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The Moving Cycle with Christine Caldwell April 2024 4 hours

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The Moving Cycle with Christine Caldwell April 2024 4 hours

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This elective was a very powerful experience overall; at times I admit a little hard to grasp some of the concepts Chirstine referred to during her session. What stayed with me most was an exercise where we were asked to move through the space like a sperm cell and later as an egg cell, The differences in movement styles amazed me — how the sperm's movement expressed directness and confidence and focus, while the egg’s movement was characterized by softness and a certain sense of calm and knowing. In another exercise, I was thrown into a very intense and traumatic experience, and during the session, I returned to that memory and processed it from a different place. I was surprised by my own body and mind’s willingness to return to that painful and frightening moment in my life. I believe that the more deeply we understand ourselves, the better people and therapists we become. This encounter filled me with humility and awe in the face of the wisdom of the body and the soul.

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A collaboration between music therapy students and dance movement therapy students aiming to explore the relationship between dance and music improvisation.

Overall, it was an integrative experience that explicitly combined dance and music, exemplifying the interdisciplinary nature of Creative Arts Therapies and highlighting the active therapeutic factor of 'non-goal-orientedness,' as manifested through improvisation.

For me, it was a focused practice in being prepared to improvise and be exposed, in not knowing what the next moment would bring—a practice in letting go

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Empirical Project: Stress and Movement June 2024 2 hours 

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Empirical Project: Stress and Movement June 2024 2 hours 

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Participated in a research study conducted by colleagues on the effects of dance on stress. I was interviewed before and after session through questionnaires.

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Empirical Project: Social connectedness June 2024 2 hours 

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Empirical Project: Social connectedness June 2024 2 hours 

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Participated in a research study conducted by colleagues on social connectedness in relation to dance movement therapy versus music therapy. I was interviewed before and after session through questionnaires.

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Area: Somatic practices Tension and Trauma Release (TRE) 11-1.2023 6.7 hours

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Area: Somatic practices Tension and Trauma Release (TRE) 11-1.2023 6.7 hours

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TRE was my first elective during the master program. The exercises and guiding principles spoke to me both on a practical level—as a focused and effective practice—and on a physiological level, as an occupational therapist with a background in anatomy. I encountered the practice again later in my studies as part of group therapy, and I want to integrate it into my daily life. I even aspire to take an instructor course so that I can pass on this accessible knowledge to others who can benefit from it.

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Jazz Dance Workshop Victoria Thorrud 11-12.2023  5 hours

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Jazz Dance Workshop Victoria Thorrud 11-12.2023  5 hours

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This elective was one of my first experiences; it threw me back to a time in high school when I danced jazz, and dance was a significant anchor in my life. This elective reconnected me with the teenager dancer within me, with a period characterized by identity formation. It's timing at the beginning was symbolic for me — it reminded me of my deep love for dance during a time of searching and instability.

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Improvisation in DMT and Dance Seminar (Rooted Jazz and Blues Dance Workshop) 2-4.2024 24 hours

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Improvisation in DMT and Dance Seminar (Rooted Jazz and Blues Dance Workshop) 2-4.2024 24 hours

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Rooted Jazz workshop was AMAZING!

I enjoyed it so much, normally I feel quite misplaced dancing dances where there is something "inherently happy" about them, which is not true as I have learned. This styles of dance and music, were a mean to express, to cope with slavery oppression and discrimination, INSPIRING. The circle as a mean to allow people to express, share their daily events and current mood with the community. The circle as a safe space to be yourself, show yourself, be seen and loved by your community! so much beauty, so much to learn! this dance style was formed by people who have suffered and still suffer from violence and discrimination, transforming pain into connection and expression, strengthening the community and the human bond, humanity at its best really.

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Empirical Project: Instrumental in Comparison to Lyrics June 2024 2 hours

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Empirical Project: Instrumental in Comparison to Lyrics June 2024 2 hours

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Participated in a research study conducted by colleagues on the effects of different types of music on students. I was interviewed before and after session through questionnaires.

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Invitation 2Dance: From Your Roots to Uranus with Büşra 3/2024 3 hours

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Invitation 2Dance: From Your Roots to Uranus with Büşra 3/2024 3 hours

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This elective was special and memorable since it exposed me to the unique content world of a friend (we were still building our relationship in that time) and colleague. What I especially remember is the creativity, diversity and uniqueness of the session. We worked with colors and animal cards, and I was still in the early stages of becoming familiar with the concept of 'Embodiment'. The session required a lot of imagination and embodiment, and I remember experiencing conflict and challenge in trying to embody Büşra's offers and invitations.

