Last week I talked about two contemporaries of Joseph
Pilates that informed the way I teach movement. This week the book review continues with three books that
accompanied me around New York City many years ago. They were a large part of my life when I was becoming a Certified
Movement Analyst by the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies
(LIMS). These books were part of
my consciousness when I was becoming acclimated to the subway system in New
York City. They followed me as a
dancer in a small children’s dance and storytelling company. They went with me
to two day-jobs, and several babysitting gigs. These books followed me between China Town, the Upper East Side,
Union Square, and Harlem. One of
the best parts of my time in New York was being followed around by ideas from Peggy
Hackney’s Making Connections: Total Body Integration through Bartenieff
Fundamentals, Irene Dowd’s Taking Root To Fly, and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s Sensing,
Feeling, and Action. I learned
the importance of the Patterns of Total Body Connectivity, how to view the foot
as an explorer of the earth, and how to move from the floor to standing with
efficiency and power.
And it was at this time that I learned how to teach
movement. Since then, I have
done many Pilates trainings, several of which were absolutely wonderful, but I
sincerely believe that my work as a Pilates Instructor is informed by learning to teach movement not exercise!
When a person is teaching movement, then the method of movement that she
is teaching becomes moot…It is the way the movement patterns are communicated,
the way that every movement is seen as something the whole body is doing rather
than something the knee is doing.
It is the way the breath is incorporated. I remember when I first learned Pilates, my frame was the
Bartenieff Fundamentals, and I would find myself thinking what a great way to
teach the head tail connection, or what a fabulous way to strengthen the
heel-sitz bone connection. I teach
Pilates, but the depth of my teaching is shaped by many other ideas as
well.
Making Connections: Total Body Integration through
Bartenieff Fundamentals, by Peggy Hackney was released when I was in the
Laban/Bartenieff certification program.
I remember excitedly ordering this book (which to a starving artist was not
cheap). I was so excited to read
the clarity in the language. Peggy
Hackney’s ideas are complex, but her explanations are simple and easy to digest,
which is quite different from the traditional Laban Movement Analysis
literature. At the beginning she
writes about her mentor Irmgard Bartenieff, and the story can bring tears to
your eyes. She creates a context
for her work with Irmgard, and she talks about movement with both passion and
empathy for the stories that bodies tell.
I still use this book at the University of Hartford. I have the first edition and the
binding is worn, but I refer to it constantly both in my teaching and my writing.
Taking Root to Fly by Irene Dowd is an anatomy book,
but there is nothing traditional about it. In this book our feet are roots and our movement is flight.
It accurately describes the body with metaphor and imagery. Irene takes her descriptions of anatomy
out of the industrial age and back to nature. She describes anatomy in relationship to movement in a
nuanced way. The knee joint
becomes more than a simple hinge seen on a doorframe, Irene explains the three
dimensional movement of the knee.
Irene taught me how to see the body without judgment. Movement patterns are not right or
wrong, they are strategies, and if you want to create change in the body, you
must first decipher the purpose of the strategy you want to change. In movement there is no right or wrong…
Sensing, Feeling, and Action is a collection of
articles by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.
From this book, I learned developmental patterns; I learned that when we
think about movement we must also think about the movement of the circulatory
system, the digestive system, and the nervous system. Our bones and muscles are
just the beginning of movement.
How do our organs react to abdominal strengthening exercises? How do muscular imbalances affect
digestion? For the purposes of
categorization we have named individual systems as if they are separate from
each other, but are they? Have anatomy
books that separate the body into individual parts led us astray? What happens
when you put the individual systems back together? I believe it was at this time in my life that I learned and
fell in love with the word Gestalt: the whole is not a sum of its individual
parts. Bonnie’s book explores this
idea with creativity and great clarity.
There you have it!
Why do I see the world the way that I do? Well certainly I can’t
contribute my entire worldview and expertise to three books, (which is why next
week I am going to talk about a few more) but it is always interesting to think
about a time in your life when a few books are important and what effect they
have on your view of the earth along with the life that lives here. Next week it’s all about fascia with
the work of Tom Myers on the forefront …I’ve taken
a course from him and I love his work…be prepared next week we’re talking about
fascia fascia fascia!!!
Thanks for reading
Katrina Hawley C.M.A, R.S.M.E
Co-Director of The Pilates Studio
If any of these books sound like must haves please feel
free to visit The Pilates Studio’s Amazon Store!
