Dance seen as key

An international leader in movement and dance believes dance is the key to curing the ailments of both the human body and the planet.

Eastwest Somatics Institute for Yoga, Dance and Movement Studies founder Prof Sondra Fraleigh is in Dunedin this weekend for the University of Otago Shin Somatics Symposium. She gave the keynote address yesterday.

Prof Fraleigh said the living body of the Earth and the human body were interwoven, and healing the Earth and ourselves would be the major work of the 21st century.

''I believe that our bodies are an extension of the Earth, and in the West we have made the mistake of believing we are in control of nature.

''We have exploited the Earth with things such as nuclear testing and deforestation.

''When we damage the Earth, we damage our bodies. Our health belongs to our relationship to nature.

''Now it's time to give back what we've taken away.''

Prof Fraleigh said her contribution was to teach dance in a way that respected the nature of the body and ''its relationship to other people in building communities and ultimately relinquishing this need to control everything around us in nature''.

''The dancing that I teach, we are always moving towards that organic source.

''We are extending consciousness when we dance, I believe.''

For more than 30 years, the 73-year-old has been a leader in the study of movement and dance.

She is professor emeritus of the State University of New York College at Brockport, where she chaired the department of dance.

Her innovative choreography, based in somatics and inspired by butoh, has been seen on tour in North America, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

She has served as Congress on Research in Dance president, and as a faculty exchange scholar for the State University of New York. She has written many articles and seven books on dance and movement, philosophy, somatics, and developmental psychology.