Spirit, Soul, Body, Earth
                 An Inner/Outer Ecology

A Study and Practice in

AUTHENTIC MOVEMENT
 Spirit, Soul, Body, Earth/ movement meditations

with Marcia Plevin, ADTR

at Split Tree Farm
in the NW Georgia mountains near Chattanooga, TN
Split Tree General Information        Maps, Directions         Area Lodging         Chattanooga Weather

Sept. 8-12
Begins 6 p.m. with Dinner, Wednesday, Sept 8            Studio Work Sept. 9-12

This workshop is led by Marcia Plevin, registered dance movement therapist who presently works in Rome, Italy.  Since 1992 she has been training authentic movement groups in Finland, Spain and Italy.
 
What exactly is .....Authentic Movement?    A Brief History:

Authentic Movement is a psychological, creative and meditative practice.  With it's roots in active imagination, a method created by C. G. Jung, it was shaped and given form in the U.S.A. in the early '60's by dance movement therapist, Mary Starks Whitehouse.  By observing how consciousness of physical movement produces changes in the psyche, Whitehouse created a new way of working calling it  "movement in depth" Whitehouse writes, " The body is the physical aspect of the personality and movement is the personality made visible".

Talking or writing about the embodied experience is one of the greater challenges of describing authentic movement.

What Will I Be Doing in the Workshop?

Being and listening to the body is a large part of the work.  Listening to what is already there...what it has to say.  Following the pioneering work of Janet Adler, who studied with Whitehouse, we will progressively learn and practice the first phases of the practice which Adler has called the ground form, interchanging the roles of mover and witness.  Concentration will be on developing contact with one's own inner witness. Learning how to verbalize an embodied experience is an integral part of the work and concentrates on owning one's own projections and withholding interpretations and judgments.  We will use journal writing, drawing and movement meditations to further explore the material that emerges in a safe and sacred environment.

What Will I Be Doing on the Continuing Level?

Practicing moving from dyadic work to collective work, moving from personal consciousness to collective consciousness.  Deepening the practice through movement meditations and creative work. Adler writes: Because this is a discipline growing from Western soil, practicing the form begins with attention to personal consciousness, and moves towards attention to collective consciousness, but it is the latter which deeply holds , as if in waiting the former". 

My work in the last few years has seen me becoming more present and conscious of the earth body.  It is essential for me to remember that I am made up of the same stuff of the earth. Our similar biological heritage can get lost in the technical or abstract language of the day, yet  we go to the pharmacy to replenish the metals we need in our bodies ingesting zinc, selenium, magnesium, etc. stuff of the earth.  We and the earth are kin. We have a relationship that goes back to the beginning of all things.

Knowing, being and moving with this consciousness and moving with other earthbodies can bring us to a  clearer understanding of our interdependence with the world. 

Who Will Benefit from this Practice?

The practice will benefit people working in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, education, the expressive arts, body work, the spirit, all those interested in deepening their understanding of somatic and kinesthetic aspects of themselves and in interpersonal relationships.  Authentic movement requires no special experience with movement or dance and is for anyone who is interested in knowing the body as a path of wisdom.

Registration:

The workshop will be help Sept.8-12, 1999.  Authentic Movement practice is a 4-day retreat with Marcia Plevin, ADTR at Split Tree Farm, Kensington, Georgia.  Participants will enjoy delicious vegetarian /vegan meals with movement work in a glass enclosed dance space opening out onto decks with a hot tub in rolling pasture setting.  A work -study program is available. 

The cost of the workshop, lodging and meals is $325.00.   Work will begin the evening of Sept.8 at 7.00 p.m. and finish after lunch Sept.12 at 2.30.p.m.

Info and registration Anna Sue 256 5365137, or email Marcia Plevin 106667.2252 [@] compuserve.

Early registration is encouraged as class size is limited.  A deposit of $100.00 is due by Aug. 10, non-refundable after Aug. 25.  

To register please mail the deposit to Anna Sue Courtney, Split Tree Farm, 597 West Cove Road, Kensington, Ga. 30707.  For more registration information:  email Anna Sue at annasu [@] mindspring.com or call Anna Sue  at her studio at 256/536-5137.   She can be reached at Split Tree Sept. 8th at 706/539-2485, which is the Split Tree office number for persons trying to reach participants.

Send the following information along with your name, post address and/or email, telephone number (s) to: Marcia Plevin email    106667.2252 [@] compuserve.com       or       via Minucio Felice 1  Rome, Italy 00136

Include:
--a short bio off your professional work, not a resume simply a synthesis
--a short description of any therapy you may have had or that you are in the process of having
--your reasons for wanting, at this time, to explore this kind of discipline and practice

Marcia Plevin's Background:

Marcia Plevin, DTR, professional dancer, choreographer and teacher, received her degree in art psychotherapy from the University of London, Goldsmith College and Art Therapy Italiana.  As a dance movement therapist she is registered with the  American Dance Therapy Association and is also a member of the Italian Dance Therapy Association.  Her dance background includes teaching, performing and choreographing on the modern dance faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts, artistic director of her own non-profit dance company, chairperson of the Southern Methodist University dance dept., modern dance  and choreography teacher for the Accademia Nazionale di Danza Roma.  She has been the recipient of National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer fellowships and has received commissions to create environmental movement installations for the Raleigh Art Museum and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

Her clinical experience has encompassed a wide range of individuals and groups particularly working in therapeutic communities for the recovery of substance abuse and working with HIV positive clients in Italy.  Since 1979 she has been developing a Creative Movement training which she now teaches in Italy and Finland for professionals in the artistic, educational and mental health fields.  Plevin, who has studied with Joan Chodorow and extensively with Janet Adler, presently leads Authentic Movement groups in Finland and Spain.  She has been published  in the International Journal, "Arts and Psychotherapy" and by Routledge in an anthology clinical approaches for the treatment of substance abuse edited by Diane Waller, "The Treatment of Addictions."

Split Tree Farm     Located in the center of 200 acres in NW Georgia, just south of Chattanooga. Split Tree Farm has panoramic views of Lookout and Pigeon Mountains. The workshop will be held in a glass-enclosed, heated dance pavilion with a full outside deck and a hot tub. The movement space is attached to a large, modernized farm house with a fireplace, two kitchens, three full baths and miscellaneous sleeping accommodations for the entire group. Sunday breakfast and lunch will be provided. Participants are asked to bring a sack lunch and a pot luck dinner dish for Saturday.  See home page for more information.