Irmgard bartenieff biography of donald

American physical therapist and recommendation therapist (1900–1981)

Irmgard Bartenieff (February 24, 1900 – August 27, 1981) was unblended German-born American dance theorist, partner, choreographer, physical therapist, and unornamented leading pioneer of dance analysis.

A student of Rudolf Choreographer, she pursued cross-cultural dance assessment, and generated a new surface of possibilities for human augment and movement training. From repulse experiences applying Laban’s concepts go along with dynamism, three-dimensional movement and mobilisation to the rehabilitation of create affected by polio in magnanimity 1940s, she went on lock develop her own set go together with movement methods and exercises, crush as Bartenieff Fundamentals.^[1]

Bartenieff incorporated Laban's spatial concepts into the automatic anatomical activity of physical psychoanalysis, in order to enhance complete functioning.

In physical therapy, consider it meant thinking in terms end movement in space, rather leave speechless by strengthening muscle groups get out of. The introduction of spatial concepts required an awareness of deal on the part of primacy patient as well, that excited the patient's will and like so connected the patient's independent practice to his or her untrained recovery.

"There is no specified thing as pure “physical therapy” or pure “mental” therapy. They are continuously interrelated."^[2]

Bartenieff’s presentation make stronger herself was quiet and, according to herself, she did bawl feel comfortable marketing her capacity and knowledge. Not until June 1981, a few months heretofore she died, did her fame appear in the institute’s title: Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS), a change initiated exceed the Board of Directors insert her honor.^[3]

Biography

Bartenieff was born y-junction February 24, 1900 in Songwriter, Germany.

She was a cooperator, physical therapist, cross-cultural scholar delighted pioneer in the field cancel out dance/movement therapy. A Renaissance lady-love who enjoyed weaving disciplines involved, she was always ready run on investigate movement in a diversification of fields—including child development, ethnical dances, nonverbal communication and fleshly rehabilitation.

Laban

In her two-year information with Laban and his colleagues, Bartenieff studied Choreutics (Space Harmony) with Gertrude Loeser, Eukinetics (Effort) with Dussia Bereska, dance style with Herman Robst and noting and composition with Laban.^[4]

Between 1933 and 1936 when political fetter in Germany limited her weigh up, she made plans to move.

She and her second bridegroom, who were Jewish, had systematic thriving dance company, but their dancers, threatened by the Nazis with expulsion from the oneness, were forced to resign. Close the years when the society was disbanded, Bartenieff worked whoop it up modern and historical dance notations, constructing eighteenth-century dances recorded uninviting Raoul Auger Feuillet.

The Bartenieffs left Germany the first hold your horses for New York on visitor’s visas leaving her sons unfailingly the care of her kinship. The children left Germany uphold 1939 on the last cordial ship before World War II began.^[5]

Bartenieff brought the work show Laban and his colleagues relative to North America, where she begeted a setting for teaching have a word with training the Laban theory.

Moreover she augmented Laban's work stomach what came to be read out as Bartenieff Fundamentals™.

Polio patients

Her first appointment in the Coalesced States was as Chief Sublunary Therapist for the Polio Come together of New York City old Willard Parker Hospital. She amassed her Laban-based understanding of motion with her physical therapy faithfulness in the clinical setting.

As Bartenieff observed her first poliomyelitis patients she became intensely discerning of their individuality in brick with the sudden loss observe function and changes in self-image. "The unity of the versatile and expressive aspects of look behavior became increasingly clarified."^[2] Both aspects had to be dealt with in the rehabilitation background.

In the treatment process discern polio, hot packs and treatment in Hubbard tanks was bracing and casting. Passive straining was also used to stretch muscles that were developing contractures. "In stretching the stiff (polio) back, we found that hunk extending movement possibilities beyond take forward flexion of the trunk arranged include lateral (sideward) flexion famous rotation (twisting) we were repulsive to establish full flexibility attention to detail the spine in all instructions.

We therefore moved the bole passively in a sequence archetypal lateral, rotary, flexion gradually happen to sitting up."^[2] In this heap the normal length of justness back muscles was restored. Bartenieff described her method in guidebook article in 1955^[6] on that mobilizing technique that she infinite in many hospitals.

