REVIEWS OF REFLECTIONS ON AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT
“I have just finished your book! What
a beautiful offering... It was clear throughout how thorough and wide
your depth of thinking expanded, your reach into science and art and
philosophy.”
“I love the book. What a great
resource Eila has provided for all of us studying this practice. I
will give it as a resource to my students, it will be top of the
list.”
Wendy Elliott, Somatic Depth Psychotherapist, Oija,
California
“With vivid descriptions,
penetrating and clear language, Dr. Goldhahn's outstanding body of
work is at last readily accessible to the global audience of
Authentic Movement scholars and practitioners. It is a profoundly
original undertaking, one that not only maps the history of the
practice and the discipline, but also expands it through art as well
as performative research. Dr. Goldhahn's writing rhythm,
sometimes syncopated, at other times fluidly poetic, makes reading
her book a pleasure. She paints artistry as witnessing and
object-making as dancing movement. Her installations bridge life,
death, and ritual, reminding us how private and public spaces in
Authentic Movement come to be—through shared experiences. Dance,
imagination, interpretation, and inner witnessing take on deeper
meaning and scope via her ‘camera-witnessing’
technique.”
Patrizia Pallaro, Editor of Authentic Movement Vol.
I & II Moving the Self Psychotherapy Center, Annapolis, MD, USA
continued...
“During many years of Authentic Movement practice, I had never questioned the use of the word "authentic," even after having read her 2009 article in the AJDT. Certainly I could not have researched, dissected, stripped it of its current usage and meaning in the way Dr. Goldhahn has. Whether broadening the concept of authenticity, rejecting some of its preconceptions, or magisterially weaving it in and out of famed continental philosophers' contemplations, Dr. Goldhahn describes the essence of this practice and, perhaps, what Janet Adler in her later writings calls "direct" experience. In her search for an ontologically adequate and methodologically correct term, Dr. Goldhahn merged the constant experience of opposites in Authentic Movement into one fluid expanse of possible relationships and connections she named MoverWitness.
The learning process of collaborative choreography, coupled with the use of digital devices, offers a novel, intense method of exploration for dancers, practitioners, supervising therapists, and artists, using curiosity, limits and boundaries, intertwining bodies, movements, actions, reactions, and non-judgmental language. Furthermore, Dr. Goldhahn's relentless questioning and probing of intellectual boundaries gives us opportunities to peek, not only into our ever-present digital experience with an ethical eye, but also to confront our illusion of embodied presence and blurring of our digitally-transmitted experiences.
Her holistic merging of science, aesthetics, kinesthesia and proprioception uproots Catesian dualism. This allows us becoming one with, and at the same time, micro-focusing on elements of the urban environments or natural habitats. At the end, Dr. Goldhahn invites us to explore MoverWitness for its ecological clarion call to stop the destruction of our world. She is devoted to communicating "the realization of the interconnectedness and dependencies of all ecologies" in her strong belief that "creative embodiment, empathy, and non-judgmental way to use language" in collaborative relationships will foster and shape a new world for all living creatures.”
continued...
“During many years of Authentic Movement practice, I had never questioned the use of the word "authentic," even after having read her 2009 article in the AJDT. Certainly I could not have researched, dissected, stripped it of its current usage and meaning in the way Dr. Goldhahn has. Whether broadening the concept of authenticity, rejecting some of its preconceptions, or magisterially weaving it in and out of famed continental philosophers' contemplations, Dr. Goldhahn describes the essence of this practice and, perhaps, what Janet Adler in her later writings calls "direct" experience. In her search for an ontologically adequate and methodologically correct term, Dr. Goldhahn merged the constant experience of opposites in Authentic Movement into one fluid expanse of possible relationships and connections she named MoverWitness.
The learning process of collaborative choreography, coupled with the use of digital devices, offers a novel, intense method of exploration for dancers, practitioners, supervising therapists, and artists, using curiosity, limits and boundaries, intertwining bodies, movements, actions, reactions, and non-judgmental language. Furthermore, Dr. Goldhahn's relentless questioning and probing of intellectual boundaries gives us opportunities to peek, not only into our ever-present digital experience with an ethical eye, but also to confront our illusion of embodied presence and blurring of our digitally-transmitted experiences.