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Invitation 2 Dance: Limon-based Modern Dance with Lindsey July 2024 2 hours

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Invitation 2 Dance: Limon-based Modern Dance with Lindsey July 2024 2 hours

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Explored Limon based principles of breath, weight space and rhythm. Besides this elective being an enjoyable group-cohesive experience, I believe I was more able to integrate the concepts better as it was conducted after the Laban course and developmental patterns.

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Invitation 2Dance: Rhythm and Breath Integrative Movement Therapy with Isinsu December 2024 2 hours 

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Invitation 2Dance: Rhythm and Breath Integrative Movement Therapy with Isinsu December 2024 2 hours 

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This movement session, which combined elements from Yoga and Bartenieff Fundamentals, exemplified the integration of diverse movement modalities

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DMT Informed Psychodrama January 2025 5.3 hours

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DMT Informed Psychodrama January 2025 5.3 hours

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This elective with Dr. Maria Soledad Manrique from Buenos Aires was particularly inspiring and enriching, both because the session involved a great deal of playfulness, drama, and role-playing—elements drawn from parallel yet distinct fields within the landscape of Dance Movement Therapy—and also because I knew that I would be completing my second clinical placement under the guidance of a drama therapist, while simultaneously exploring and researching the field of psychodrama. The session supported my integration and internalization of principles from the world of psychodrama and enabled me to observe where these intersect with DMT.

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Deutsch Abendkurs A1-1: 1-4.2024 10 hours

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Deutsch Abendkurs A1-1: 1-4.2024 10 hours

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Invitation 2Dance: Introduction to Bharatanatyam Dance December 2024 2 hours

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Invitation 2Dance: Introduction to Bharatanatyam Dance December 2024 2 hours

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This elective was both a cultural and movement-based experience. Beyond the opportunity to gain insight into a colleague's cultural dance, I engaged in movements unfamiliar to me—ones I had never previously explored. The session was physically and mentally challenging, prompting reflection on the distinctions between dance as a practice and DMT.

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Tango Therapy with Clarissa Machado May 2024 8 hours

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Tango Therapy with Clarissa Machado May 2024 8 hours

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This elective coincided with my ongoing interest in exploring the benefits of tango—both through my professional experience working with individuals with Parkinson’s disease and through a powerful personal experience I had with a colleague during a lesson in the second semester of first year of studies. Clarissa's session focused on connection referring both to the interpersonal connection between dance partners and the embodied sense of connection to the ground throughout the dance.

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Invitation 2Dance:  Feeling Anatomy Moving with Vanessa June 2025 2 hours

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Invitation 2Dance:  Feeling Anatomy Moving with Vanessa June 2025 2 hours

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This elective focused on the anatomical aspects of movement. I attended with a desire to move, at a time when I was physically stagnant due to the intensive process of writing my thesis. My wish to engage in movement clashed somewhat with the cognitive emphasis of the session. Nonetheless, it reminded me of the physiological dimension of movement, which is highly relevant especially when aiming to make movement accessible to specific populations—among them, individuals with Parkinson’s disease. And the beauty of DMT in which we aspire to leave the purely cognitive 'in the head' level.

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I participated in three sessions of this meaningful practice group. In two of them, I took part as a participant—once under the guidance of Carmen and once under the guidance of Ryn. In my second session, I facilitated the group myself. I wish I could have attended more sessions, as the group offered a valuable opportunity for practice and participation within a supportive and safe environment.

The session led by Carmen involved extensive verbal inquiry into different levels of bodily experience (bones, muscles etc.), Carmen has led us safely through a deep bodily inquiry and proprioceptive experience.

The session facilitated by Ryn focused on Drag-Based Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), exposing me once again to a less familiar field—one that required imagination and courage, and quite literally offered me a stage to express parts of myself that rarely find expression.

Both facilitation styles manifested a creation of a safe space that supports exploration and expression— core principles of DMT.

In the session I facilitated, I came to understand the critical importance of giving myself time and space to arrive in the room before the participants. This proved essential for establishing the atmosphere in the space. I was also reminded of my tendency to move faster when feeling under pressure, rather than allowing myself time to pause, process, and integrate what was unfolding—and to adhere to the principle that "less is more." Perhaps most significantly, facilitating the session enabled me to witness my own growth within the training process, particularly in my role as a facilitator. I was able to hold space for others, attune to subtle cues, and provide participants with the room they needed to express themselves.