance as a way of knowing. In bringing together carnal and the creative dimensions of human experience, dance offers us a way of making sense of our place in the world that provides us both with much needed existential security (tethering) and much needed epistemological freedom (untethering).

show abstract

“…This form of movement has been considered somatic in that the dancer consciously experiences their bodily self through movement (Eddy, 2009). The dancer becomes engaged in an embodied awareness that is grounded in the moment and the body (Purser, 2019). Dance has also been considered communicative in that the dancer uses movements to convey symbolic messages to the observer (Bannerman, 2014).…”

Section: Empowerment and Dance Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Movement and Mindfulness Empowerment Workshop for Adults with Serious Mental Illness

Clarkson-Hendrix

Peters

2021

ASW

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For seriously mentally ill adults, empowerment is critical to maximizing participation in major life activities. Although studies have identified interventions that have positively impacted empowerment, these interventions may not be applicable or amenable to all adults with serious mental illness. More interventions with other approaches are needed. Therefore, this study evaluated the initial implementation of a movement- and mindfulness-based workshop intervention. Quantitative data were used to examine differences in empowerment before and after the workshop, and qualitative data were used to explore participants’ perceptions of the reasons for empowerment differences. Ten participants completed the intervention, and nine of the ten participants also completed follow-up interviews. Quantitative data were collected via pre- and post-intervention surveys. Qualitative data were collected through follow-up interviews with the participants. Surveys revealed perceptions of optimism and control over the future increased between pre- and post-intervention. Interviews uncovered that increases in optimism and control over the future may have been related to workshop accomplishments and reduced helplessness outside of workshop sessions. Future research would benefit from the creation of a training manual along with a validated system to monitor intervention fidelity.

show abstract

Dancing Intercorporeality: A Health Humanities Perspective on Dance as a Healing Art

Cited by 15 publications

References 11 publications

Phenomenological physiotherapy: extending the concept of bodily intentionality

Phenomenological physiotherapy: extending the concept of bodily intentionality

Movement as Method: Some Existential and Epistemological Reflections on Dance in the Health Humanities

Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Movement and Mindfulness Empowerment Workshop for Adults with Serious Mental Illness

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About