The healing encounter of dance, Gestalt, and art based on Anna Halprin’s Life/Art Process

Abstract

"Abstract: Anna Halprin, influential American dancer and artist, in her search for new ways to activate the transformative potential in dance, integrated Fritz Perls’ approach to Gestalt therapy in her work, called Life/Art Process. Gestalt principles of awareness in the ‘here and now’ find a structure in the Principles of the Creative Process, a central theoretical model of the Life/Art Process offering a holistic approach to creativity. The experience of physical, emotional, and mental awareness through movement extends into the field of artistic expression in dance and visual arts. The creative encounter between dance and art follows guidelines of the Psychokinetic Visualisation Process as applied to therapeutic settings. Key words: transformative potential of dance, Gestalt and dance, Principles of the Creative Process, Psychokinetic Visualisation Process, from the narrative to the abstract, the intelli- gence of the body."