Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Saturday, May 22, 1976, page 9 (of 28)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
She combines dance with psychology
By ERICA MEYER Staff Writer "Dance therapy allows patients who are unable to communicate verbally to communicate non-verbally through movement and action," Shira Baumgard explains. At. 22, Shira, who lives on SW 77th Avenue, is totally devoted to a new form of therapy connected to an old form of art: dancing. Schooled in jazz, ballet, choreography, modern dance and improvisation, and an absolute expert in Israeli folk dancing, Shira has single-mindedly carved out a knowledge of dance therapy. "I found out about it when I was 14," she said. "I saw a newspaper article and went screaming and jumping around the house shouting 'this is it, this is it.'" When she got out of high school, she took structured psychology and sociology courses at Miami Dade Community College South and Florida International University and participated in a "life lab" program to learn about dance therapy. "I wrote to everyone in the field and found out as much as I could. I collected books on movement, non-verbal behavior, dance and psychology, combining them into a dance therapy course was something I had to do on my own. And I still have a long way to go." Shira, who initiated the dance therapy program at Jackson Memorial Hospital, is now working towards her masters degree in social work at FIU and teaching five classes in "Self Awareness through Movement" at Temple Beth Am and Temple Israel. Shira explains that dance therapy "communicates through movement with a patient who has retreated from the verbal world. You try to tap into that movement, to establish a relationship of trust and acceptance. "It works with all ages," she said. "In groups, you get people together and start with basic, simple movements and music that meets their mood. If they are depressed, you use rock and roll. You pick something and watch their movement to pick up clues. The group obtains a momentum of its own from there." For example, she cites, "If a patient is into stomping or pounding, it's easy to associate that with frustration, anger or tenseness. You talk about it and establish a continual flow." Walking into a new group, she admitted, is "sometimes overwhelming. I've had groups of up to 40 people or as few as six. I've had them where they speak only Spanish — and I don't. But there's a magic minute when the music goes on and the process just unfolds. "Even a person who wants to sit and watch is accepted. There's no pressure," she said. "You just constantly let that person know that you know he's there and that if he wants to join, he's welcome, but he doesn't have to. There's little direction. If they make choices, that's great." Shira carries records and a phonograph so she can play specific songs easily. "You have to have enough music and you have to know exactly what mood each piece creates and conveys, so you can use appropriate music. "With older people, I use waltzes, polkas and some Dixieland. With adults, almost anything could be used and the younger people like the mellow kind of folk music. I use a lot of Elton John and some Jim Croce or Carole King music. "You try to get them to tap into anything that's real to them," Shira explained. "And when they want to bring music or make their own selections, that's cool. You let them know they can affect things." Shira urges mothers to encourage children "to move, to express themselves" and says she got that encouragement from her mother. The daughter of Rabbi and Mrs. Herbert Baumgard, of SW 113th Street, Shira explains, "My mother is deeply into music. She's a choir director. And, my father is very analytically oriented. "They encouraged me. Movement always came spontaneously to me, a natural thing. "I knew I wanted to do something with movement and with people," Shira said. "And this is a young enough field where you can still be a pioneer."
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school slate West Miami Junior High recognized
West Miami Junior High School has received $100 and a plaque as the first place winner in the Shell Oil Environmental Project Contest intermediate division. The school was cited for a series of projects. One was a Bicentennial garden which yielded 145 different kinds of vegetables for its youthful farmers and a landscaping project which transformed the school's circular driveway into an attractive shrub and rock garden. West Miami's students won 803 awards in the horticulture and nature divisions of this year's Dade County Youth Fair and took 16 awards at the annual Metropolitan Miami Garden Flower Show. Students have become involved in the projects in their science classes as well as through the garden club sponsored by the South Florida Garden Club of Miami for seventh grade students and ecology club for eighth and ninth grade students.
Certificate
Adrianne J. Belkin of Coral Gables recently received a dental hygiene certificate and pin during the annual graduation exercises at Loyola University in New Orleans.
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our latin heritage
IN 1893, tobacco — Florida's first large industry — was established by Latin merchants in Tampa and the Florida Keys. AND IN 1976 REPUBLIC NATIONAL BANK OF MIAMI celebrated its 10th Anniversary as the first bank in Dade County established by Latins To Serve the Growing Bi-Lingual Community RNB REPUBLIC NATIONAL BANK OF MIAMI 10 N.W. LeJeune Road Miami, Florida 33126 (305) 446-1931
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