Dance/Movement Therapy: Analyzing "Body Language"

"Dance/movement therapists believe that all movement meets a need - whether functional or emotional - and it is an outward expression of one's internal world." ~ Stacey Hurst
Stacey M. Hurst, MA, BC-DMT, LCPC, GLCMA is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago's Dance/Movement therapy program where she earned the Master's of Arts in Dance/movement therapy and the Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis. After receiving her Clinical Professional Counseling License, she was invited to teach in the department as a part-time faculty member and tasked with the development of the Movement Observation and Analysis courses based on the work of Rudolf Laban, Irmgard Bartenieff and Judith Kestenberg. As a board certified dance/movement therapist Stacey has continued to teach these and various other courses within the department.
Since 2003 Stacey has owned Mind Body Connections, a flourishing private practice, located in Warrenville, IL where she sees adolescents and adults for a variety of mental health issues. She supervises up and coming therapists; consults in program development; and creates and facilitates workshops for the lay person as well as verbal therapists interested in understanding the power of movement.

[@joykadowaki7600]

Body movement prejudice can lead to miscommunication. I've noticed that when I listen in on drama as a third party, people tend to analyze what a certain gesture or movement means. And I usually sit there thinking, "how do you know that was their true message?" Our body movements can be influenced by a wide variety of situations that many of us are unaware of, and this video encourages me to give people the benefit of the doubt. Not all gestures have an exact meaning and only the truth is found within the beholder.

[@Yikesss-2]

Body language is super big as it's our everyday tool of how we adapt to our thoughts and understanding with our observations on the things and the people around us. This video is the whole aspect of how nonverbal communication practice is, The speaker clearly states we are only speaking 20% and using non-verbal 80% and we use mainly our implicit biases to say more than what we think is based on our own communications. She used an example of finding a friend in an airport is a perfect example of the representation of nonverbal the way of being able to observe and recognize all our connections to the movement of one's internal world. By finidng the mirror of movements in our internal perspective we use to copy/understand things but sometimes by mirroring that one person can also lead us astray. With our body language we also show the influence of certain situations with or without mainly without us being aware of our tend to analyze with gestures we or others make.

[@ellaflapan-feig7932]

I didn't realize how much I analyze people's body language when I am not even paying attention to it. This talk was very interesting because it highlights how much we use body language instead of verbal communication.

[@Shheeiillaa]

The video served as a powerful demonstration of how nonverbal cues, such as movement, gestures, and body language, can profoundly impact communication and facilitate healing. The video reinforced the idea that our bodies are powerful communicators, capable of expressing emotions and experiences that may be difficult to put into words. Through dance and movement, the participants in the video were able to convey their inner states, connecting with others on an emotional level and creating a shared understanding. This aligns with the concept of nonverbal communication, which emphasizes that our bodies have a language of their own, one that often speaks louder than words. The video highlighted the impact of our own implicit biases on nonverbal communication. It emphasized the need for self-reflection and awareness of our preconceived notions to create an inclusive and empathetic environment. By acknowledging and challenging our biases, we can approach others without judgment, attuned to their nonverbal cues and receptive to their experiences. This understanding reinforces the importance of self-awareness, fostering compassionate communication and meaningful connections with others.

[@vividfish9609]

In this video, Stacey Hurst, explains how communication is largely based on nonverbals, up to 80 percent, and this largely includes body language along with other seemingly small things such as tone. The way that people can observe someone and understand the person they see relates to mirror neurons firing when seeing someone else move. On the other hand, we are not always accurate because of our prior experience misinterpreting our observation. This is why dance movement therapists must be objective in analyzing the movements they see. This is done by categorizing the movement into four areas of body, shape, effort and space. The movement can therefore be analyzed by thinking about what type of body movement was moved, how it was moved, where it moved to and from, and why it moved. This analysis can help the therapist understand how the patient moves and other different aspects of the patient, in order for the therapist can best help them. When Hurst spoke about these four aspects, it reminded me of the efforts activity we did during class. Personally, exploring light movement felt most comfortable for me while the opposite, strong, was an effort that felt uncomfortable. Because of this exploration, I felt like I understood how these efforts would give insight into how patients feel especially when given a prompt to guide them. What I found interesting about this video was that patients seem to feel and imagine the prompts they are given and sometimes this leads to a release of emotions. This connection of the body and mind is truly fascinating.

[@danijelafechushak767]

I thought a very good point that Hurst made is that if we are not aware of our own preference and biases when it comes to movement then our interpretations of other people's body language can tend to be misinterpreted causing potential issues in understanding how the person feels. I loved her personal example of this with her son it really connected the idea for me.

[@m.sweetnam6883]

Thanks for pointing this out! I feel like this is an important aspect of this talk. While the speaker is talking about objective movement analysis, in providing this anecdote I think she’s acknowledging that even expert movement analysts need to allow for some doubt or flexibility in their analysis. And that even experts can forget to take their own personal experience/bias into account.

[@sunwooooooo]

I liked Hurst's demonstration of how innate movement analysis is in our human mind and culture. Nonverbal cues seamlessly entered into our vernacular due to our implicit observations. I have personally observed that I have also found a friend solely by their walking style. I am able to tell who is in the household simply by listening to the pace of their steps and the weight they put into each step. Hurst touches on how it is important for therapists to constantly assess their implicit bias and objectivity as well. I enjoyed the use of Laban Notation to analyze pedestrian movement as well. I found comfort in Hurst's analysis in how despite how lonely you feel, the Earth is there to ground and comfort you.

