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Movement and SomaticsNon-stylised movement (as opposed to formalised dance, movement and yoga practice) is one of the most revealing approaches to emerge from the cross-fertilisation of performance, dance, therapy and daily life movement itself. Taking a systemic approach, it places the individual firmly in their embryological, family, social, environmental, autobiographical and ecological context. Our authors look at the role of movement in performance, therapy, awareness and creative life.
One of the most important developments has been the shift away from seeing the individual human as a fixed structure and towards seeing them as constantly changing processes. This approach is embodied, in different ways, by Linda Hartley, Miranda Tufnell, and in a collection of books about the Amerta Movement work of Suprapto Suryodarmo and the Move into Life practice of Sandra Reeve. |
Key Movement and Somatics titles ...
Linda Hartley's widely anticipated new book, Embodied Spirit, Conscious Earth, draws closely on three sources – Release Work, Body-Mind Centering, and the Discipline of Authentic Movement – to show how they can inform a practice of consciously embodied movement.
Three Books from Miranda Tufnell and Chris Crickmay
How to be feral ~ Claire Loussouarn
a handbook of practices for therapy and self-exploration These movement practices can be used by anyone who wants to start or deepen a practice of mindfulness, movement meditation, somatic awareness or connection with the rest of nature. It is also designed to be used by coaches, therapists, ecotherapists and outdoor educators. 
Skinner Releasing Technique ~
Manny Emslie A Movement and Dance Practice The 21 contributors to this book describe how SRT informs their own movement and/or dance practice and influences wider fields of practice including meditation, architecture, poetic listening, visual art, writing, technology and choreography. 
Rock Songs ~ Nick Sales
story about walk about story about walkabout story Rock Songs starts as a walk of a few miles between the valley of the river Tywi/Towy and the heights of Y Mynydd Du/Black Mountain in Wales. It takes millions of years, meeting along the way the rocks and water that have formed the land, together with the trees, red kites and otters who pass through. Humans crowd in as well – saints, drovers, Romans, bikers and tourists. The zen monk, Dōgen, is also walking and learns that mountains themselves walk. Rock Songs started as a one-man movement performance of a river by Nick Sales and has become a book of poetry, reflection, ecology and zen reflection. It's illustrated with extensive photography by Steve Hopkins and beautifully designed by Christopher Binding. 
Suomenlinna | Gropius ~ Paula Kramer
Two Contemplations on Body, Movement and Intermateriality How can we dance here – so the aliveness of everything past and present can surface and shimmer? Paula Kramer’s beautiful, evocative and touching ‘contemplations’ take us on a double journey that starts with Site (one in Helsinki, one in Berlin), moves to Practice and concludes in Performance. 
The Roots of Amerta Movement~
Lise Lavelle An introduction to the movement improvisation of Suprapto Suryodarmo. This book, covering the early years of Prapto’s teaching (1986-1997), is the closest there is to a record of that period of his work in English. [Read a brief introduction to Amerta Movement.] 
Before the Curtain Opens: Alexander Technique in the Actor's Life ~ Kate Kelly
Kate Kelly has long experience as an actor and Alexander teacher. Here she invites performers to examine the everyday habits of standing, sitting, breathing, speaking and reacting that spill over, unseen, into their professional lives. Using her own experience and case studies, she spotlights our deepest-rooted habits. She offers advice and guidance to help actors and performers retrain themselves in everything they do in daily life – before the curtain opens. |
Ways of Being a Body - a three-volume series:
Body and Awareness ~ editor: Sandra Reeve
The emerging field of 'body and awareness' is transdisciplinary and multifaceted - it has no subject listing in libraries and academia, but is of central importance to those interested in understanding art, dance, the psychology of health, child learning and development, trauma, the psycho-ecology of extinction, loss and climate change, proprioception and enteroception, ecological awareness, meditation, and the need for societal transformation in an age of multiple convergent crises. This is a guide for practitioners and researchers alike. 
Nine Ways of Seeing a Body ~ Sandra Reeve
Designed to be a guide and stimulus for teachers, students and practitioners of dance, performance, movement, somatics and the arts therapies - this short book will also serve as an inter-disciplinary resource for other areas of study, where a brief recent historical view of approaches to the body can be useful. The first in a series of books entitled: Ways of Being a Body. 
Body and Performance ~ edited by Sandra Reeve
Following on from Sandra Reeve’s Nine Ways of Seeing a Body (which offered a historical perspective on different key approaches to the body over time), this new edited collection brings together a wide range of contemporary approaches to the body that are being used by performers or in the context of performance training. The second in a series of books entitled: Ways of Being a Body. Related pages: 1) Amerta Movement and Suprapto Suryodarmo ~ 2) Cosmos as the Garden - recordings of Prapto
Embodied Lives - Reflections on the Influence of Suprapto Suryodarmo and Amerta Movement ~ edited by: Katya Bloom, Margit Galanter and Sandra Reeve
30 movement performers, therapists, artists, teachers and colleagues from around the world describe the impact of Prapto's Amerta Movement on their lives and work. 
Nature Connection ~ Margaret Kerr & Jana Lemke
This compact handbook of nature practices can be used by anyone who wants to deepen their connection with the rest of nature. It is also designed to be used by people who work with others in personal development and healing - for example, coaches, therapists, ecotherapists and outdoor educators. 
Attending to Movement: Somatic Perspectives on Living in this World
edited by Sarah Whatley, Natalie Garrett Brown, Kirsty Alexander Somatic practitioners, dance artists and scholars from a wide range of subject domains cross discipline borders and investigate the approaches that embodied thinking and action can offer to philosophical and socio-cultural inquiry. The book celebrates and builds upon the work of visionary dance artist, teacher and scholar Gill Clarke (1954 –2011), who championed the value of somatic approaches within and beyond dance education and creative practice. |
