Rotations and revolutions: an investigation into whether ecosomatic inspired dance and creative activity, within an inclusive community setting, supports a sense of relationship and wellbeing. / Sjaan van de Langenberg (2022)

I started my research process with a deep interest in the natural world, ecology, its
ecosystems, and our experience of living as a part of it. I am fascinated by the different ways we make sense of, communicate and relate to the world, through, not only language but also our artistic and creative expressions, as humans embedded in the larger field of living
beings. I wanted to explore these ecosystems and relationships, through the lens of dance
and other embodied sensory creative activities.
Movement, dance and embodied multimodal sensory activities have always been something
I have not only enjoyed but relied on as a source of pleasure, a therapeutic tool for soothing, healing and grounding myself. Through these activities, perceiving and feeling my own immediate relationship to the world, the ‘ecosystems’, or processes, within my own body, the people around me and environment I’m in, becomes possible and enhances my sense of
connection, belonging, and feeling of well-being. I soon realised that at the heart of what I
was investigating was relationships. Relationship to self, my environment, particularly the
natural world, and the people around me. I wanted to find out if our sense of relationship,
well-being, belonging and connection was enhanced through these practices, simply by
experiencing and bringing awareness to the conversations, communications and processes
that are continuously occurring.
These embodied somatic and sensorial practices, I would claim, can bring awareness to
being human as an experience from the inside. As we feel our way through an experience,
can we understand our relationship to the people and world around us, in an embodied
sense rather than just intellectually, as an intrinsic part of being alive. Through this research I have been interested in investigating what it means to experience these somatic artistic expressive practices as an individual but also as a group, to investigate whether the practice can enhance our sense of community and well-being.
In the following chapters I will discuss the following areas of interest, with reference to other practitioners and texts within similar fields and explain how they have helped to critically shape and enrich my practice research as well as analyse the qualitative data collected.
Dance and creative activities, as an individual and as a group, through the lens of
ecosomatics and how this can contribute to our sense of relationship and wellbeing.

Dance and creative activities, creative expressions as a means of self-expression,
communication, belonging and connection.
Multi modal creative activities as a way of inclusivity (multisensory: visual, tactile,
auditory, kinaesthetic) and ways to communicate, both to express and to receive
information.
Inclusive dance pedagogy and learning styles
Somatic Movement and dance to help balance our bodies and nervous system
Effects of relaxation on creativity
Effects of playfulness and creative activities on wellbeing
Dance and well being