[@alicynstephens9136]

Hurst brought up many different points that I never realized I do on a daily basis with analyzing body movements like noticing my friend in a large crowd just because of how they carry their body position, and thought it was very interesting how this is such a indirect but ingrained thing to pay attention to and analyze

[@victoriaharris4061]

I love that it explains how DMT uses movement analysis and how the movement analysis is broken into multiple components and questions. It is a very educated way of approaching movement analysis and dance therapy as a whole.

[@peytonbohn1309]

This was an interesting talk! Wow! The body is a fascinating thing, and body language is such a cool tool that we instinctually use. The dance concert example was something I've never thought about!

[@chongvue9872]

Your explanation of how to analyze body language and assess movement is incredible. I found it interesting that someone said 95% of communication is non-verbal. It made me realize how important body language is, and how much we analyze it on a daily without realizing. I really like the breakdown between the body, effort, space, and shape triangle. Thank your for a great speech!

[@jordandahlhauser3294]

I think she did a great job of presenting the facts in a way that everyone could understand. I also found those statistics super interesting because I often judge people by their body before they even say a word.

[@claudiamarkets9126]

I really want to learn something in here but the vocabulary and sound of high pride … leaves me wondering… are you the healers? Or you truly need to heal you posture, your movements and your shines in your body ?

[@alejandrajuarez9553]

Hurst's speech discusses the way people communicate with their body. It was interesting how people observe body language more than the actual conversation they might have. I thought of myself as an obervent person but I guess everyone is. I never thought that observing body language could be categorized into what, why, where, and how. Although it may be for a split second, non verbal cues help understand the context behind a word. The body can let someone know what the other might not be saying.

[@marleehalbach4643]

Hurst talks about how Dance movement therapists analyze every movement of every session. I never realized how dedicated they were to this form of dance that is really an art. Dance movement therapists are equipped to understand non-verbal expression and what to do with it. We often underestimate how talented and special they are. I love her talk on this subject, very interesting.

[@emilysprague5532]

Agreed. Dance/movement therapists must be talented for being able to pick up on subtle cues and interpret movement symbolically.

[@katherinemartinez5003]

Stacey Hurst talks about the importance of body language and how people analyze movement unconsciously. She also explains how everyone can interpret body language based on personal experiences and that as a dance therapist they are trained to not judge their clients based on their personal interpretations. In class we learned about Labans Movement and how using these we can communicate nonverbally. Stacey also talks about how important they are for dance therapy to observe and intervene with their clients. Something important Stacey said was that therapist should meet with their patients movements by identifying their weakness and strengths. Also helping them connect with their body, explore dynamic expressiveness, develop interpersonal skills, and presence in the world.

[@emilysprague5532]

Great talk! I did not realize just how much we communicate through nonverbal language. When you really think about it, you can realize ways we understand others and ways we communicate nonverbally, but this usually goes unnoticed. We do so much of this unconsciously. I thought her explanation of mirror neurons was interesting and explained how nonverbal communication comes naturally for all.

[@justinmagnus8567]

Yes! I also found it interesting when she said that we even pickup on nonverbal language without knowing it. Her example of picking a friend out of a crowd in the airport just buy analyzing the movement of everyone attests to that point. Great comment on this video.

[@ellaredmore9016]

I did not realize how much we communicate nonverbally. It's crazy because most of the time, we don't even realize we are doing it! I've definitely noticed myself flinching or wanting to move when others are moving, those are mirror neurons, and its interesting to make connections in my daily life.

[@elisakeefner6616]

It was so interesting to me to talk about the girl who learned not to trust anyone or anything. This was so remarkable to imagine and think about not having any support because a lot of people think about that, how they're not supported. Using movement to learn and recognize how the floor supports you is remarkable, and then to transfer this to people and learn to trust.

[@jamiemccoy9920]

Dance therapy - Dance movement therapist are made to understand non verbal expressions, there job is to understand and describe movements without words. Dance movement therapist are very important.

[@ledezma8175]

Nvc is sent through the movement of the body. The body movement is analyzed and observed to make sense of why it moves the way it does. It may express emotions through nonverbal cues. We recognize emotions by the way the body moves, through empathy. Movement observation is key in dance therapy to understand and connect with the individual's body nonverbal expressions and interpret those movements into emotions. It is interesting how we are able to identify someone not only with the unique sound of their voice but with the way they uniquely carry/move their body. Body language may be useful to perceive various messages, identities, emotions and even characteristics such as strengths and weakness that the individual may have.

[@angelamaximo2285]

Right away I loved this speaker’s energy; her tone in voice and her body language (moving arms around) and her puzzled affect makes this seem so colloquial, not like a distant teacher. I love how she also brings awareness to our body language by saying “we do it every day, we do it all day, we almost never not do it.” People, including myself, forget that we’re constantly communicating something to someone, just not always verbally. The statistics of non-verbal communication surprised me; it goes to show that 80% of our body language is communicating non-verbally while the other 20% just rambles on -- THE IMPORTANCE OF BODY LANGUAGE. I also love how she brings up the fact that we each could have several different interpretations of the same body movement.

