Daniel Matallana
Student work
Two filmed movement pieces from one of our students
The use of dance and movement as a reflective tool is core to the training in Dance Movement Psychotherapy. The filmed movement response is just one way that students develop this skill.
Here are two of Daniel's filmed movement responses, alongside a description that explains each piece.
This dance portrays an emotional and geographical leap from my home country, across a vast ocean and into a completely new world. Throughout the course I have struggled with keeping my self-luminescence, this is, a natural ability to stay calm regardless of the external circumstances.
I’ve allowed myself to be vulnerable but I’m still not sure how to fully own or embody my vulnerability. Hence the metaphor of a world that switches on and off from brightness to darkness as I cautiously explore the space between these opposites: the known and the unknown, the conscious and the unconscious.
The balloons are a symbol of a colorful fantasy that can burst at any moment. (Yet, they remain in their fragility). My movement is deliberately sustained, heavy and bound because I feel that these qualities are a recent discovery in my movement profile. Perhaps I had to come to this part of the world to be aware of them…
Running, clapping, bouncing, hiding, waiting, reaching higher altitudes. My response was the result of embodying two of my clients who possessed radically different but rich movement profiles. I felt awfully split whilst doing this since I had to quickly shift from a manic state of suddenness and unbalance to a steady, almost inexpressive stillness. I was inspired by this material because it represents emotional poles that were present throughout my placement.
How can the therapist cultivate a sense of grounding and lightness? How can we meet the needs of different clients through a broad range of emotions and movements? Furthermore, how will the experience of this placement be reflected when I go back to class (metaphorically) to continue my training as a DMP?
