Somatic Movement Dance Education: A Feminist, Cognitive, Phenomenological Perspective on Creativity in Dance

Somatics: Practices Toward Developing Environmental Empathy

“…The body as-and in-environment is a central part of this. As mentioned above, the first-person subjective experience emphasised in somatic practices also aligns with the anti-Cartesian and the phenomenological subjectivity upon which situated cognitive theories lie (Weber 2019). It therefore also re-defines the naturehuman binary-or rather, eschews it altogether.…”

“…Because of its emphasis on subjective perception, somatic practices are well aligned with certain third-wave models of cognition (Batson & Wilson, 2014;Weber, 2018Weber, , 2019. As Batson and Wilson (2014) trace, cognitive science has evolved through three distinct historical periods: the first being computationalist (in the 1950s-1970s); the second, connectionist-joining neural networks and dynamic systems theory in the 1980s and 1990s; and finally, inclusion of the second-or third-generation embodied cognition.…”

Somatic Education and Mind-Body Disciplines: Exploring the Effects of the Pilates Method on Life Satisfaction, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

“…In the past decade, widespread research has integrated somatic practices into dance curricula to facilitate links between the body and the mind. In particular, Weber (2019) and Barrows and Barrows (2021) have stated that the Pilates Method has often been applied in somatic practices that were originally used extensively by athletes and dancers, and eventually gained attention from the general public. More specifically, Weber (2019) has noted that the Pilates Method was originally developed to establish harmony between the mind and body through combining aspects of breathing awareness and mental focus with the physicality of sports, gymnastics and dancing.…”

Pedagogical Perspectives on Developing Creativity in Dance Students

“…Thus, with consideration of the implicit political approaches to somatic movement dance education (SMDE) (Weber, 2019), we speculated that the incorporation of somatic practices within dance education may contribute to the development of creativity in similar ways, regardless of which somatic modality is used. Because we were participantresearchers, embedded in the act of teaching somatics-informed dance while conducting research on the topic, the study is situated broadly within reflective practice, phenomenological, and ethnographic methods of inquiry.…”

“…Through these more somatically informed choices, therefore, students develop the ability to be more aware of that moment prior to creative choice making. This developed awareness and intentional choice making may be seen as a radical act of self-awareness and self-agency and of trusting ones' own internal authority (Weber 2019). "Empowered embodiment," as Reed (2011) calls it, is experienced by learning through dance-somatics and thus provides a valuable opportunity for the critique of normative practice through challenging existing and habituated ways of doing, being and thinking.…”