Encounters between practices: Bartenieff FundamentalsSM and Body-Mind CenteringSM

This paper discusses the meeting between two somatic lineages in dance practice: Laban-Bartenieff System and Body-Mind CenteringSM, or more specifically, the Fundamentals proposed by Bartenieff and the principles of the Basic Neurocellular Patterns, according to Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. In both lineages there is an indication to relive the developmental phases as a strategy to reorganize the body connectivity to undo blockages, automatisms and to support the creative movement elaborations. Both approaches have influenced and continue to fuel changes in the ways of teaching and creating dance. In this work, I share a somatic narrative constructed by certain connective principles of this vast field experienced from statements (guided imagination) and previous movement sequences guided by both approaches. The narrative indicates linked processes, from internal movements to transitions of form in space, from the floor to locomotion, in connections with kinespheres (internal, personal, and external), in the integrated sharing between body and environment