Mary O'Donnell Fulkerson (1940–2020) was an American dance teacher and choreographer. Born in the United States, she developed an approach to expressive

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

movement called 'Anatomical Release Technique' in the US and UK, which has influenced the practice of dance movement therapy, as seen in the clinical work of

Bonnie Meekums Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

postmodern dance Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of t ...

, as exemplified by the choreography of Kevin Finnan, and the application of

guided meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

and guided imagery, as seen in the

psychotherapeutic Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...

work of Paul Newham.

Work

Fulkerson's primary contribution to dance, dance therapy, and

derives from the way she taught dancers and non-dancers how to use their own

mental imagery A mental image is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of 'perceiving' some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses. There are ...

to motivate expressive movement, which she developed upon the principles and practices previously established by Mabel Todd, Barbara Clark,

Lulu Sweigard Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a ...

, and

Joan Skinner Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine *Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multiple ...

, evolving her main teachings at

Dartington College of Arts Dartington College of Arts was a specialist arts college located at Dartington Hall in the south-west of England, offering courses at degree and postgraduate level together with an arts research programme. It existed for a period of almost 50 ...

between 1973 and 1985. These teachers developed an approach to rehabilitative physical education,

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

, and

improvised Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

dance that had in common the facilitation of healthy and expressive movement through volitional use of

imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations o ...

, which involved visualizing the structure and motion of the body, and allowing this kinaesthetic

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory im ...

to inform the way they moved. The term ' ideokinesis' denotes use of such

to rehabilitate and precipitate human movement, which Sweigard borrowed from the American piano teacher Bonpensière, who used imagery in his music teaching, and invented the word by combining two words derivative of Greek: 'ideo' for idea or thought, and 'kinesis' for movement. Fulkerson initiated two developments in the work established by her predecessors. Firstly, she extended the type of

used by her students and dancers in both

choreographed Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and

dance beyond the

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and kinesthetic. This enabled her students and dancers to physicalize and embody a range of

images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimension ...

, including

entities An entity is something that exists as itself, as a subject or as an object, actually or potentially, concretely or abstractly, physically or not. It need not be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually r ...

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s, and

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

. Secondly, she prepared her dancers and students for practice,

rehearsal A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensu ...

, and

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

using a technique comparable to

, guided imagery, and

creative visualization Creative visualization is the cognitive process of purposefully generating visual mental imagery, with eyes open or closed, simulating or recreating visual perception, in order to maintain, inspect, and transform those images, consequently modi ...

, verbally suggesting

as the members of her ensemble or class lay still, becoming increasingly aware of their body prior to initiating movement. As a consequence, Fulkerson's approach to

dance education Dance education is a practice whereby students are taught a broad understanding of dance as an art form or trained professionally in specific dance genres. Dance education also encompasses a research area in which scholars conduct original resea ...

has been described as a form of

movement meditation Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy F ...

.Meekums, B., Dance Movement Therapy: A Creative Psychotherapeutic Approach. Sage, 2002. In 1989, Fulkerson co-founded the Center for New Dance Development (Dutch "Centrum voor Nieuwe Dans Ontwikkeling", CNDO) later renamed European Dance Development Center (EDDC) with Aat Hougée in Arnhem, the Netherlands, after a split from the earlier established School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam. The school continued to operate until it was made part of ArtEZ Dansacademie Arnhem, and fully merged with the former in 2002.

References

External links

Living Legacy ProjectArticle discussing her work at Dartington College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulkerson, Mary Creative arts therapies Dance teachers American female dancers American dancers American women choreographers American choreographers 1940 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American women