[@stephaniekressin8360]

Body language is a gateway to understand people, to help better understand how people are feeling and reacting to stimuli. Stacy really clearly lays out the data, history, and benefits of analyzing movement.

[@emilysprague5532]

Body language is a powerful thing for allowing us to better understand each other. I agree that this video highlighted the importance of this in DMT.

[@ethantaylor5234]

We most definitely take our observations for granted! Most of this is processed unconsciously, but bringing focus to these observations can be really helpful! I really like the example at the airport because it is such a real example! We pick up on many unidentified cues in the environment and never really know. The discussion on mirror neurons was very impactful and actually makes you think about these movements. Great talk.

[@azucenajamayca1881]

Analyzing body movement every day and we try to make sense of it every time. We even do it unconsciously. If we actually think about it most of the our conversations are mostly ready by out non verbal communication and there a small percentage that it is through our words. We go back to when we where born. The mirror neurons that develop when we are born and it carries on through out our lives. We interpret movement all the time. That's why we are always questioning people’s opinions. It is amazing how out bodies work and how they translate information and the way we interpret it.

[@WeAreComingHome]

I am not well acquainted with systems of movement analysis, but I am amazed with how Laban's Taxonomy has created a way for dance therapists to communicate about movement. In a conversation I had with my professor tonight, however, I became more aware of the challenges that having a single system like this can present in the goal of cultural/ethnic inclusivity. As Stacey Hurst mentioned, our body memories, which lead to our body knowledge, are not always accurate. It would be interesting to learn more about how Laban's analysis works in a cross-cultural context and what some of the similarities and differences may be between diverse populations.

[@m.sweetnam6883]

Thanks for bringing this up. I was thinking around this when the speaker said that Laban was an “objective” means of movement analysis. I’m curious how and why Rudolf Laban who was a Hungarian man born in the late 1800s, is seen as objective, as compared to other forms of movement analysis. It feel a bit to me like some of the white male eurocentrism we see in psychology and many other fields, to say that this specific technique/perspective is objective. My guess would be that there are other forms of movement analysis that have been created across the world that provide a framework for “objective” analysis or working toward an unbiased analysis, but that aren’t as widely known in the US and europe.

[@begorria]

Intention-no verbal expression 65% 95 . Create awareness -Tono-cuerpo/ words 20%. Vision- imitation- mirror. Interpretation- see their movement projection in our mov. Laban. Body.effort. space-shape. What-how-where -why Movement meets a need .expression of inner world Facilitar ampliación de mov. Crear mov a través de la empatia. Crea confianza. Trust. Patrones de movimiento del paciente. Create a picture about experience. Grunding. Fisisk kontakt -jorden. Feel it. Meet people in their movement paterns. Identificación de debilidades y fortalezas. Alow them connect with the body . Internal conex . Explore the laban areas like effort with dynamics expresivity mov. Develop Interpersonals skills in shape. Explore creativity . Awareness in space. Thanks. Beautiful explanation

[@ameliafeuerer9117]

This is such an important narrative to highlight. The constant connection between nonverbal and dance movement therapy is so intricate and expressive. So impressive of those trained professionals to see those movements and get a deeper understanding of them as a whole without communication verbally.

[@PickledPineapple]

This video is a very in depth description and elaboration on what the field of Dance Movement Therapy and its connection with nonverbal communication look like. It presents a lot of information about our own body's communication with each other and our expression of our inner selves through our nonverbals. In class we discussed mirror neurons and their significance when it came to empathy and relationships. This video further reinforced the importance of mirror neurons by presenting the case of a movement intervention on a child who suffered from severe trauma and had a strong disconnection with the world around her. By using a technique called Yielding (coined by Peggy Hackley) the therapist was able to build a newfound sense of support and security within the child. The speaker repeatedly touches on the concept of body knowledge and body prejudice (projecting your own body history onto others in your analysis). Body prejudice could lead to many serious misunderstandings and disconnections within our society and it should be a valuable lesson to try and understand other objectively in their nonverbals before assuming incorrect interpretations.

[@oliviapolich451]

It was so cool that she started the talk by talking about how we analyze movement all day every single day! I never thought of it like that and it emphasizes the importance of DMT!

[@shuyuwang5910]

It is great to know that statistic of how much people express themselves in body movement rather than voice.

[@abigailanderson7894]

The example about Stacy's client was powerful and taught me more about which movements indicate certain feelings.

[@morganpeters2214]

Nonverbal communication is so powerful in our world of language and I wish more people were inclined to take extra steps to learn about topics like these. This world could see a big change.

[@chongvue9872]

I agree! It could also be possible that many people don't often realize the importance of body language on a daily, which contributes to the lack of knowledge and interest in it.

[@lanaruthmaki2813]

I appreciated her explanation of how we are always analyzing movement. Interesting talk.

[@elisakeefner6616]

I also appreciated this because I subconsciously analyze movement, but now I'm aware that I am doing this and will pay more attention to it.

