Welcome to Thinking Body Institute News!
TBI News provides ongoing updates on the activities of the Thinking Body Institute.
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TBI Archive News
It took some doing, but we are delighted to report that the TBI Archive collections featuring the materials on the careers of Mabel Todd, Barbara Clark, Lulu Sweigard and André Bernard have been completely restored!
TBI Education News
The Essays and Bibliography shown on the TBI Education pages began in 2005 when we launched the precursor to the Thinking Body Institute website, www.ideokinesis.com. I supplied essays on the pioneers in the field, Mabel Todd, Lulu Sweigard, and Barbara Clark and on a few of their students with lists of their bibliographic citations. Several other teachers were contacted about writing essays and supplying their bibliographies at that time, and to my delight, several of them contributed to the effort.
The Education component of the original site was a resource that many individuals who desired to learn about Ideokinesis found useful. According to the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive statistics, the website provided information on the discipline to an average of 27,000+ visitors annually. Over the years, I made a few additions to the Education essays and sporadically revised the bibliography to include new articles and books published in the field.
In recent months, as I worked on the research supporting the development of A Procedure of Thinking, I began the fascinating process of updating the Essays and Bibliographic resources of the website again. I became aware of one individual who worked with Miss Todd during the Depression and another who was a student of Barbara Clark’s approach to the movement of young children. A third generation of teachers creating their interpretations of the work today also became apparent. My contact with them was particularly exhilarating. Several individuals who have published their writings or developed other creative outcomes from participating in Todd’s work have submitted their materials to the website and we are actively seeking further additions to the collection from this “new generation.” Our original essay contributors are also being contacted, requesting that they review and update their essays and lists of publications. Submissions from others who were approached in the past about this opportunity but were not ready to join the effort at that time would be most welcome.
Thus, the momentum behind the original development of the website’s Education section is accelerating! Please enjoy the new essays with bibliographic materials written about by or about Don Oscar Becque, Marsha Paludan, Glenna Batson, Eva Karczag, Hetty King and Wolfgang Steinműeller. We welcome your suggestions of others who should be included on our website, and we will use the TBI newsletter to inform you of new essays and citations when they are added.
The Passing of Carol Loud
With considerable sadness, we must announce the recent passing of Carol Loud. Carol was introduced to Ideokinesis by André Bernard at his first summer workshop in Berkeley, CA. She organized his subsequent workshops at Berkeley Moving Arts in the East Bay area for many years. After André passed away, she was invited to take over the Ideokinesis workshops in Berkeley, which she taught for over a decade.
In her later years, Carol moved to Martha’s Vineyard, where she took classes and danced in several concerts by “The Yard.” A video tribute composed by another of her dance communities, “Built-on-Stilts,” was presented to Carol just before she left the island this fall. The video can be seen by following this link: https://vimeo.com/858375822
I interacted with Carol for the first time when John Rolland and I enrolled in one of André’s California workshops in the early 1970s. She extended her warm hospitality to us in her tiny bungalow and joined in our wonder as we explored Bernard’s inspiring interpretation of Todd’s work for the first time. Years later, in 2015, she lent her enthusiasm and support again when Wolfgang Steinműeller and I met her in Martha’s Vineyard to discuss our ideas for the Thinking Body Institute Archive.
Carol’s dedication to Ideokinesis was present throughout her life as a dancer, dance teacher, piano teacher, sensory integration practitioner, ideokinesis teacher, and church organist. Carol had an encouraging, fun-loving and always positive influence on all those who had the privilege of knowing her. She will be greatly missed.
There will be a memorial gathering on December 3rd at the Berkeley Moving Arts studio at 4:00 p.m. For more information please contact Ruth Botchan. rbotchanberkeleymovingarts@hotmail.com
Transition for Irene Dowd
This summer, Irene Dowd announced her retirement from the faculty of The Juilliard School after twenty-eight years of teaching in the Dance Division. In August, she received the 2023 Dance Teacher Award for outstanding contributions to dance education. An article recognizing her many accomplishments can be seen at https://dance-teacher.com/2023-dance-teacher-awards-irene-dowd/.
Irene will continue teaching at New York City’s Movement Research and the Hollins University MFA in Dance program. She looks forward to devoting more time to developing her website, irenedowdchoreographies.com, which includes her teaching choreographies performed by Juilliard dance graduates.
The Thinking Body Institute congratulates Irene on her new Juilliard School – Dance Division “faculty emeritus” status!