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‘Feldenkrais method (FM) is a movement education technique that emphasizes movement teaching based on sensory motor awareness and cognitive perception of the movement. Although this technique gained popularity in different parts of the world, it is still regarded as a non-conventional science’ (Joseph Henry a b et al., 2015). From a dancer’s perspective, Feldenkrais is a method of somatic anatomy in which a dancer can become in tune with and explore functional movements within the body, most importantly Feldenkrais is a mindfulness practice. This exploration of functional movements can then be taken into explorations through improvisation.

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In our class we would begin lying down, taking the time to arrive in the body and relaxing into gravity. Many of the invitations given by the instructor invite the practice of noticing and visualising, for example noticing what parts of the body rest upon the ground and visualising the space between the bones. In this class we looked at the different planes of flexion, these being lateral, medial and rotational, within the pelvis. We were often invited to place our hands on the points of focus, being asked to notice the asymmetry within our body.

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Feldenkrais takes an experiential and somatic approach to anatomy, helping the dancer to understand their body both anatomically and the sensations that come with it. Experiential anatomy ‘Encourages the individual to integrate information with experience. Thus enhances bodywork by providing an underlying awareness of body structure and function’(Olsen & McHose, 2019) In order to increase sensitivity to our bodies anatomy Feldenkrais suggests that we must ‘reduce all stimuli their bare minimum’ this means that ‘we also reduce its lowest value any change in our muscular system and senses. We thus increase our sensitivity to its maximum and therefor distinguish finer details that escaped our notice before’ (Feldenkrais & Beringer, 2010)

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(Gibbs, 1970)

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'Description

Here you have a chance to describe the situation in detail. The main points to include here concern what happened. Your feelings and conclusions will come later.' (Gibbs, 1970)

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'Feelings

Here you can explore any feelings or thoughts that you had during the experience and how they may have impacted the experience' (Gibbs, 1970)

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'Evaluation

Here you have a chance to evaluate what worked and what didn’t work in the situation. Try to be as objective and honest as possible. To get the most out of your reflection focus on both the positive and the negative aspects of the situation, even if it was primarily one or the other.' (Gibbs 1970)

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'Analysis

The analysis step is where you have a chance to make sense of what happened. Up until now you have focused on details around what happened in the situation. Now you have a chance to extract meaning from it.' (Gibbs 1970)

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'Conclusions

In this section you can make conclusions about what happened. This is where you summarise your learning and highlight what changes to your actions could improve the outcome in the future. It should be a natural response to the previous sections.' (Gibbs 1970)

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'Action plan

At this step you plan for what you would do differently in a similar or related situation in the future. It can also be extremely helpful to think about how you will help yourself to act differently' (Gibbs 1970)

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My own practice is centred around modes of improvisation, I often take a somatic approach to improvisation. I am extremely fascinated by the somatic approach to experiential anatomy, how this can inform my improvisation and help me access new ways of moving. For example, when improvising I will often take the time to move through my body slowly focussing on the sensations of each joint flexing and extending, I will often play with the difference between moving from one body part to another. For example, in one Feldenkrais session we looked at the sensations of the shoulder blades. I then played with moving my arms with initiation coming from the shoulder blades, elbows, wrists and then fingertips. The anatomical understanding of my body informed my ability to show attention and detail to each body part.

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Another aspect of Feldenkrais that applies to personal practice is its benefits in helping people’s mental health. Within my own beliefs I see dance as a form as mindfulness with having great benefits when it comes to, calming the nervous system and expressing yourself creatively. Within my life I have struggled with anxiety and depression, although I do not believe dance can cure these struggles it can play a huge role in alleviating some of the symptoms. Over time I have struggled to maintain a healthy relationship with dance as it can often mean I become obsessive and highly critical of myself. Somatic practices have played a huge role in me building a healthy relationship with myself, finding a place where I can dance for enjoyment as the sole purpose.

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‘Mindfulness involves paying attention to what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.’ (NHS, 2022) This essentially means living within the present and connecting the mind and body. Feldenkrais has been proven to improve a person's body awareness and ability to practice mindfulness. For example, in a study conducted by the Journal of Leadership Education, college students took a weekly Feldenkrais class. These students were asked to complete a reflective journal after every class, the study found that ‘Over the semester, students evidenced significantly greater mindfulness, body awareness, and a domain of transformational leadership measuring empathy, controlling for their level of stress at the time of final exams.’