[@xXBereftXx]

Stacey Hurst discusses nonverbal communication and its relation to Dance Movement therapy, stating that at least 80% of our communication is nonverbal, and is interpreted implicitly by other humans, she also discusses mirror neurons, and how they create a circuit in our brain when we see an action being performed, just as if we are performing the action ourselves, allowing us to interpret movements and analyze them, as we discussed in the lecture. She mentions Laban's movement efforts, and how they can be used as a tool for Dance movement therapists to objectively analyze a patient's movements without their own body prejudice interfering with the interpretation. In lecture we learned about Laban's movement analysis and the qualities of body, effort, space, and shape, and how the movement can be coded and decoded for communication. But we can often misinterpret communications, as Ms. Hurst discusses, however the Dance Movement Therapist is a highly trained individual with a vast understanding of kinesthics and effort qualities, and the emotions they express. I think a very important thing Ms. Hurst covers in her talk is that movement meets a need, and is an outward expression of our internal world. We convey feelings and emotions through or movement, and these signals can be read by others, even untrained people, because humans instinctively observe and interpret body movement.

[@dustyblue2ify]

I agree with speakers dance/movement therapy is a stepping stone in processing healing through self expressing and meeting each person where their at in life.... yet as I have realized taking my certification in Art Therapy at the New School of Social Research we need to Not compartmentalize but address a holistic expression in all forms of creative healing arts. Eastern methods through out history have studied the art of Holistic Healing with acupuncture, qi gong ( understanding energy/prana), natural herbal plants for healing, ect. They always seem to express working at the root cause but for each person individually that is holistic wisdom passed on through ancient history and well respected. I have taking this into being inspired in my own practice of the creative healing arts. So~ My focus was in this Art Therapy Certificate on the Visual Arts but delved into taking Music and Dance Therapy courses as well. As I was studying at the New School I was simultaneously learning about mediation at a Community Center also taking courses on trusting one's intuition and dreams by journaling. To learning about Chakra's and vocal toning key points through out the body for releasing blocked energy to move into a deeper relaxed state of being. I also explored how various crystals can aid in healing. Through these various healing modalities I was inspired to create my Art & Soul Seminar which is ever evolving by so many inspirations w/ each group very unique and yes holistic. That is where I have to step aside my own Ego and before every session trust my higher Spirit asking "how shall we proceed in this group to facilitate the desired well being for healing?" This is a 3 hr session of Meditation, Chakra Vocal toning, Spontaneous dance & painting. Each session has it's own time duration depending on the group as well as music I select to play, it's determined by who comes to this session and work in accordance of the energies in group. Each time I share my Art & Soul Seminars ~ I feel Blessed for the Weave of Life Energy of participants showing up. They decided ahead of time to show up in their Heart Speak for Healing but what is precious and beautiful is their vulnerability/ compassion to share and heal others in the group as each heals on certain levels~ for we all Human's~ Being....respecting each other in a Sacred Space with Love. This for me in my expression. It's a Blessed Holistic Creative Arts Healing for Greater Good Being of Service to Others. :)

[@abbyfeuer4751]

This video was so enlightening when it comes to acknowledging our own biases and prejudices. I have found myself interpreting the nonverbal cues and body language of others (and most often done incorrectly). I learned in one of my classes that nonverbal communication makes up 55% of how others understand us, so this video really emphasized how important body language is.

[@chloedruckrey779]

I enjoy the vulnerability of Hurst and how she admitted that dance movement therapist may not understand their own movement language which can inflict on the clients. Through Laban Movement Analysis, we can better describe how people move because it gives a set vocab to movement. Understanding differences of movement and being able to explain them through words helps evolve dance therapy and its benefits of others.

[@colleenhendricks1719]

In Stacey's presentation she describes the importance of analyzing others nonverbal communication and body language. She describes the popularity of using the four elements of the Laban taxonomy- body, effort, space, and shape to clearly assess peoples body language since it can be easily misinterpreted. This relates to the mirror neurons in our brain that help us observe movement. These mirror neurons are used to understand actions and to imitate someones body language which is a tool Stacey uses to asses her clients nonverbal communication habits. I think the most important statement she made is how we analyze others body language a lot of the times unconsciously-where if we knew this we can identify our own body prejudices and be able to look at it through an unbiased lens.

[@rocman92]

Some I learned in my Nonverbal communication class that was reiterated in this video was that Labon’s Movements was the start on Dance movement therapy. This video shows the benefits and effect of Dance movement therapy as the speaker recaps on a time she treated a severely traumatized patient. Something that can be valued by other is the understand of how ones body knowledge can be sometimes incorrect due to their upbringing. This can help everyone better understand each other differences and get along better.

[@misakawamitsu1534]

Stacy Hurst goes in depth to explain how dance movement therapists analyze their patient's nonverbal communication to understand them without having their patients verbalize what may not be easy to share or for others to fully empathize with. It is fascinating how reading into body language can reveal so much about a person and their emotions.

[@justinmagnus8567]

Unintentional biases are a difficult thing to notice and I have never realized that my interpretation of others movements are affected by my own biases. I like how Stacey talked through the Laban moment analysis method to teach everyone how to analyze others movements without incorporating their own movement biases.

[@ellaredmore9016]

It is so hard to notice how our interpretations are biased, I agree! Laban movement analysis is really interesting, I liked how she incorporated it into this talk!

[@justicecaleb3879]

In this presentation, Stacy Hurst talks about how we are constantly analyzing body language and also talks about the relationship between body language and nonverbal communication. She also talks about how Dance Movement Therapists use Laban Movements to assess and observe clients with a clear objective lens, meet them in his/her movement patterns, and meet them in that 80% margin that humans implicitly understand. She also talked about a couple of topics that we discussed in our class such as mirror neurons and the research efforts created by Birdwhistell. One thing that i think was important that would be beneficial for people to know is that people are only cueing in on 20% of our words and 80% they're looking at nonverbal communication.

