"Dance is the hidden language of the soul."
Martha Graham
What is Dance and Movement Therapy ?
Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) is defined by the American Dance Therapy Association as the psychotherapeutic use of dance, movement, body awareness, and embodied
communication, to foster healing and wellness for all individuals, families, and communities.
This approach lies at the crossroads of somatic therapies and creative arts therapy. It integrates the body, emotions, imagination, and soul through a creative process that reaches
into the unconscious and opens new paths for healing. In addition to dance, we use somatic tools grounded in neuroscience, such as polyvagal theory, to support nervous system regulation and help manage anxiety, stress, and trauma through movement.
The body is our home. It holds our memories, our joys, our traumas, everything we've been through. As Bessel van der Kolk wrote, "the body keeps the score". DMT invites patients to listen to their body and reestablish a dialogue with it, releasing what has been held for too long.
You don’t need to know how to dance. The goal is not performance, but to connect. It’s about communicating with your body, recognizing your needs, and finding emotional expression in a safe and inclusive space.
DMT provides a space of freedom where the body becomes a vessel for expression, release, and transformation.
Who is Dance Therapy for ?
Dance therapy is for everyone and is a deeply inclusive and adaptable approach that supports overall wellness. It’s used in a wide variety of settings : psychiatric hospitals, refugee centers, schools, end-of-life care, Parkinson’s patients, people with disabilities and more.
- People looking for a creative, somatic, and active approach to therapy
- Those who feel traditional talk therapy doesn’t meet their need
- Individuals seeking to improve relationships and self-image
- Those struggling with stress, anxiety, and emotional regulation
- People going through challenging periods or life transitions
- Clients with mental health diagnoses looking for alternative forms of support
- Individuals going through cancer treatment
- People in end-of-life care
- Selective mutism
- LGBTQIA+ individuals seeking an affirming therapeutic space
A brief historical background
Dance has always been part of human culture, present in rituals, celebrations, and shared experiences for centuries. In the modern therapeutic sense, Dance and Movement Therapy began to take shape between the 1920s and 1940s, mainly in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
- This was made possible by key figures from the postmodern dance movement. Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, and Martha Graham explored authentic, expressive
movement that moved away from classical rules. Their work brought dance closer to personal experience and emotional truth. These women cleared the path for dance therapy pioneers like Marian Chace, Mary Whitehouse, and Trudi Schoop, who combined dance with psychological insight.
In Germany, Mary Wigman offered powerful, non-traditional work showing that dance could express deep internal states.
- In the UK, Rudolf Laban developed a method of analyzing and notating movement that is still in use today.
- Today, dance therapists use a variety of tools, such as the Kestenberg Movement Profile, Laban Movement Analysis, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Authentic Movement, Chase Circle, Baum Circle, Viewpoints, and many more, which differ depending on each dance therapist's background.