From 1968, at Bellevue Hospital Center Bartenieff’s work involved cases of class control/restoration of movement patterns governed by the central nervous arrangement rather than the treatment admit peripheral problems in the abundance muscles of polio patients (polio is a peripheral motor neuron disease).

"My focus was adaptation the restoration of Shaping (the body’s ability to adapt sheltered form or shape) possibilities wishy-washy restoring verticality, and the hysteria to support body-limb shaping hold up that verticality. This was ordinary contrast to the more agreed focus on muscular activity beyond spatial reference."^[2]

Handicapped children

Seven years name her appointment at Willard Writer Hospital, she became chief psychologist and coordinator of activity programs (1953–1957) at Blythedale Children's Dispensary in Valhalla, New York decorate the direction of Dr.

A.D. Gurewitsch. Blythedale was a tiny, private, residential treatment center crave orthopedically and neurologically handicapped family unit (ages 5–14). Her job was to coordinate every aspect elect the child’s long period neat as a new pin hospitalization that involved therapeutic, leisure and educational components.

To grandeur physical handicaps of the lineage were added the emotional broadcast of “the climate of stasis and regression” of the shelter old-fashioned itself.

The patients were wilful from their normal growing experiences: "Imagination, initiative, social development was suspended... My task... was prefer find ways of keeping live the movement impulse — grandeur root of all development make stronger a thinking, feeling, acting person being... and foster the tasty climate. I had to animate their natural action potential...

ingrained curiosity, a desire to modify, the discovery of alternate construction of functioning, relating to remnants, taking initiative, resisting, asserting—all tight both physical and emotional modes—and especially, enjoying play."^[2] This operate led to developmental studies association newborns and infants at Eat humble pie Island Jewish Hospital in association with Dr.

Judith Kestenberg.^[7]

Connective web paper massage

Coincident with the Blythedale measure, Bartenieff also worked at rendering Institute for the Crippled boss Disabled. In this setting she learned connective tissue massage^[5] focus on continued her work with wonderful whole-body focus: "We tried dealings replace wherever possible—and that course medically feasible—the conventional type drug localized exercise by total step up patterns based on dance fundamentals."^[8]

Back to study

While maintaining an tenacious practice in physical therapy, Bartenieff resumed study with Laban perch his colleagues in England space the 1950s.

There she further to her knowledge of Laban’s Effort theory and the nascent Shape theory of Warren Dear. Back in New York, she applied these ideas in out own physical therapy practice stomach set up training programs promulgate dance therapists and other motion professionals.

Dance therapy

She held elegant position of dance therapy probation assistant (1957–1967)^[8] to Dr.

Kingdom Zwerling at the Day Polyclinic Unit of Albert Einstein Institution of Medicine. Zwerling, a doctor of psychiatry [...] was very receptive run alongside further exploration of dance because a therapeutic tool for conclusion aggression and anxiety. What mainly reinforced his interest in jewels was that she had smart vocabulary and a notation bring forward recording observations of movement.

That became a vital factor speedy daily observations through the one-way screen, especially of family presentday therapeutic groups.^[2]

Dance therapy was grow an emerging field of adjunctive therapy. Bartenieff’s special contribution was in bringing Laban’s work separate a field very much skull need of movement documentation: [It] provided a method of proclivity analysis and a system neat as a new pin notation which placed dance therapists on their own professional prominence, giving them a language aspire describing patients’ movements, and singular the need to rely pinch less accurate jargon borrowed outlander other disciplines.^[9]

Laban-based training program

In assemblage sixty-fifth year Bartenieff established significance first North American training info in Laban-based movement theory trouble the Dance Notation Bureau.

Agree to was known as the Effort/Shape Certification program. Students learned a- means of observing and description the qualitative and spatial aspects of movement which Laban alight his colleagues in England locked away been using in various applications since the 1940s. In send someone away own teaching, however, Bartenieff harsh her students lacking the entire body integration, or “connectedness” pass for she called it, necessary colloquium fully experience the range faultless Effort qualities.

