Thesis:

The purpose of my project is to determine if exercises influenced by dance therapy or traditional (communicational) therapy influenced exercises have more of a positive effect on people, and if certain people respond better to one therapy version or another.

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Methodology:

I went about exploring this project by taking a small group of three non-dancers and a small group of three dancers and lead them through both dance and communicational therapy influenced exercises. I will then take each person individually and lead them through communicational therapy influenced discussions and then ask them to answer a few questions explaining how they felt before and after being lead through a communicational therapy influenced discussion. Then I waited a few days and took each participant to a dance studio and lead each participant through exercises influenced bay dance therapy by basking them to dance and move in anyway that felt comfortable to them at that time, and I had them choose what song they wanted to dance to ignorer to help them feel more comfortable. After 5 to 10 minutes of dancing I asked them to answer a few questions about how they felt before and after participating in a dance therapy influenced exercise. Finally I asked them what was each participant's preferred exercise influenced by therapy. The majority of this research was creative exploration. For this project I needed a quiet space to conduct the communicational therapy inspired discussion. Then I needed an available dance studio to allow the participants to dance freely. 

 

Data Collection:

Non-Dancers

Peron A-

This participant felt tired prior to the discussion session, and still felt tired after having been lead through a communicational therapy influenced discussion session. Prior to the dance therapy inspired exercise person A felt tired, but after dancing the participant claimed to feel better. Person A thought that they would benefit the most through a hybrid of both dance therapy influenced and communicational therapy influenced exercises.

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Person B-

Person B felt stressed before the discussion session, and didn't feel a whole lot different after the communicational therapy inspired discussion. Prior to the dance therapy influenced exercise, person B felt stressed and a little uncomfortable. After dancing the felt calmer, more relaxed, and safe. Person B preferred the dance therapy influenced exercise over the communicational therapy influenced discussion.

 

Person C-

Before engaging in a communicational therapy influenced discussion, person C was feeling very stressed out. After the discussion the participant said that it felt nice to reflect on their week with someone. Prior to the dance therapy inspired exercise person C felt very nervous. However, after dancing person C felt happy as they said it released stress. Person C enjoyed the dance therapy influenced exercise more because it was different. 

 

Dancers

Person D-

Person D felt tired and stressed prior to engaging in communicational therapy influenced discussion. After the discussion the participant felt better and said that they felt better after they vent about their feeling to people. Prior to the dance therapy influenced exercise, person D felt tired and stressed. After dancing, person D felt a lot better, relieved, hopeful, and emotional. Person D preferred the dancing because they felt that they focused more on their feelings and felt that combining the two therapy influenced exercises would be very beneficial.

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Person E-

Before participating in a communicational therapy influenced discussion, person E felt refreshed and relaxed. After the discussion, they felt a little uncomfortable, but didn't feel a whole lot different than before the discussion. Before dancing, person E felt tired and stiff. After dancing, person E felt refreshed and in a better mood. Person E very much preferred dancing over communication because they didn't feel as vulnerable and it was easier for them to get in touch with their emotions. 

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Person F-

Participant F felt hyper prior to engaging in the communicational therapy influenced discussion. After the discussion, person F felt anxious, but better. Before the dance therapy influenced exercise, person F felt tired. After dancing, the participant felt free and loose. Person F suggested infusing both dance therapy and communicational therapy influenced exercises.

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Significance:

This project is significant to me, my undergraduate degree, and my learning goals for several reasons. Firstly, it will help me figure out if a dual degree in Dance and Social Work is something that I actually want to pursue. Today dance therapy seems to be very close to my heart, and I feel that sharing my passion of dance as a way to help others heal and improve their lives might be a very fulfilling profession for me. It will also help me figure out with type of therapy would be more efficient and beneficial for people, or if it depends on the patient and their therapy preference. Dance therapy could not only help non-dancers, but dancers as well. Dancers do dance for a living, so this idea may seem redundant to some but can create positive changes in a dancer's life. Dance therapy is an unstructured exercise that helps bring out emotions within people. This exercise involves no judgment whatsoever. Dancers are constantly exposed to the harsh criticism of many, so having a non-cricitical atmosphere to dance in would provide very beneficial. When dancers promote their mental well-being, they also take steps to help their physical well-being as well. This then improves their quality of dancing, and elongates their years as an active dancer.

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Expected Outcome/ Results:

I expected my results to show that dancers will respond in a more positive way to dance therapy influenced exercises, and non-dancers would respond better to a communicational therapy influenced discussion. I also believed that the non-dancers will get frustrated with dancing and will have negative results when it comes to dance therapy rather than the communicational therapy influenced discussion. After collecting and analyzing my data i realized that only half of my prediction was true. Instead both the dancers and the non-dancers enjoyed dancing. I could see how each participant seemed to be in a more pleasant and happier mood after dancing. All of the participants ending their dancing either smiling or laughing. Yes, talking to someone is very helpful. Although, through this study we can tell that dancing brings out more emotions, and seems to be just as or even more beneficial than communicational therapy influenced discussions. Through this study I think many people can benefit from dance therapy, and that dance therapy should be a more widely used practice of therapy and healing.  

 

 

     

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