[@angelcisneros7315]

Stacey Hurst explains how dance therapy helps in analyzing her patients moving patterns and nonverbal expressions. Her use of Labans Movement Analysis(LMA) is fundamental in helping her understand what her patients are trying to communicate with her. As explained in class, she uses the Kestenberg Movement Profile(KMP) to analyze movent and be psychoanalitic at the same time. Also, she says how body prejudice can create different meanings for different people because everyone has had different experiences. This body prejudice can be connected to affect displays because many body or facial expressions are unintentional. When she talks about yielding, as said in class, it can create a bond with others especially when using turn-yielding and this can help others build stronger relationships.

[@taylornelson407]

This video made me sit up a little straighter in my chair. Space, effort, and shape are ways our body communicates to others on a daily basis. This video has taught me a lot about interventions. When the therapists have witnessed a pattern of movement from the client, they are able to assess how to help change the movement into something positive. Suggesting a new way to move can have such a huge impact on how the client walks through the world. I noticed in this video that the client is able to learn how to move with intention. The therapist recalls asking the client to walk through the room with a vivid image and description of what the room is representing. This description brings a connection of the mind and body because it forces the mind to be involved with the movement. The connection is created, when sometimes it can be cut off for years due to neglect. I was able to better understand how dance therapy can connect this separation with her story. It is true that people are easy to spot by the way they move and hold themselves. If I had to choose, I would walk through the world with the earth supporting me. I would not want to communicate to people that I have trust issues and that I am closed off, and I am sure no one wants to communicate this. When you get so used to walking a certain way and holding yourself a certain way, it is easy to slip back into the circle of thinking and feeling that way. I have learned that this intervention is ground-breaking. But I wonder, how many sessions will really instill this newfound way of being and to change the habit of walking with a slump?

[@crisbattaglia3573]

Stacy really highlighted an important detail that I also heard in class, and it is true; Since the day we were born, we have a system where we mirror others. All of these movements are based on Laban movements, and they required intention, initiation and phrasing. The four categories for Laban are Body, Effort, Shape and space.As we learned in class, body language communicates more than what we can express with words. In my personal experience, the session we had at the studio, I could tell from other people the way they felt during the dance process. Their proxemics, facial expressions, and even their postures were so interesting to watched. I think this was an excellent experienced because I had the chance to understand others and my self. This was such an interesting video about how we see the body move and what that communicates.

[@joeyswan5826]

Stacy Hurst talks about the relationship between nonverbal communication and dance movement therapy. She talks about how essential NVC is in our lives as it accounts for around 80% of our communication. She also talks about how people can often misinterpret our feelings and actions by not properly interpreting NVC. For an example she used the relationship with her son and how they perceived time and effort differently. Relating that back to class and our lab on Laban's movements it was very interesting to find that everyone had their own reaction to how their body responds to body, effort, shape, and space. I think that by learning to evaluate our own body language we can gain a valuable insight about ourselves based on the way our body responds to different NVC and movement efforts.

[@jordandahlhauser3294]

I like her comment about the body outwardly expressing the internal world of a person. I think this is one of the strengths of DMT because other therapies require one to talk about how they feel which is not always easy. In DMT, therapists can read the body and create ways to help it release its emotions, even if it is not through words.

[@WeAreComingHome]

I agree with you completely. I am more acquainted with art therapy than DMT but they both thrive on the ability to give a patient options outside of traditional verbal communication which is used in most therapies. Things that are often very challenging to name with words are felt strongly in the body (such as feelings). I find it incredible that systems exist to help us "talk" about these things.

[@radhikap7250]

She demonstrates how Dance Movement Therapists evaluate movement and nonverbals. In addition, something that could be considered by others is the knowledge of how one's body awareness can be inaccurate due to their childhood which can aid in everyone better know each other diversity.

[@alyssacanales3390]

I found this video so interesting. I learned so much about body knowledge! I want to reiterate how easy it is to incorrectly interpret someone else's body language, which can lead to body prejudice. We must recognize nonverbal movements as personal identifiers and expressions. I also found the use of movement intervention and observation of movement patterns so brilliant. It is amazing how our external nonverbal expressions can reflect how we are feeling internally.

[@deannaroberts338]

Thanks, Stacey. I think this type of discussion and link from body language to dance/movement therapy is really valuable to our field. Body language and movement analysis are understood more and more in psychology and related fields. Dance/movement therapy provides a really valuable link for making sense of this movement, assessing pathology, understanding ourselves, as well as helping others. I particularly enjoyed the incorporation of BESS and LMA to the dance/movement therapist's toolbox. Great talk!

