By Fabiano Culora PT, SYT, MSMT/E, BCST, PG Dip. (ALTHE)
Registered with ISMETA, YAP, CHNC, ICrA.
Theatre making can happen in many ways. The way that we have developed this at DYT is with therapeutic awareness. It means that the process is one that considers the needs of all involved and looks for ways that more choices of how one can be involved can emerge.
We have embedded in all processes group and individual Somatic Resourcing sessions, as well as ongoing Somatic supervisory sessions to the Artistic Directors. These sessions are an opportunity for each member of the creative team to take time to be held in a process of reflection on the practice and evolving material of the work.
What does a Somatic Resourcing session look like? The best way to explore this is to invite you to try it. Take a moment to process here…
Ask yourself the question – Is there something in my life that I would like more support for?
Now notice where you are… Can you allow yourself to get more comfortable physically? Maybe to notice the chair you are sitting on.
Then…Turn your head and see the things around you – locate yourself here.
Take a few breaths that help you feel more of the ground underneath you and the space around you.
Then…Wait for a feeling of coherence… Sense your rhythm of ease…
Now return to the thing in your life that you would like more support for – how are you perceiving this now? Take a moment to move or write in response.
This is an invaluable orientation for any context. Our biology is older than our psychology. If we are oriented physically we can allow for coherence to inform our creative work. Creative process will at times challenge our habits, patterns of experience and perceived safety, which at times can feel separating or even activating. Although each member of the creative team arrives to a Somatic Resourcing session with a different dynamic to explore, the essential process is one that looks for bringing that aspect that has become separate, back into a sense of connected whole.
How the body moves, breathes, senses and relates is the ground of Somatic explorations. How we feel about that is central to the motivations and digestion of our participation. Systemic regulation requires adaptability – to allow oneself to return as part of and become with the tidal change in the whole.
It is my deep commitment and joy to witness this growing capacity in DYT artists.