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Taking the time to be attentive to the body in a Feldenkrais class often helps me to re-centre my mind and reach a state of mindfulness, one way we do this is through being invited to touch different parts of our body. For example, in one class we looked at our feet, taking the time to individually pick up each toe, this care and attention to each limb, helps to bring sensitivity to the body without distraction, therefore living in the present solely focussed on myself and my body. This care and attention to my own body has been in the past a foreign concept, when introducing a mindful, attention and care to my own body has influenced my practice. I believe in order to maintain the longevity of your dance career it is important to make sure I am continuing a healthy approach to my body and taking care of my mind as well.

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The history and the origins of circus have been long debated ‘Some say that the history of the circus began in the 18th century. Some say that the history of the circus begins in ancient Rome.’ (History of the circus 2024) The origins for the word circus comes from Latin referencing the shape in which races were held during the roman empire: ‘late 14c., in reference to the large, oblong, unroofed enclosures used for races, etc., in ancient Rome, from Latin circus "ring, circular line," which was applied by Romans to circular arenas for performances and contests and oval courses for racing (especially the Circus Maximus)’ (Online Etymology Dictionary)

The ‘The modern circus began in the 18th century with Philip Astley, a cavalry officer from England. He opened an amphitheatre in Lambeth, London, on 4 April 1768 to display horse riding tricks. Tricks were not his invention, but he was the first to build a place for their performance in front of an audience. He called this performance arena a Circle and the building an amphitheatre, but they became known in time as Circus’ (History of the circus 2024)

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(not my image image taken from google)

roman circus - Search Images (bing.com)

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Our circus classes and influence on my personal practice

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Our circus classes and influence on my personal practice

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When beginning our circus class in in term one our classes focussed on building acrobatic skills, both solo and in partner work. When first beginning our classes the importance of strengthening conditioning was highlighted to us. Creating a stable foundation was of the most importance in order to achieve such acrobatic exercises. In a study conducted by Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta looking at the effects of conditioning they set out to ‘determine the impact of physical conditioning in parenting students or athletes’ gymnastic basic skills. The study was surveyed research. The study sampling was 82 students aged between 18-19 years from Sport sciences’ (Sukumami et al, 2020) In this study they discovered that ‘physical ability has significant effect on gymnastic skill. this means that good physical condition will be able to support the appearance of good gymnastic skills. if a person's physical condition is not good then his gymnastic appearance will not be maximal’ (Sukumami et al, 2020) Within my own practice I focus heavily on maintaining a healthy level of strength in order to achieve acrobatic influences within my solos. For example, I am heavily influenced by circus in my floorwork exercises, these often require having strong wrists to prevent injury. In circus class we would strengthen our wrists by completing wrist press ups. Over time my strength in my wrists have improved, which not only allowed me to feel safer when performing circus partner work but has also allowed me to perform stabs in my floorwork, which essentially means balancing your body weight on your forearms, requiring a high level of wrist strength. In addition, my conditioning exercises have helped me improve my handstand technique improving my core stability, which ha help me stabilise when upside down on my hands.

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When beginning our partner work training, we looked at hand in foot and hand to hand techniques. ‘In the acro hobbyist scene, many call ‘hand to hand’ the specific move where the flyer performs a handstand on the base’s hands’ (Acrobatic gymnastics: Acro tricks, stunts & poses for 2 2018) and hand in foot techniques look at the flyer standing in the base’s hands. These techniques are first usually practised with the base lying on the floor before taking it into standing. Hand in foot techniques require ‘The ball of the flyers foot should be sitting in the ball of the bases hand. With two fingers supporting the heel of the foot, the flyer should aim to point their foot slightly.’ (Jburt, 2020) It requires the base to ‘squeeze your elbows into your side and have your arms pointing directly upwards from your elbow.’ (Jburt, 2020) These techniques heavily rely on the dancers to have a strong foundation of strength and conditioning. Within my own practice it has influenced my importance on strength and over coming fears around putting your weight into another person’s body. Growing up with body image issues I have always struggled to feel secure within my weight, in stepping into another person’s hands, you are essentially allowing the person to hold your entire weight. At first this was something that I struggled to come to terms with, however over time I built up trust and felt comfortable in this vulnerable position.

