Dear New York creative arts therapy community,

Please accept this letter as an introduction to the new NYS-ADTA Board of Directors:  Cara A. Gallo, President, Deniz Oktay, Vice-president, George Jagatic, Treasurer, Marie McKenna Aguirre, Programming, Jackie Gonzalez, Public Relations, Laura Raffa, Fundraising, Gianna Lafronza, IT, Jennifer Daniels, Recording Secretary, Stephanie Gail Ross, Corresponding Secretary, Angela Dewall, Student Liaison.  Please note: the Newsletter Chair position remains vacant, interested persons may contact me directly.

Each new board member comes to their position with creative and innovative ideas about how to build and promote our profession in New York State.  Some ideas discussed at our first meeting in January were; development of a dance therapy app (for smart phones), free chapter networking events and interdisciplinary collaboration through workshops, seminars, lecture and of course dance events!

As the new board acclimates itself to our new roles, responsibilities and tasks we want to reach out to you, our membership in an effort to begin a conversation. We hope this dialogue develops and grows over the course of the next three years.  One concern we have at the start of our term is the recent move by the New York City and State agencies (OMH, OASSIS, OPWD to mention a few) petitioning the NYS-Office of Professions for a permanent exemption from the New York State Mental Health Practitioner Licensing Legislation.  Meaning these agencies would no longer be required to hire experienced licensed professionals to treat clients utilizing their services.

With that, we believe it is of the highest import that we engage and involve each member through Chapter events, activities and promotional efforts whether, they be in the city, downstate, upstate, way upstate, long island, everywhere and everyone in NY.  Involvement can be as simple as making a phone call to promote an upcoming workshop, submitting a committee or project proposal, or calling-in during a board meeting to voice your opinion about the needs of members in your area.

Our main goal for the next three years is to support, develop and cultivate the interests, engagement and creativity of our membership.  Our mission is to be of service to you, our members, and future members.  This will be done through creation of opportunities for dance therapy awareness, to sustain and continue raising chapter funds so as to support the chapter in these efforts, to reaffirm the importance of the healing power of the arts.  While finally, and possibly of the most import is to empower you, our members, in this time of economic struggle and crisis.

With that, the board would like to invite you to our first Chapter – Kickoff  Event “An evening of Hello’s, getting to know one another, brain-storming, dancing and imbibing”.  The event will commence on March 6, 2012 from 6:30-8:30pm at the Pratt Manhattan Campus, 144 West 14^th Street, NYC.  *For out of city members we can arrange virtual attendance*.  If you wish to attend please respond to the attached e-vite.  I speak for the entire Board in saying we are very much looking forward to serving and collaborating with you over the next 3 years.

Warm Regards,

Cara A. Gallo, M.S. BC-DMT/LCAT

President, NYS-ADTA

nysadtapresident@gmail.com

718.490.5912

Last spring I had the opportunity to see The Artist is Present, a new work at the MOMA by performance artist, Marina Abramavic. The piece involved a taped off square in the atrium, surrounded by lights and a camera crew. Within the square, Marina sat in a simple, wooden chair. Across from her was an identical wooden chair, where anyone could choose to sit with her. From March 14th through May 31st, Marina sat for all the hours that the MOMA was open, with whomever sat across from her. Over the course of 736 hours and 30 minutes, she looked into 1,565 pairs of eyes.

Many of the reviews of the exhibit had emphasized the lack of movement, in sitting still. The audio tour and wall hangings in the exhibit also emphasized this idea of stillness. Even Marina asked the participant to find a comfortable position and sit still. But I saw so much movement everywhere. There was movement all around the space: people waiting, some restless, some captivated, some jostling in line, and others sitting on the floor.

Immediately upon walking into the atrium, I was struck with emotion. The whole square was surrounded by people waiting to have a chance to sit. I was blown away by how many people desire to be seen, yet it was easy to see what was so compelling about sitting with her. This was a chance to have someone really see you. She was sitting with a young man when I entered and my eyes were immediately drawn to the pair of them in the square. The two people sitting in the chairs were not still. I observed movement in their breath and small movements throughout the whole time they sat together.

The young man began with an overly confident look on his face, as if daring the artist to connect with him. In time, it seemed that Marina did connect with him. His breath changed. I saw his belly heave with a huge breath as he began to nod slowly and gently, while looking into the artist’s eyes. His posture softened, and his breathing normalized. He seemed to collect himself. He got up as what appeared to be a changed man.

In Marina’s discussion of her intention with the exhibit, she used vocabulary that we are familiar with in dance/movement therapy. She challenged herself to be present in the here and now with another person. This is something that is so rarely pursued and achieved in our society. The impact of her presence was powerful. People waited hours and hours to sit with her, receive her gaze, and be present with her.

I looked through the portrait photography that captured each visitor that sat with her. It was clear that many people were moved by the experience with her. Many people in the portraits are tearful and many came back for more. There was no time limit to how long or how often a visitor could choose to sit with her. One person sat all day and another sat 14 times.

Seeing this exhibit reminded me of what we do in dance/movement therapy and how much people need it. Like Marina, we intend to be present with another person, in the here and now, attending to them, attuning to them. Sometimes this can include large movement and space, and sometimes it can be as small as two people sitting across from each other. The attunement between Marina and the visitor could be seen in the breath, the gaze, and the shifts. She chose to do small movements such as placing her hand on her heart, leaning forward, shifting back, and these movements made an impact on the person across from her. We work with these tools, these skills, every day, and we can also make an impact by being artists, by being present. Laurel Crawford