Pilot ActivityRe: The “Artist Within” 1st Training

“Its never too late! Reviving the Hidden

Artist! Integral expression and dance

therapy training”

Cserkeszőlő, Hungary

Integral Expression and Dance Therapy pilot workshop

Organisation: Comparative Research Network e.V. Group leader: Bernadett Hamar-Sari

Date: 6th May 2015Location: conference room of Hotel Armony, Mariannenplatz 26. BerlinNumber of participants: 13Age group: approx. between 23 and 50Gender diversity: only womenTime frame: 4 hoursTarget group: people with professional and/or personal interestOrganisations, institutions represented: BBZ Moabit, Booker International, CRN, Folkecenter, Literatur Werkstatt, Campus Naturalis, HTW Berlin

I took part in the training in Cserkeszőlő, Hungary because I wanted to use the possiblity to reconnect with the method I learnt between 2005-2009 in Budapest.Performing this pilot activity gave me a good excuse to start using the method of Integral Expression and Dance Therapy. I challenged myself and I led the group alone (in English). (Before, I only did workshops with a co-leader in Hungarian.)

We opened the workshop with my colleague ,Martin Barthel, explaining the participants that the pilot workshop was organized by CRN to share the method of IED and it's part of the 2-year long project: The Artist Within, funded by Erasmus+. We also mentioned the training in Poland, next year.I also talked about the frames of such an integral expression and dance therapy session.

Exercises/processes in short: we introduced ourselves one by one by saying our names and showing a movement that

shows our current mood and the state of mind we are in I offered them the possibility to either stretch or to give themselves a body massage or to

find any other way that helps them arriving into their body and be present I gave them a plain textile bag each to decorate it – that shows the way they are a longer exercise was used to let them discover the room (light, color, surfaces, sounds,

smells) and to experiment with the way they walk (speed, rhythm, directions and levels, different types of walking, like sideways, backwards, jumping, rolling on the floor, on the knees). Getting back to their normal walk I stopped them and drew their attention on their body parts, to reflect upon any changes they might feel and asking them to find a body part that requires their attention

I invited them to let that body part lead their body into movement, „listening” to that part of

their body to integrate their experiences they drew or painted a picture and showed it to the others and

gave it a title they worked in pairs as an 'active' and a 'passive' person, the 'active' one approaching the

other, getting as close as she thinks it's comfortable for the partner. Change of roles. Sharing in pairs.

moving around in the room and when one person stops and stays still, the others get in contact with that person by touching her or someone who is already physically connected to her, staying still for some seconds and start moving again

after choosing a partner they could decide it together, if they want to be connected by a real or an imaginery string. They could experiment with the distance – closeness, levels, directions and the possibilites that lies in that connection

as integration of the process they wrote a poem, drew/painted. feedback questions and answers on the methodology

As a result I can say the participants were satisfied, enthusiastic and motivated. Many people verbalized their need to work with their bodies, and how simple exercises like a partner and a piece of string can bring them into an altered state of mind and how funny it is to realize that they need a person to allow them to be playful like a child again.My aim was to help them realize what great potentials everyone has in them and how their creativity can help to make vague emotions visible, thus they can get easier processable. Furthermore, to make participants in the helping profession realize how simple exercises can help as a different approach in their work. We've discussed the aims and results of certain exercises that they could use.

A big THANK YOU for Erasmus+, for the Hungarian organizers and group leaders who were on the Hungarian IED training for this wonderful opportunity, that I could use to find my way back to my inner strengths and to show other people theirs.

Bernadett Hamar-Sari

Berlin, 12. May 2015.

Copyright

Recipients are free to use all or parts of this document for personal use however are requested to inform the author. Recipients are requested to acknowledge The artist within – Applied eMOTION consortium and the author in any reference to the content of this document. In the eventof any further queries please consult the author.

Acknowledgements

This project was possible with the financial support from the Erasmus+ program. Themethodological resources and inspiration came from the The artist within – Applied eMOTIONlong-term adult education project (www.theartistwithin.eu). The generosity from the fund and theseorganisations is much appreciated.