AMIDA-kai

NIVAS - The Heart of Moving

Sally writes, "My work is founded upon almost three decades of research and development into the aesthetics and health potential of dance and movement. Its primary focus is the development of embodied consciousness as a fundamental resource. These principles have been successfully applied in education, community dance and within the profession.

I hold a first class Honours degree in dance and visual arts from Middlesex University and am presently undergoing accreditation as a Somatic Movement Therapist & Educator from ISMETA, the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. An interdisciplinary arts background has moved me through ive art and theatre performance while cross-cultural exchange and collaboration have shifted me on towards site-specific performance and Earth-based ritual. The emphasis on improvisation as a means of devising and of performance medium and on natural movement led inevitably to somatic practice and some of the foremost contemporary body therapies. I am trained in the principles of Body Mind Centering®, Infant Developmental Movement, Authentic Movement, Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy, Biodynamic Massage and Core Process Psychotherapy.

As well as providing Continuing Professional Development as a resource for dance artists and practitioners, professionals and students working in the fields of art and health, I offer an Independent Programme of workshops for creative and personal development in Norfolk and Wales. Individual supervision and one-to-one body-mind therapy is available in private practise. Research and development as a movement artist is ongoing through continued training, personal and group practise, and through my own artistic research."

Further and precise details of professional achievement may be found at Nivas - The Heart of Moving

Archedrama

Archdrama, originated by David Brazier, is the creative and experimental application of methods drawn from theatre and ritual to the illumination of spiritual and archetypal themes. In an archedrama session a group work together either on a shared theme or upon a theme presented by a protagonist. Themes may be drawn from personal life or from myth, folklore, or liturgy. No prior acting experience is required. Improvisational sessions alternate with opportunities for reflection and discussion. This is an exciting medium for anybody with an interest in spirituality in the arts irrespective of religious background. All that is required is willingness to participate and an open attitude toward diversity of spiritual form. Archedrama provides an approach to spirituality that is grounded in a chemistry between tradition and personal experience and open to inspiration and new exploration. It enables participants to appreciate the under-lying language of ritual and myth, to appreciate different spiritual perspectives, to gain confidence and learn about themselves, and to share in creative activity of intrinsic worth and interest.

Building Community through Arts

At the 4th Living Buddhism Conference in April 2006 there was a presentation by Hilda Flint and other members of BCA: Building Community through Arts.
[Next Conference 2008]

Here is what they wrote about their work at that time...

This is what has absorbed our energies over the last 10 12 years. Working in the community and in residential homes we have devised a workshop plan in which teachers have worked alongside students, professional care workers alongside clients, family members and neighbours have been included, and people isolated by disability or dementia have been drawn in, with education and business volunteers.

We have used the arts to create a workshop format in which there is no need for discrimination between those with high intelligence or those whose cognitive faculties have failed, or between status, ethnicity, or age. We offer two basic quotes which underpin our whole approach: All that is human we have in common (Franck) and Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain one when we grow up (Picasso). We each, we believe, have a fund of creativity, latent or expressed, which may reflect our common humanity, and if brought to the surface, well-presented, talked about, may bring individuals together in community, more able to make their particular contribution to the societies in which they live and work.

In our experiential workshop at the Conference we were mainly concerned to demonstrate our usual way of developing individual creativity, and learning how to facilitate the process. With more time available we would have given each participant a saucer of black ink, a stack of paper, and unusual tools to play with twigs, pieces of card, sponges, a toothbrush, string with the instruction to PLAY, EXPERIMENT, make unusual marks on your paper. This can be an absorbing exercise!

In the event we gave each of our participants a piece of paper already covered with random marks and invited them to select a small portion which interested them, using a ready made frame. Again, with more time we would offer a variety of frames, both in black paper and white, and a pair of L shaped pieces of card to isolate their chosen piece.

The next stage of the workshop works in threes, each participant taking a turn at being the artist presenting their work to the others; the facilitator helping the artist to express themselves; or the observer noting ways in which the interaction between the facilitator and the artist developed, how creativity was encouraged or perhaps frustrated, and keeping attention on the task.

In this stage each artist is encouraged to describe why their chosen piece attracted them: what the image evokes for them, perhaps what memories might have surfaced, certainly what their feelings were in making their choice.

This was followed by a time of individual reflection in which each participant was asked to find a title, write a sentence or two, to give some meaning to their selected piece, within the overall theme of relating individuals to the community. These reflections were then gathered together, and in their groups of three participants were challenged to find the connections, which could draw their pieces together as expressions of individuality within the community.

Buddha's Present

Artwork by Yuko Masui who likes at Kekokaikan Temple in Kyoto. The artwork illustrates basic concepts from and key events in the history of Pureland Buddhism in Japan. Click on the picture to reach further examples.

Yuko also has a picture weblog with English as well as Japanese poetic captions.

Doves to All at Amida

“Doves to all at Amida”, painting by Quaker Concern for Animals member Ann Johnson