Creative Movement (CM) Summit 

March 23/24-26, 2023; Online + China (in-person)

A man/woman should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his/her mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he/she dismisses without notice his/her thought because it is his/her own. (Ralph Waldo Emerson, paraphrased)

Creative Movement (CM) is a general term used in a wide field of movement disciplines and somatic practices connected to the relationship between mind/body and spirit. CM answers the need for well-being and health care and in education with the goal to liberate a person’s permission to be creative at any age. Creativity is known through research to be a key in a person’s ability to re-discover play and spontaneity in one’s life and furthermore to cultivate resilience in the ever-changing landscape of transformations in today’s times. Specifically, this stream centers on processes in movement used to stimulate the creative spirit to emerge in the body/mind which then can be formulated for different purposes. Not a therapy, per se, its results can be therapeutic. Welcomed to this stream are Creative Movement practices in the world.

There are many pioneers and schools in the field of Creative Dance/Movement that have begun in the past decades around the world. They developed specific forms and approaches yet shared something in common which is the core of Creative Movement: play, spontaneity learning and creating through the kinesthetic sense. One use of CM seen worldwide is within childhood education aiding the child to move and dance a concept towards understanding it.

Laban brought his work to UK in the 1940s and helped to establish the creative dance and movement education in the country. This laid a basis for the further development of professions including dance movement therapy. In the United States from the 1950’s choreographers and dancers such as Barbara Mettler, Norma Canner and Blanche Evans who was also a dance movement therapist were active in the field. In Italy, Maria Elena Garcia and Marcia Plevin, two former contemporary dancers who became dance movement therapists, created Garcia-Plevin (GP) Method^® in 1993. In 1998 the method became part of a registered Association bringing the training program to different countries starting the CM program with Inspirees in 2014. Its aims are to recover deep listening to the body/mind in order to develop an embodied expressive, relational and creative self. The core of the CM GP Method is the use of improvisation as a means to develop spontaneity and consciousness of the reciprocal body/mind relationship. Rudolph Laban’s Effort-Shape and Shape Harmony theories, elements of mindfulness practice and introduction to authentic movement practice serve to deepen consciousness for moving, dancing and thinking creatively from a deeper source within the self.

This stream of the summit will offer presentations, workshops and roundtable discussion from the creators, teachers and graduates of the Association of Creative Movement GP Method to share their local experiences of learning and practicing in education, community, performance, personal development, and corporate training etc. We strongly welcome other trainings of Creative Movement to be represented with their similar or different ways to liberate the spirit of creativity.