Description
Book SynopsisAnna Halprin is a world-famous theatre artist and early pioneer in the expressive arts healing movement. This book explores her personal growth as a dancer and choreographer and the development of her therapeutic and pedagogical approach.
The authors, who each trained with Halprin, introduce her creative work and the 'Life/Art Process®' she developed, an approach that takes life experiences as a source for artistic expression. They also examine the wider impact of Halprin's work on the fields of art, education, therapy and political action and discuss how she crossed the conventionally defined boundaries between them.
Exploring Halprin's belief that dance can be a powerful force for transformation, healing, education, and making our lives whole, this book is a tribute to an exceptional body of artistic and therapeutic work and will be of interest to expressive arts therapists, dance movement psychotherapists, dancers, performance and community artists, and anyone with an interest in contemporary dance.
Trade ReviewI found this book a comprehensive and rigorous account of Anna Halprin's work and its application and relevance today. The discussions on the boundaries between Art and Therapy in her work with the body are both radical and inspiring. As both a dance artist/performer (...) I find the depth of enquiry and capacity to understand the body in doing, making and developing a political structure quite profound. One would hope that more people today who are interested in Dance and Movement and the body in both contexts will take up this extraordinary account of a life's work. -- Kay Lynn * The Gestalt Centre; BGJ (British Gestalt Journal) and the Oxford Psychotherapy Society's members-only Journal *
Readers will find that Anna Halprin: Dance, Process, Form is a detailed, well-researched, and objective examination of the life, work, and artistic mindset of Anna Halprin... the book is an interesting foray into where the process of expression in dance and therapy stands today, and also what it might mean for practitioners and performers going forward. -- Michael Fiorini * Somatic Psychotherapy Today *
Table of ContentsPreface to the German edition. Anna Halprin. Foreword. Rudolf zur Lippe. Introduction. Ronit Land, Ursula Schorn and Gabriele Wittmann. 1. Anna Halprin: Her Life and Work. Gabriele Wittmann. 2. The 'Life/Art Process' – Building Blocks for Creative Action. Ursula Schorn. Dialogue 1. Challenges for the Critics. Ronit Land in Conversation with Gabriele Wittmann. 3. On the Phenomenon of Anna Halprin's Reception. Gabriele Wittmann. Dialogue 2. Challenges at the Interface between Art and Therapy. Gabriele Wittmann in Conversation with Ursula Schorn. 4. The Limits of Expression – The 'Life/Art Process' in the Therapeutic Context. Ursula Schorn. Dialogue 3. Emotionality in Pedagogical Work in the Multicultural Context. 5. Introducing Anna Halprin's Pedagogical Profile. Ronit Land. Notes. Photographs. Works. Bibliography. Films. Acknowledgements (Pictures). The Authors.