Her holistic merging of science, aesthetics, kinesthesia and proprioception uproots Catesian dualism. This allows us becoming one with, and at the same time, micro-focusing on elements of the urban environments or natural habitats. At the end, Dr. Goldhahn invites us to explore MoverWitness for its ecological clarion call to stop the destruction of our world. She is devoted to communicating "the realization of the interconnectedness and dependencies of all ecologies" in her strong belief that "creative embodiment, empathy, and non-judgmental way to use language" in collaborative relationships will foster and shape a new world for all living creatures.”
“This book is recommended reading for
artists and dancers interested in engaging with Authentic Movement
for their own creative outputs and others from education,
recreational and health fields who would like to understand more
about the adaptive nature of Goldhahn's MoverWitness, an
interdisciplinary tool
Professor Helen Payne, University of
Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
review continued...
....Further the book provides the reader with a comprehensive pathway to the theory and practice of the Discipline of Authentic Movement.”
review continued...
....Further the book provides the reader with a comprehensive pathway to the theory and practice of the Discipline of Authentic Movement.”
“Eila Goldhahn offers a
rich and sensitive framework for rethinking the contemporary
discipline Authentic Movement. The reader is guided through the
various components of the method with maintained respect for the
legacy of ideas. Goldhahn creates a lucid web of knowledge rather
than analysing components one-by-one, beautifully conveying a sense
of what the discipline of Authentic Movement is all about. Knowledge
emerges with a linguistic simplicity that does not simplify complex
matters.
Eva
Tillberg, Psychoanalyst and Supervisor, Lecturer at Karlstad
University, Sweden.
review continued...
This book will certainly serve students on their learning path within the field of Dance Movement Therapy. The guidelines in chapter three also offer university teachers in DMT an embodied frame of thought that is far more helpful than what a concrete step-by-step manual-based instruction would be. Goldhahn’s approach highlights the value of human communication within university learning. For students, teachers as well as readers outside of the academy who are interested in Authentic Movement – this book is a gift!”
review continued...
This book will certainly serve students on their learning path within the field of Dance Movement Therapy. The guidelines in chapter three also offer university teachers in DMT an embodied frame of thought that is far more helpful than what a concrete step-by-step manual-based instruction would be. Goldhahn’s approach highlights the value of human communication within university learning. For students, teachers as well as readers outside of the academy who are interested in Authentic Movement – this book is a gift!”
“Eila Goldhahn contributes to the
Authentic Movement literature though a carefully considered
re-framing of the practice, naming it the MoverWitness, while
highlighting a unique creative perspective of the practice with her
essays on arts-led research. This book gives the field a fresh
application of AM, centered firmly in its rich and fertile
history.”
Marcia Plevin, Arts Therapy Italiana, Bologna,
Italy.
“Eila Goldhahn takes readers on a captivating journey
while they are sitting with the book in their hands: it includes
Authentic Movement’s history, acknowledges its roots in dance and
the cultural processes of its time, in visual arts, Freudian
psychoanalysis, Jungian psychology and the shaping up of a quite
specific discipline of its own. As readers traverse the book pages,
doors open to enrich their knowledge and understanding even for
those not solely focused on Authentic Movement training.”
Hilda
Wengrower, Psy. D., Dance Movement Therapist & Clinical
Supervisor, Haifa University.
“Vorrei suggerire la lettura del libro
Reflections on Authentic Movement (Riflessioni sul Movimento
Autentico) in cui l'autrice Eila Goldhahn offre diversi elementi
riguardanti il campo del Movimento Autentico, attraverso il suo un
modo personale e originale di guardare al Movimento Autentico,
offrendo riflessioni e una parte storica. L'autrice si concentra sul
concetto di relazione Mover-Witness, descrive una breve guida alla
pratica e all'uso specifico del linguaggio , fornisce riflessioni
sulle origini del termine stesso Authentic, rifacendosi a diversi
autori. In una parte molto stimolante l’autrice la propria storia
personale e il suo sviluppo nello studio e nella pratica del
Movimento Autentico. Un altro aspetto che può essere di interesse
per gli artisti è la descrizione dell'uso del Movimento Autentico
nel campo delle arti e dei media, con particolari rappresentazioni e
applicazioni. Penso che questo libro offra un interessante contributo
alla conoscenza, alla pratica e all'utilizzo del Movimento Autentico
in diversi campi per diversi operatori e professionisti .”
Maria Govoni, Psicoterapeuta, Psicologa, DMT Art Therapy Italiana.
Maria Govoni, Psicoterapeuta, Psicologa, DMT Art Therapy Italiana.
Maria
Govoni, Psicoterapeuta, Psicologa, DMT Art Therapy Italiana.