[@m.sweetnam6883]

I’m curious how movement analysis can be applied without bias. While I think that Laban does provide a framework for that potential, I think it’s wrong to assume that Laban movement analysis is without bias. Much like assuming other aspects of the field of therapy is without bias, in the end these are structures that were created by humans who are inevitably biased in certain ways. I’m thinking specifically of how movement analysis might differ when working with clients who experience visual and/or auditory hallucinations. In that case a client may be responding to stimuli that a practitioner is unaware of. If the practitioner isn’t aware of this aspect of their psychology then they may make other assumptions about what their movement is about - I think this applies to a variety of situations. Of course with many clients the therapist can ask, if the client has that level of awareness, but if a client is non verbal or unaware of what’s driving certain movements, I wonder how practitioners can feel confident in their analysis and that they’re not jumping to conclusions. I think this framework is bumping up against aspects of DBT for me, which often focuses on not making assumptions or thinking you can ‘read minds.’ I suppose a practitioner needs to have flexibility and humility that they’ll get it wrong sometimes even as they’re trained in “objective” movement analysis.

[@taylorjeffrey2205]

In the presentation Stacey M. Hurst discusses the importance of dance movement therapist being able to consciously analyze body language without any bias. She talks about approx 80% of body language being non-verbal and the body prejudice that exists from person to person when analyzing movement. One of the techniques she discusses in her presentation that I also learned about in my nonverbal class is Labans Efforts. Labans Efforts allows a dance therapist to observe, assess, and interview a person movement without an existing bias. Within Laban’s effort you must be aware of what part of the body is moving, how it is moving, where it is moving, and why i is moving. Otherwise referred to as the Body, Effort, Space, and Shape of the movement. Hurst speaks about working with one of her patients and observing how she utilized her kinesphere, and her concave which illustrated the trust she did not have with people. One thing Hurst highlighted that I felt was important was how she gave her patient a newfound body knowledge of realizing the earth will always be there for her and how yielding to the earth could give her a new perspective on trusting something rather than nothing at all. I felt that that was an important lesson and an effective way to connect with her patients distrust.

[@maianhluong2804]

Out of our unconscious awareness we are constantly observing and analyzing movement in others. We do our best to make meanings out of these movements. We learn peoples idiosyncratic movements. From the moment we are born, when we experience another person's movement or we ourselves move, our brain fires mirror neurons. DM Therapists must meet their patients in their movement patterns - mirroring. DM Therapists must be in tune with their own body knowledge so that their clients are seen as themselves instead of the DM therapists own projection of their own body knowledge.

[@blairsiff]

Stacey Hurst is a movement therapist that takes the approach of movement analysis to best treat her patients. She explains how movement therapists interpret and analyze their patient’s pattern of movement through use of Laban movement analysis. It was interesting to hear Hurst reiterate concepts from class like how at least 80% of communication is done nonverbally. It was nice to see how practical the Laban efforts were for Hurst to better serve her patient. I believe it would be best to approach conversations by avoiding our own body knowledge. We can easily misinterpret the nonverbally communication being presented to us and create body prejudice.

[@morganpeters2214]

If only our community was more aware of their nonverbals, this world would change drastically!

[@HIEPNGUYEN-ih1sk]

Stacy Hurst talks about “body language”, or nonverbal cues are being the primary source of human communication. She also discusses how dance/movement therapists utilize Laban’s Taxonomy to objectively assess movement and create interventions to help clients and themselves. The components of Laban’s movement discussed are are similar to what we did in the dance studio. Not only they are expressions of our psychological states, they can also influence how we feel. To put that in use, dance/movement therapists use techniques of mirroring to reflect and create empathy, a powerful nonverbal human connection, in their clients. Of one the valuable aspect she talks about is we all need to be aware of our own and others’ body reference to avoid body prejudice.

[@xxMarine789]

Stacy Hurst explained that we analyze body language on a daily without realizing it. The example she used was how we can spot our friends or family members amongst the crowd through how they carry their body or how fast or slow they move. I agree with her because I do notice my family’s body language. I can recognize who is walking in the hallway because I have observed and analyzed how they walk and how heavy their footsteps are. This relate to the effort qualities we learned, such as weight and time. How fast or slow they move relates to time whereas, how intentional or heavy/light they move relates to weight. I thought it was interesting how she claims that movement can portray two goals: functional or expressive. Her example of how her client walks around with her feet clench and her body concaved relates to the concept of self-image, posture, and low power poses. These types of posture will send a negative signal to her brain and make her feel lonelier and more insecure. Posture and power poses really affect the overall mental health of a person.

[@lamcecilia312]

This video is about the importance of the Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), as assessments tool to connection our 95% kinesics nonverbal communication to meet the public’s physical and psychological needs for the overall body and mind recovery. From the class, I learned our bodily nonverbal cues could serve six major communicative functions that provide information beyond the words, regulate interaction, express emotion, Meta communication by reading between the lines, and social control of impression, formation, and management. In the use of Laban Movement Analysis in the study of personality, emotional state, and movement style, dance /movement therapists can identify one’s strength and weakness to provide personalized treatment for those in seeking the renewal of life

[@ryansanders746]

Stacy Hurst talks about how we use body language all day every day in our lives and how, though we may not know it, we are all body language experts. She talks about how though we are constantly assessing movement and nonverbal communication, sometimes our perceptions can be wrong. She also discusses how Dance Movement Therapists assess movement and nonverbals. This relates to class content because we learn that most of communication is nonverbal, and that nonverbal communication is discontinuous. We are doing it all the time without even thinking, and we are also decoding the nonverbals of others without even knowing it. Something the speaker presents that I think would be of use to others is knowledge of Laban movement analysis. I believe if people had knowledge of this, they may be able to better asses and understand their movements and the movements of others. This is Kristen Mitchell Danc 373 T 7pm

[@clownshadow]

Stacy Hurst, a dance/movement therapist, explains the procedure of consciously analyzing movement in order to understand the body's non-verbal communication, which she says, makes up 80 percent of our communication. Stacy notes that Ruben Laban's system of movement analysis is one of the tools used by dance/movement therapist to decipher what their patient's body may communicate. She also mentions mirror neuron, one of my favorite subject. Reflecting to my youth, I remember catching myself subtly moving my shoulder when I observe a pro-wrestle throw a punch at his rival. I didn't know why I shifter forward, but learning about non-verbal communication helps me understand what my body.

