Connecting mind and body
Though Devika Sekhar knows the basics of a dozen dance forms – from belly dancing to bharatanatyam – her movement classes aren’t about dance at all. Instead, with a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Dance Movement Therapy from a London University, she uses movement therapy to help people deal with problems as diverse as learning disabilities or addictions.
Her work experience for her university course included a memorable stint with male high risk offenders – “I was part of the halfway house rehabilitation programme within a forensics unit in London,” she explains, adding that she and co-therapist, “held weekly sessions in movement therapy to target and work on issues surrounding anger, violence and frustration for this client group.”
She also worked with adults and children who had severe learning difficulties, emotional behavioural difficulties, special needs and mental health disorders including autism and schizophrenia. This week she tells the Mirror Magazine what got her interested in a career in movement therapy.
How long have you been dancing?
My mother would say I have been dancing since I was in her stomach! I have been dancing since I was eight years old. Also, Pina Bausch, the German choreographer inspired me at a very young age. I was fortunate to be able to see her production of “Carnations” which was brought to India.
What exactly is movement therapy?
Our bodies cannot lie. They are the mirror of the soul of emotions and memory. If we become aware movement reveals who we are, what we feel and think and how we cope with events, experiences and life. Some of the therapeutic outcomes of dance/movement are: the stimulation and release of feelings, communication and contact, reduction of anxiety, experience of joy, and response to rhythm.
The goals of Movement Therapy differ from person to person. Some might use it for self-exploration of themselves whereas some feel it might help with their children in ‘communicating.’
Walking, sitting, hand and arm movements, and gestures – these become more or less habits of each individual. So much so that few people are even aware of what they do and give out messages which directly contradict what they say. People also tend to ascribe clichéd meanings to certain body movements or gestures. For example arms folded across the chest means defensiveness or introversion. In actual fact it could just mean the person is feeling cold.
What made you turn to movement therapy?
Dance has always been a part of my life from when I was a child, when I learned several forms of dance. It has been that movement that always been therapeutic for me in its different forms.
Psychology interested me as well and feeling the therapeutic potential of dance and intrinsic movement drove me to find a way of combining the two. I have combined different techniques and methods as well as other creative elements I have learnt over the years to form Original Movement Therapy.
Do you think people are now opening up to the idea of dance as a career? Why?
When I started doing workshops in dance as therapy back when I was 16, I remember how the general feedback I was given is why not join a company or get into choreography.
That was something I was sure I did not want to do. Given then and now there is a huge difference in the mindset of people when it comes to the whole ‘movement’ of dance though whether it be dance as a career or alternate careers with dance and movement I think it is still difficult to try and break certain norms people have. With that being said though the general public is certainly opening up more now than what they used to before.
Find Devika online: https://www.facebook.com/rigMovementTherapy
Follow @timesonlinelk
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