Trudi Schoop: Action Words & Becoming a Fantastic Being


 I


Check In


II

Introduction

 
Today we will watch a video, "Come dance with me," in which dance/movement therapist Trudi Schoop is shown working with a group of long-term patients at a psychiatric clinic in Switzerland. You will see how through her gentle and perceptive guidance these patients, who suffer from schizophrenia, are encouraged to respond and to express their emotions through dance and movement.

 

III

 Learning Objectives

Understand the motivation Trudi Schoop had to work with patients with schizophrenia

Explain the role of the therapist in the exploration of innermost fantasies

Gain an awareness of the depth of innermost fantasies as well as the underlying issues they hide

Experience the use of actions words and fantastic beings to warm up and explore inner fantasies respectively.

 

IV

Main Lesson

Students watch the video


Come dance with me

Claudia Willke, Gisela Tuchtenhagen, Gudrun Steinbrück, Sabine Friedrichs, Stefan Konken, Willke Film (Firm)
The film shows the work of the 88 years old dancer Trudi Schoop with long term patients of a psychiatric clinic. She shares their world for 3 weeks and encourages them to express their emotions and their peculiarity in movements
DVD Video, German, ©1991
View all formats and editions
Willke Filmproduktion, Hamburg, ©1991

Question 1
 
Write a reflection about the scenes in the film that show actual interactions between Schoop and her patients. 
 

V

A Note to Remember

Action words help clients with schizophrenia to mobilize their otherwise catatonic bodies. The creation of a fantastic being allows the student to imagine what is like to join the client inside the frame of their story. The difference between the fantasies of a client with schizophrenia and a normal person is that the former does not know he/he is experiencing something that is not real, whereas the latter does.


VI

Case Study

When artist Sue Morgan experiences hallucinations, she feels compelled to draw; to 'get it out of her head'. Sue was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago. The drawing is therapeutic, but it's also Sue's way of expressing the complex and sometimes frightening secret world in her head. In this film Sue meets Sukhi Shergill, a clinician and researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. He's also making pictures, but using MRI to peer inside the brains of schizophrenia patients.

 


Question 2
 
What does Sue Morgan mean when she refers to "living in a dream world"?
 
 
VII
 

ACTIVITY


a. Students think of an action world. Then, they call that world and the rest of the class follows.


b. Students imagine they are a fantastic being with a name, a place of origin, a way of talking and moving. Then, they introduce themselves to each other as that being. Finally, they respond to questions that reveal underlying issues...
 
 
Question 3
 
Write a reflection about your experience. 

--------------------------


VIII
 Journaling
 
 
IX
Glossary

Action words:
 
Fantastic beings
 
 X
Sources
 
Come and Dance with Me. Worldcat. https://www.worldcat.org/title/come-dance-with-me/oclc/457193671 


XI

Students' Work

Valeria Wakil

10/05/23 Creating a Being

This exercise was kind of hard to understand because it was so simple and straightforward. I think sometimes we tend to over-complicate the things that are the most helpful. But this activity was genuinely so fun and illuminating. I didn't really think about it, but ended up becoming grass. It was kind of natural, the first thing I thought of. I guess it makes sense, I thought of being grass in a big, windy field, just being swung left and right with the breeze, rolling with the circumstances. 

The people who spoke out loud were very revealing. i think they thought they were saying random things, but it all comes from somewhere, we just need to be able to decipher the language of symbols and metaphors that they are speaking in. 

I didn't explain my grass, but hearing everyone explain theirs made me think a lot. Why is it that I chose grass? What does it mean to me? It was a really fun experience, not only seeing how people embody their beings, but also hearing their explanations. I love the concept of following the person into their fantasy, rather than pulling them from it. In a way, we're guiding the person deeper into their imagination in order for them to make sense of it themselves.

I also loved the action words exercise. I'm kind of glad I chose the word "pose" because I hadn't even realized how statuesque it was.

 

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