Across the Threshold: Creativity, Being & Healing Symposium 2010

ACROSS THE THRESHOLD: = CREATIVITY, BEING & HEALING SYMPOSIUM - Saturday, April 3rd, 2010, Duke University East Campus, continued a highly interdisciplinary journey designed to join scholars and practitioners from many fields to explore the transformative paths humans have discovered/created through performance, spiritual/religious/ritual practices, and healing practices.

This symposium was sponsored by the Duke University Dance Program, co-sponsored by the Franklin Humanities Institute; Duke University Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts; the University of North Carolina Medical School Department of P. M. & R., Program on Integrative Medicine; and the following Duke University Departments: Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Music, Religion,Theater Studies.

Symposium Programming

Kundalini Yoga & Meditation

Kundalini Yoga is the Yoga of Awareness. Through pranayam (breath exercises), asanas (body postures and movements), the use of sound current, relaxation and meditation, we will awaken to the day, the inherent wisdom in each of us, and the infinite possibilities in each moment.  Prior yoga experience and the ability to twist yourself into a pretzel is not necessary!  Dress in comfortable clothes that you can move in, and bring a water bottle and a yoga mat if you have one.  There will also be mats available to borrow.  Weather permitting, we will hold the workshop outside near the Ark Dance Studio.

Transcultural Healing: Beyond the Threshold of Convention

Moderated by Larry Burk, panelists will speak on the following themes, with time for questions and discussion following:

  • Ciane Fernandes:  Movement Rhythm, Transculturalism and Dance
  • Richenel “Muz” Ansano:  The Meeting of Many Rivers: Transcultural Healing as a Challenge toNormalcy
  • Susan Gaylord:  Meditation and Healing

Create Your Own Healing Journey through the Arts

Honoring the historic Ark dance studio as a sacred space for creativity and healing, participants are invited to experience their own journey through a landscape of simultaneous activities, including:

  • Chanting led by  Jon Seskevich
  • Movement led by Louis Gervais
  • Visual Art response to sound and movement led by Viviane Kraus
  • Drumming led by Beverly Botsford
  • Aromatherapy led by Barbara Lynn Freed
  • Visual art exhibit of works by Alyssa Hinton
  • Quilt exhibit by Heather Williams

Dancing Images: Authentic Movement, Analysis and Composition

This workshop associates the method developed by Mary Whitehouse with Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis, as an inspiration for different possibilities of dance theater composition.

Drumming and Healing

In this workshop, participants will experience the power of drumming, movement, and toning (humming) to create a healing space. The vibrations of the drums will call forth individual spontaneous movement to open up the space, followed by group toning.  For those who wish, there will be an opportunity to experience hands-on traditional healing techniques by practitioners Richenel "Muz" Ansano and Vera Moura, MD.

Movement, Memory & Music:  A Mosaic of Transcultural Performance

Sound and movement have the power to heal on levels individual, cultural and transcultural.  The dance and music works presented on this evening performance are rooted in specific cultural practices from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.  At the same time, these performances transcend specific territorial and cultural landscapes, speaking of and to the evolution of the human spirit.