Make the right move

Dance therapy helps increase the emotional-physical unity in individuals affecting positive changes in feelings, cognition, behaviour and physical functioning.

Dance therapy
Dancing is one of the best ways to feel healthy and feel happy. Though it is a new concept in India, many people are finding this form to help them evolve and feel good about themselves. Dance therapy involves the use of natural body movements to attain therapeutic goals. Dance therapists encourage participants to evolve a personal movement language to achieve holistic growth and healthier functioning. It helps to increase the emotional-physical unity in individuals affecting positive changes in feelings, cognition, behaviour and physical functioning, thus gaining a better understanding of their movement potential  and needs.
When you dance in a team, taking part enhances range of motion, creativity, problem solving skills and team building capacities. While befriending their bodies through movement and interacting with others, participants learn to reinforce social skills more effectively.
Anubha Doshi is a Clinical Psychologist and Arts Based Therapist. With a strong base in Indian classical dances and performances in folk, she has been teaching dance since last eight years. She has conducted dance therapy workshops for corporates and students in colleges like Fergusson, St. Miras, and many other schools.
She runs Rainbow Inc at Kalachaya in Patrakar Nagar, Senapati Bapat Road. The idea is for people to be aware of their body, its needs and how to relax. Dance therapy helps you evaluate and assess, analyze movement patterns and behaviour. Therapeutic elements from Indian dance forms, kinds of groups encountered, philosophy/methods of pioneer dance therapists, body/self image, providing variety of movement experiences in sessions, and assessing group movement behaviour are then discussed during the therapy session.
Besides Rainbow Inc, there is the Arts-Based Therapy (ATP), which combines painting, dancing, singing and story-telling, activities anyone can do and therefore, serve as an effective therapeutic tool. This therapy is conducted by World Centre for Creative Learning, a Pune based NGO in Baner. The therapy is based on the fact that creative art is a force that has the power to heal. Through its components of body awareness, modelling, role play, rhythm, and movement, it empowers the individual to communicate via means other than verbal expression.

--Prachi Bari