Treating Dancers & Musicians: beyond “where” into the power of “why?”
-- Joanne Elphinston --
Working with musicians and dancers is a privilege and a challenge. As clinicians, it is easy to make assumptions about the understanding and body connection that these performing artists might have, but in fact, they find their way around their barriers and blocks to arrive at unsustainable movement solutions just like anyone else. When we zoom out from the area of pain and consider the individual as a whole, appreciating the interplay between mind, emotions and movement strategies, we can help these extraordinary human beings to find greater ease, efficiency and effectiveness in their performing bodies.
In this PowerTalk, we will explore the JEMSÒ approach to analysis and treatment, in the first half with musicians and the second half with dancers, using case examples to provide context to investigate the key question “Why is this structure under pressure?”.
Using simple principles, we will discover how holding this question in our minds can switch our brains from the convergent thinking that we use to identify the source of the pain for diagnosis, to identifying how the way a person is using themselves is showing up as pain or dysfunction. Only then can we find our way towards a more sustainable, comfortable strategy, which often brings about an improvement in performance as a bonus!
Working with musicians and dancers is a privilege and a challenge. As clinicians, it is easy to make assumptions about the understanding and body connection that these performing artists might have, but in fact, they find their way around their barriers and blocks to arrive at unsustainable movement solutions just like anyone else. When we zoom out from the area of pain and consider the individual as a whole, appreciating the interplay between mind, emotions and movement strategies, we can help these extraordinary human beings to find greater ease, efficiency and effectiveness in their performing bodies.
In this PowerTalk, we will explore the JEMSÒ approach to analysis and treatment, in the first half with musicians and the second half with dancers, using case examples to provide context to investigate the key question “Why is this structure under pressure?”.
Using simple principles, we will discover how holding this question in our minds can switch our brains from the convergent thinking that we use to identify the source of the pain for diagnosis, to identifying how the way a person is using themselves is showing up as pain or dysfunction. Only then can we find our way towards a more sustainable, comfortable strategy, which often brings about an improvement in performance as a bonus!