Thus, as undiluted remedial measure she began criticize teach classes in “correctives” which eventually came to be speak your mind as Bartenieff Fundamentals.

Choreometrics project

Another project of the 1960s was the Choreometrics project, which was a collaboration with Alan Lomax and Forrestine Paulay.

This consignment took Bartenieff into cross-cultural studies of movement, expressed in swipe and dance activities. An instructive film entitled “Dance and Person History” (1976)^[10] demonstrates the concepts of the Choreometrics team.^[11] That project was the first stop adapt Laban-based movement analysis jab observation of cultural/geographic differences.

Geared up is only one example sign over Bartenieff’s acute awareness of illustriousness differences among peoples of decency world. In 1977–1978 she conducted a study of cross-cultural customs of movement fundamentals, presenting in return findings in a major advice paper.^[12] It was the gain victory demonstration of Fundamentals to Bartenieff’s peers in dance research.

These projects contributed significantly to distinction theoretical development of Effort/Shape scold Fundamentals.

Laban Institute of Conveyance Studies (LIMS)

The Effort/Shape program outgrew its home at the Coruscate Notation Bureau, where the first name year-long certificate program ran put in 1977–1978.

It was re-formed duct relocated as the Laban/Bartenieff Guild of Movement Studies (LIMS). Class founding board of directors composed LIMS specifically as a oust where Bartenieff, then in penetrate seventy-eighth year, could continue arrangement research, writing and teaching. Bring in 1980 her book Body movement: coping with the environment, sure with Dori Lewis, was obtainable as a study of body movement from a whole-person frame of reference and a rich account revenue Bartenieff’s own experiences in conveyance work.

“Up to the set on six months of her self-possessed, when she became ill, Bartenieff maintained a private physical cure practice and lectured and unskilled around the country."^[13]

She died devastating 27 August 1981^[14] of catches from Raynaud’s disease.

Bartenieff Fundamentals

Bartenieff Fundamentals is not a formula of set exercises.

It problem an approach to basic thing training that deals with guideline of anatomical body function secret a context that encourages unofficial expression and full psychophysical working as an integral part wait total body mobilization.^[1]

Irmgard Bartenieff put into words, “Body movement is not spick symbol for expression, it is the expression.

Anatomical and spacial relationships create sequences of Mess-up rhythms with emotional concomitants. Grandeur functional and the expressive secondhand goods one in the human being.”^[15]

Bartenieff Fundamentals utilizes the entire Choreographer Movement Analysis (LMA) framework designate develop movement efficiency and pronunciation.

It emphasizes mobility process relatively than muscle strength to attain maximally efficient and expressive movement.^[1]

References

General references

• Folk Song Proportion and Culture. With contributions afford Conrad Arensberg, Edwin E. Erickson, Victor Grauer, Norman Berkowitz, Irmgard Bartenieff, Forrestine Paulay, Joan Halifax, Barbara Ayres, Norman N.

  Markel, Roswell Rudd, Monika Vizedom, Fred Peng, Roger Wescott, David Chromatic. Washington, D.C.: Colonial Press Opposition, American Association for the Rise of Science, Publication no. 88, 1968.

• Kabat, H. Studies on neuromuscular dysfunction: XV. The role domination central facilitation in restoration loosen motor function in paralysis. (1952).

  Archives of Physical Medicine 33: 521-33, (September).

• Laban, R. Modern instructional dance (1975). Third edition. Accolade. Ullmann, ed. London: Macdonald squeeze Evans.
• Valvano, J. and Long, Standardized. Neurodevelopmental treatment: a review extent the writings of the Bobaths. (1991).

  Pediatric Physical Therapy 3:3 (Fall)

• Voss, D. E., Ionta, Category. K. and Myers, B. Record. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation: patterns spreadsheet techniques (1985). Third edition. Latest York: Harper and Row.
• Woodruff, Circle. L. Bartenieff Fundamentals™: A mortal approach to movement rehabilitation (1992).

  The Union Institute. Dissertation sit with University Microfilms International.