[@clownshadow]

clownshadow *helps me understand my body

[@pauleenmurray5989]

U take too much !hv not learn anything

[@jakegarvey9751]

"Dance/movement therapists believe that all movement meets a need - whether functional or emotional - and it is an outward expression of one's internal world." I love this quote! It is so true and amazing how we can tell who people are based on how they carry themselves/ move.

[@ameliafeuerer9117]

So well said! It is such a unique and inspiring mindset that must be held by therapists. It is such an interesting thought that movements are a direct connection to one's internal world.

[@elisakeefner6616]

This quote is so beautiful because it talks about movement is a universal language, how we are able to portray and express all of out emotions without actually talking.

[@ellaredmore9016]

I had never heard of mirror neurons before, but now that I know about them, I can pick out many moments where I've had that flinch while watching someone move, or wanted to move like them. I think it is interesting how we analyze movement every day subconsciously and it shows how important DMT is since movement is such a big part of our everyday lives.

[@marleehalbach4643]

I had never heard about them either until now as well. It is crazy to think that I've been doing that too without even knowing it. I wonder why people have this happen to them and if there is a certain person that people mimic.

[@aidasmith9586]

This video is about how everyone is a body movement analyst, and how Dance/Movement therapists can make a correct analysis of the body movement of their patients. Albert Mehrabian published studies in 1967 that described the percentages in the way meaning is derived from communication; 55% is non-verbal, 38% belongs to vocalics, and 7% is verbal. That means that less than 10% of the meaning we get from communication comes from what is said verbally. Stacy Hurst describes a lot of Laban Movement Analysis which is a method and language for describing, visualizing, interpreting, and documenting all varieties of human movement, which in turn is used to describe the efforts of a person's body movement. The one thing that can be taken away from this that I think people should remember, is that someone can misinterpret another's "body language" very easily based on their own emotions and we do it all the time.

[@victorperea7148]

Stacy Hurst talks about nonverbal communication and how dance movement therapy understand the bodys nonverbal expression. The video also points out how people can mis-interpret another persons feelings torwards something. She used her relationship with her son as an example of how people perceive the same thing differently. In class, everyone was told to do the same movements with the same direction and instructions, however people perceived those movements differently. The movements were those highlighted by Laban on body, shape, effort, space and time. Although everyome tries to follow the directions the same, everyones body has a different reaction to it. In the end if people want a better understanding of ourselves and others. learning our own bodies nonverbal communication expressions can help us distinguush how others feel about those similar nonverbal communication.

[@gabrielleledesma4024]

This is great to analyze our everyday movement. I was able to explore this in my Laban movement analysis class and it was really great for me.

[@chloedruckrey779]

LMA gives a great word bank to describe movement to others and to explore your own

[@samanthaourique4950]

In this discussion, Stacey Hurst talks about how we identify with "body language more than we even realize. She begins with an example with being able to recognize a familiar friend just by a specific movement of gesture that they commonly make. She goes in further to talk about different statistics and theories of understanding "body language" and nonverbal communication as well. She closes with referencing back to Laban's Movement Analysis. During the discussion she talked about a few different statistics about how much of our communication consists on nonverbal and she touched on Ray Birdwhistell, that he stated in 1970, that 65% of communication was nonverbal. This reminded me of when we learned about him during the semester and that he developed the idea of kinesics (the study of the communicative impact of body language and gesture. In addition, she explained the function of our mirror neurons and that reminded me that we learned about those as well in class and about what triggers them. One thing that she mentioned that I view as important and valuable for others to know is that dance movement therapists can easily misinterpret someone else's nonverbal expression if they are not aware of their own movement preferences and prejudices in regards to movement. I think this not only applies to dance movement therapists but also to the average person. I think it is important for people to always remember not to judge people on their movements based on our own assumptions because we could be totally wrong.

[@abigailanderson7894]

interesting!

[@rebeccaalterson1644]

This video gives a very insightful understanding of dance movement therapy and nonverbal communication. This will make me try to be more in tune to my analysis of those around me and my body language

[@victoriaharris4061]

Isn't it interesting that ~80% of our communication in non-verbal? It makes you want to be more cognizant of your own movement patterns but also focus on how specifically others are using their nonverbal communication.

[@chongvue9872]

Definitely. It made me realize how often I observe other's body language.

[@marilugarcia1357]

In this video Stacey M. Hurst is explaining how we perceive body language, as well as how often we do it. This relates to our class because she speaks about Birdwhistell and his research on nonverbal communication, mirror neurons and Rudolf Labans efforts of movement. Something I think some might be of value to others from this video is that only 20% of our communication is by verbal messages. This is extremely important because people should pay more attention to their body language because there is much interpersonal miscommunication because of this lack of knowledge.

