Here’s a piece about twisting and spirals:
This is another of those intriguing (to me) movement phenomena that sometimes appear in Authentic Movement. They often repeat themselves, sometimes for years, before their meanings become clear.
This one started in a NYC AM peer group. Moving as usual, suddenly my arms twisted in front of my face. It was odd, but I took it as a positive event. I drew it, two pictures. One as it looked in the mirror, the other as it felt, with many more twists than possible. Soon afterwards, my legs twisted, then my torso. The twisting came with a warning: “Don’t try to make this happen! It has to be spontaneous! To take you by surprise!"
The twists seemed to have a life of their own. I imagined them as messengers from another realm, which I called my “creative unconscious.” I’m not spooky, but I often ask myself, “Who do you think you are?” or “Who has my identity?” "Is it by choice, or am I reenacting a trauma pattern?" Authentic Movement gives me information from my body’s inner wisdom.
Lately I am delighted when a twist appears because it has come to mean, “Some part of you (I intend to save the word “you” to mean "your whole self”) thinks that what you’re doing is weird, but you’re on the right track, Aileen."
Everything that flows spirals.
P.S. on Spiraling -
The subject of spiral movement seems to be endlessly interesting to me, and I haven’t even touched on Authentic Movement’s relationship to Laban Movement Analysis, or on cross cultural studies.
Folk Song Style and Culture was an exhaustive study by Alan Lomax, Irmgard Bartenieff and Forestine Paulay of movement elements and specific cultures. For example, they found that cultures that were inclined to favor fertility over control of sensuality used their torsos as one unit - with little undulation. The Lomax book is available on Amazon, and much of this information can be found on Wikipedia.
An interview with Peggy by Aileen can be found on A Moving Journal. Volume 12.1 Spring 2005: Authentic Movement and Laban Movement Analysis, an interview with Peggy Hackney http://amjpastissues.blogspot.com
MAKING CONNECTIONS, Total Body Integration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals, by Peggy Hackney, is an elegant and pleasurable book by a fine teacher, writer and long time Authentic Mover. You can read this book online:
1 comment:
I was recently doing a systemic constellation for myself but was actually representing the childhood trauma myself. Soon I started twisting my arms just like in your picture with the hands trying to hold each other tight facing one another as if each one was coming from a different body. This was, as it appeared in the end, a very early infantile trauma that in my understanding had to do with the absence of the mother and the infant's desperation to make up for that lack of connection. I though you might find it interesting.
Lina
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