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(image taken from google)

18th century circus - Search Images (bing.com)

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Another element of circus partner work we focussed on was completing two highs, this essential means standing on top of a base’s shoulders. When first completing a two high I struggled with fear and anxiety of being high up in the air. Apon reflection although I felt scared in a risk-taking environment I felt as though a psychologically safe environment was created, making it a safe space to take risks such as flying in a two high. Psychological safety is ‘An interpersonal and team, level shared belief that the, team is safe for interpersonal, risk-taking’ (EDMONDSON, 1999) a high level of psychological safety in a dancer class is achieved when the dancers feel as though they can: ‘Takes risks without fear, perceives an absence of rejection, punishment or threat, holds positive interpersonal relationships, experiences positive emotions, perceives equality, inclusiveness and respect, experiences creativity’ (Lucy Turner 2024, Dance Psychology Unit 4 Slides). I feel as though our class had a high-level f psychological safety as felt I could take risks and go beyond my comfort zone in trying acrobatic tricks such as a two high in a safe environment. For example, within my class my fellow peers were spotting me and giving words of encouragement, in addition in one instance I fell over and was caught by my peers. When this happened instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt supported by the rest of my group. This theory of psychological safety that was created in our circus classes heavily influences my practice as a choreographer, when creating works, I aim to create a safe space, where the dancers feel valued and included. For example, I will always ask the dancers if they are comfortable with tasks, ask for feedback from the dancers and I make sure I am giving positive affirmations, so that the dancers feel supported.

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'CBT is based on the premise that our thoughts, emotions, physiology and behaviours are all inter-connected. Within CBT, we work to understand how unhelpful thinking patterns may contribute to an individual’s problems and leave them feeling stuck'

(Toronto Psychology and Wellness Group 2021)

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Reflections on handstand training from a CBT perspective 

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Reflections on handstand training from a CBT perspective 

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Reflection on basing a two high from a CBT perspective 

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Reflection on basing a two high from a CBT perspective 

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When applying my recent knowledge of Feldenkrais into my training of acrobatic tricks post circus class I have found the experimental anatomy approach to be incredible informative. When performing handstands we were holding to create a dish shape, to first understand the shape of the dish I will lye on the floor with my arms and legs above the ground, I then focus on the somatic experience of drawing my belly button towards the floor and pressing my legs towards the floor. When I take the time to notice the sensations felt within the body as we do in Feldenkrais, helps for me to quickly find the same feeling when upsi-down. Overall both Feldenkrais has helped my personal practice of using somatic practises within my dancing and circus has informed my use of acrobatic and highly physically intense movement within my practice.

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Acrobatic gymnastics: Acro tricks, stunts & poses for 2 (2018) How To Handstand. Available at: https://howtohandstand.com/acrobatic-gymnastics/ (Accessed: 06 May 2024).

Author links open overlay panelLeonard Joseph Henry a b et al. (2015) Feldenkrais Method and movement education – an alternate therapy in musculoskeletal rehabilitation, Polish Annals of Medicine. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S123080131500034X (Accessed: 02 May 2024).

Edmondonson, A. (1999) Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams, Sage Journals. Available at: https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Group_Performance/Edmondson%20Psychological%20safety.pdf (Accessed: 06 May 2024).

Feldenkrais, M. and Beringer, E. (2010) Embodied wisdom: The collected papers of Moshé Freldenkrais. San Diego, CA: Somatic Resources.

Fonow, M.M. et al. (2016) Using the Feldenkrais method of somatic education to enhance mindfulness, body awareness, and empathetic leadership perceptions among college students, Journal of Leadership Education. Available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.12806/V15/I3/R4/full/html (Accessed: 02 May 2024).

Glaser, L. (2015) Reflections on Somatic Learning Processes in higher education: Student experiences and teacher interpretations of experiential anatomy into contemporary dance, Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices. Available at: https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jdsp.7.1.43_1 (Accessed: 02 May 2024).

History of the circus (no date) History of Circus - From Ancient to First Modern Circus. Available at: http://www.historyofcircus.com/ (Accessed: 04 May 2024).

Jburt (2020) Acro: Standing in hands - circomedia youth circus home edition, Circomedia. Available at: https://www.circomedia.com/acro-standing-in-hands/ (Accessed: 06 May 2024).

NHS (2022) Mindfulness, NHS choices. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/tips-and-support/mindfulness/ (Accessed: 02 May 2024).

Olsen, A. and McHose, C. (2019) Bodystories: A guide to experiential anatomy. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

Online Etymology Dictionary (no date a) Circus (n.), Etymology. Available at: https://www.etymonline.com/word/circus (Accessed: 05 May 2024).

Online Etymology Dictionary (no date b) Circus (n.), Etymology. Available at: https://www.etymonline.com/word/circus (Accessed: 05 May 2024).

Sukumami et al, E. (2020) Koresponden-ok.pdf - universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, EFFECT OF PHYSICAL CONDITIONING ON STUDENT BASIC SKILLS  GYMNASTICS . Available at: https://staffnew.uny.ac.id/upload/131568302/lainlain/koresponden-ok.pdf (Accessed: 06 May 2024).

Victorian era circus performances facts: Acts, costumes (2020) Victorian Era. Available at: https://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-circus-performances.html?expand_article=1 (Accessed: 04 May 2024).