[@tjhuntington7232]

In this presentation, Stacy Hurst explains how heavily weighted nonverbal communication is compared to verbal communication. She says that around 80 percent of communication takes place non-verbally. This opens the door for a wide variety of different interpretations dependent on how one is raised and how their mirror neurons pick up on other movements and non-verbal communication. Dance movement therapists utilize Laban's taxonomy provides dance movement therapists an objective rubric to observe certain preferences to answer a series of questions to intervene and help patients.

[@jacquelineugarte856]

Stacy Hurst mentioned, body language is something that we all do it everyday of our lives. Analyzing the movement of others, and observing their language through their bodies is something that we experience every day without knowing it. It is unconsciously and intentional depending the situation people experienced. As we learned in class, body language communicates more than what we can express with words. In my personal experience, the session we had at the studio, I could tell from other people the way they felt during the dance process. Their proxemics, facial expressions, and even their postures were so interesting to watched. I think this was an excellent experienced because I had the chance to understand others and my self. She highlighted an important detail that I also heard in class, and it is true; Since the day we were born, we have a system where we mirror others. All of these movements are based on Laban movements, and they required intention, initiation and phrasing. The four categories for Laban are Body, Effort, Shape and space.

[@marleehalbach4643]

Agreed. Everyone does this everyday without even knowing it. It is almost scary in that sense that we know a lot about a person just by analyzing their movements. It makes me wonder what others think of me just from my movements.

[@chloedruckrey779]

It's interesting to think about how much we do without even noticing.

[@julesredlinger8199]

Mirror Neurons and their impact on DMT and nonverbal communication are very important, but so is the difference between interpretations in different people. Misinterpretation is very easy to understand once it is understood that everyone works in relation to their own body differently.

[@justinmagnus8567]

Yes! I love how you combined a scientific fact with a confounding variable of sorts. What I mean is that the mirror neurons do "mirror" others movements, but the brain does analyze these movements and let bias affect the analysis. I hope that this talk helps everyone realize that is is easy to misunderstand movement and that people need to not allow their own biases to affect their analysis of others movements.

[@2cab]

Wonderful video.

[@ayslinrice6176]

We constantly analyze body language, to the point that we can identify people we have relationships with from a distance based on the way that they move; our minds are well equipped to identify nonverbal expressions. She stresses the emphasis of mirroring clients to help them explore dynamic expressivity and develop interpersonal skills using Laban Movement Efforts and by observing clients with a clear lens. Hurst mentions Birdwhistell and Mehrabian and the rule in which over 80%-95% of our communication is nonverbal, which means that less than 20% of our actual words are heard; it's all vocalics, kinesics, proxemics, touch, body messages, and more nonverbal communication. She also mentions mirror neurons, the system hardwired into our brain simply to observe and replicate movements; while we are hardwired to observe and analyze movement, since everyone has independent body knowledge and body prejudice, we are often incorrect. I think the most important thing that she said was that movement meets a need, and how important nonverbal communication really is. By understanding our own body knowledge and prejudice, we will better understand nonverbal communication as a whole.

[@abigailanderson7894]

well said!

[@bananasnmonkeys]

Stacey Hurst talks about non-verbal communication and the relation to Dance Movement therapy, stating that 80% of our communication is nonverbal. Every day we analyze body movement. Analyzing the movement of others, and observing their body language is something that we experience unconsciously. She discussed an important detail that was mentioned in class; Since the day of our birth, we have a system of mirroring others around us. These movements are based on Laban movements, and they require intention and initiating. The four categories for Laban are Effort, Body, Space, and Shape.

[@melissabiyonghe9815]

In this video, Stacey Hurst analyzed how dance therapy connects with body language and it has been deeply influenced our life. She has emphasized different people always have different aspects and opinion. Body language can be refined through analysis and i believe the habit of cultivating observation is an important key in our life.

[@Kiko892006]

Dance/Movement Therapy: Analyzing "Body Language". Every day we observe and analyses body movement. Yet everyone has a different perspective of body language based on our own experience. Labons movement principle is the foundation to understand it. However, to understand it we must interpret what that meaning means to that person. This video is a brief summary/ explanation to positive understanding of non-verbal communication.

[@tonyfarias9282]

The video Dance/Movement Therapy: “Analyzing Body Language” Stacy Hurst explain our body movement express by “body, shape, effort and space”. It is expressing nonverbal communication to elaborate, how the body structure and concept could be. How our body movement can show uniqueness/direct manner “space” and has a meaning behind what we do “shape”. How time is involve with our effort , for example she state how effort is “how is it moving”. Overall, Dance/Movement Therapy help out read other body language to understand and respond to other movement . Dan373M/W

[@karissalange5838]

It is crazy to hear that over 65% of communication is non-verbal. When we think of communication we think of speech when we really should be thinking body movement/language as it is almost a better communicator than verbal speech

[@oliviapolich451]

Yes I agree! I never realized just what percentage of communication was non-verbal!

[@hongkongtennis]

If 80% of communication is non verbal turn off the sound and see how much you can understand. Or shut your eyes and just listen to what she is saying, and see how much you understand.

[@abemagic10]

Peggy Hackney ?

[@mzatmaca]

BORİNG