Integral Dance
Integral Dance (skabt af Alexander Girshon) er en dans, der fører mod større helhed. Den hjælper med at opretholde en dyb forbindelse med sig selv (på krops- og bevidsthedsniveau), forbinder os med andre på en særlig måde, hjælper med at føle vores tilhørsforhold til verden (til natur og kunst) og til noget større, der er svært at udtrykke med ord (det spirituelle niveau). Desuden er disse forbindelser dynamiske af natur.
“Integral Dance opstod ud fra ønsket om at legemliggøre dansen i praksis som en vej til helhed, og ud fra forståelsen af, at en sådan vej er mere end terapi. Jeg kan godt lide udtrykket: God terapi slutter, men dans er uendelig.
"Terapeutiske mål, som jeg ser dem, er målrettede, situationsbestemte, klart definerede – men dans kan ledsage hele menneskelivet."
"En dans, der kan ledsage et helt menneskeliv, med alt hvad den indeholder — det er Integral Dance."
— A. Girshon
Kerneprincipperne for Integral Dance
1. Krop og bevidsthed er uadskillelige
Ethvert udtryk fra et levende menneske, uanset hvordan det præsenterer sig, har altid en kropslig repræsentation. Alt, hvad vi oplever, tænker og beslutter, er legemliggjort. Hjernen er en del af kroppen – dette er en simpel, men essentiel forståelse.
Når en person præsenterer sig selv, fortæller sin historie eller udtrykker sine følelser, ser vi altid på, hvordan dette manifesterer sig på det kropslige plan – gennem ansigtsudtryk, små gestus, ændringer i kropsholdning, ændringer i muskeltonus eller vokal intonation.
2. Et menneske er en proces, ikke et objekt
Det er vigtigt at se en person som en udviklende flerdimensionel proces.
Den første konklusion fra dette princip: enhver situation, der eksisterer her og nu, har en bestemt historie – en person har gennemgået bestemte stadier, faser og episoder i udviklingen. Den anden konklusion: denne situation vil fortsætte, denne historie er ikke slut.
I en vis forstand falder dette sammen med den eksistentielle forståelse af en person som et ufærdigt projekt.
Vi spørger: Hvad fortsætter med at bevæge sig? Hvad fortsætter med at ændre sig? Hvilken proces udfolder sig?
3. I alt kan man se en dans og bevægelsespartnere
Dette tredje princip udspringer af det foregående spørgsmål: Hvad er denne proces? Og her kommer vi til dans.
Hvis vi forstår dans som en flerdimensionel, koordineret proces, bliver det vigtigt at finde det rette sted for enhver oplevelse.
For eksempel: "Denne situation passer mig ikke, fordi en del af mig ikke er på et sted, hvor jeg kunne acceptere den."
Eller: "Den position jeg er i begrænser mig og tillader mig ikke at omfavne det, der sker."
Fra et holistisk, integreret synspunkt kan vi ikke afvise noget. I denne forstand forstår vi dans i en virkelig bred forstand, og vi kan betragte enhver situation i livet som en dans, og dens deltagere som partnere i bevægelse.
Fire integrationsniveauer i Integral Dance
Dans med sig selv
Kerneværdierne i Integral Dance er frihed, kreativitet, helhed og omsorg (først og fremmest - egenomsorg).
At lytte til sin egen rytme, at lytte til sit dybe begær, at lytte til sin autenticitet – det er de kvaliteter, en person lærer.
Og naturligvis, når en person lærer at drage omsorg for sig selv, begynder de at opbygge relationer med andre på en kvalitativt anderledes måde.
Sand selvomsorg er evnen til at være fri og til at skabe.
Dans med en anden
På det mest grundlæggende niveau har ethvert menneske en dyb følelse af væren: "Jeg eksisterer, og jeg har ret til at eksistere."
Jeg eksisterer, og det er nok.
Herfra – hvis jeg eksisterer, kan jeg føle, og jeg kan handle. Jeg har ret til at føle og ret til at handle.
Den næste integrationscirkel er forbindelsen med den Anden.
There can be no integration that is purely individual.
It cannot be that I am whole by myself, but in relationship with others I immediately lose this state.
If a person is truly whole, this extends to the quality of their relationships with others — in which, if one wishes, one can always see partners for movement.
Dance with the world
This means that I have my own place in the world, and I am at peace with it — my place in society, in culture, and in nature.
It means that I have a certain connection with nature — one that feels right for me.
These can be very simple things: for example, a person enjoys walking in the park and intuitively knows when it’s time to go there.
Or perhaps they feel a deep connection with a certain element or force of nature.
Connection with the world also manifests as connection with culture — in the sense that I truly understand which culture influences me, which culture I belong to, and why my tastes and preferences are what they are.
This is what integration means: what I do in society corresponds to my inner sense of self, and there is no strong contradiction between them.
There may be compromises or crises that I go through, but strategically I am in my right place in this world.
Dance with eternity
Most people who practice dance note that at times they encounter an inner experience that is difficult to express in words — as if part of it cannot be verbalized and lies beyond our consciousness.
If a person has experienced a powerful, vivid state through dance, it needs to be integrated — to find its place and meaning.
What place does it occupy? Where can it be of use, and what nourishes it in return?
Integral Dance provides space for this sacred side of the dance experience, creating a field for calm and clear understanding — where it leads and why it is needed.
Main Tools of Integral Dance
- Integral Dance-Movement Therapy
- Integral Somatics
- Integral Performance and Improvisation
- Dance as a Spiritual Practice
The foundation of Integral Dance is built upon several different schools of improvisation and improvisational performance on one hand, and body-centered therapy on the other. Dance therapy itself treats movement as a language of communication between therapist and client. Establishing non-verbal therapeutic relationships is the essence of classical dance therapy.
Another cornerstone of Integral Dance is Authentic Movement. Interestingly, Authentic Movement is both a separate discipline and, at the same time, already carries a sense of integrality. It can serve as a therapeutic tool, it can be a personal practice—sometimes for stress management, sometimes to support creativity, sometimes to address personal challenges, and sometimes simply because the process itself is valuable. It is also a spiritual practice. At least in the form practiced by Janet Adler, the Discipline of Authentic Movement is a modern mystical practice. Both aspects—the therapeutic and the spiritual—are explored in A. Girshon’s book Stories Told by the Body.
A significant body of knowledge emerged after classical dance-movement therapy, particularly in the 1970s–1990s, through somatic techniques. These, on one hand, share much with dance-movement approaches but are positioned under a different label. Somatic therapists often have separate professional associations, use somewhat different tools, and draw on a distinct knowledge base. Yet the foundations and goals are very similar. The somatic approach has significantly enriched the understanding of dance, movement, and human development. It also integrates well with discoveries in neuroscience—a field that must be incorporated today. Naturally, dance therapy and psychotherapy in general strive to understand and integrate this knowledge, relating it to practical therapeutic techniques.
Additionally, there are practices not focused on creativity or therapy per se, but rather on dance as ritual or prayer—dance as a form of spiritual practice.
Thus, Integral Dance draws on many foundations: improvisation, therapy itself, authentic movement, dance as a spiritual practice, and somatic or body-oriented approaches. Integral Dance is a process that helps us understand how all these elements relate to one another. By combining these forms of knowledge, we can more clearly and accurately—and most importantly, while staying connected to ourselves and our intentions—use Integral Dance for self-discovery, personal development, and enhancing our engagement with life.
