Bristol Evening Post

24th March 2006

Dance to victory:  Romy Fraser, founder of Neal's Yard Remedies, Pam Fisher director of the Dance Voice Therapy Centre and Charles Middleton, managing director of Triodos Bank.

Woman make ethical choice

A BRISTOL bank has announced the winners of its competition to find the women who run the best ethical businesses.

  Clifton-based Triodos Bank's Women in Ethical Business Awards were held at special ceremony in London.

  The winner was Juliet Davenport, the founder and director of Good Energy.

  Her company is the only electricity firm to supply its customers with 100 per cent renewable energy.

  The runners-up were organic baby food company Organix and Bristol-based charity Dance Voice Therapy Centre.

  Award organiser Karen Martin said, "We were delighted with the quality and quantity of applicants, especially in the award's inaugural year.  And we were inspired to have so many of the country's most exciting ethical entrepreneurs together in one room."

  Triodos Bank's managing director Charles Middleton said: "The breadth of experience and talent shown here demonstrates that women entrepreneurs really are driving forward a way of doing business that values people and the planet as well as profit.

  "The Dance Voice Therapy Centre is one of a number of emerging ethical initiatives making a real impact across the South West and beyond."

Pioneer Pam

BRISTOL may not have developed at the pace of other cities.   But we have always been a city from which pioneering ideas have emerged.  Often they have been in the areas of health care and medicine.

  Pam Fisher is the latest example of this trend.  Her work using dance and movement therapy to help people with drug and alcohol problems is unique.

  And it has produced impressive results. It is great to think such a good idea with the potential to help hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world has been stated here in Bristol.

Topic: Dance 12 February 2007 

DANCE THERAPY TAKES TO NATIONAL STAGE

Dancers and dance teachers will get in insight into how their skills can be used to change people's lives when a taster class of Dance Movement Therapy is held at this year's Move It exhibition at Olympia in March.

It is set to be the biggest ever Dance Movement Therapy session ever held in the UK and will be led by Linsey Gordon of Dance Voice, a Bristol-based charity and therapy centre.

Dance movement therapy uses movement and dance to facilitate emotional, physical, social, mental and spiritual growth.  Dance Voice work with people with addictions, emotional problems, physical disabilities and those who are socially excluded.

Pam Fisher, senior dance movement therapist at Dance Voice said: "Many dancers and dance teachers want to gvie something back for all the joy they have gained from dancing and this is one way they can do that.

"We work with many different groups, from children through to the elderly.  The session at Move It will be practical so that participants get a feel for what a therapy session is really like.

"The only difference will be the sheer numbers taking part!  We have had such a response for tickets that it will certainly be the biggest ever dance movement therapy session ever held in the UK."

Dance Voice can be found on Stand 32 throughout the Move It exhibition, which runs from march 16-18.  For more information on Dance Voice see www.dancevoice.org.uk. 

To book a ticket for dance movement therapy taster class at Move It, which is on Sunday 18 March 11.30am - 12.15, see www.dance-london.co.uk.

Focus the mind on fire walk

DANCE VoiceTherapy are looking for daring volunteers to take part in a fundraising fire walk this July.

   The event will take place at the Tobacco Factory in Southville on 7 July 2007.

   The aim is to raise thousands of pounds for the charity which helps people with special needs, recovering from addictions and with mental health needs.

   Fire walking, which has been around for centuries, involves concentrating the mind, so that no pain is felt.

   Volunteers who are interested do not need any experience, comprehensive training is given on the day by qualified trainers.

   Special breathing techniques wil be taught, enabling volunteers to enjoy the walk.

   Volunteers interested need to arrive at 6.30pm for the training session, with the walk at 9pm.

   Dance Voice are looking for a minimum of 30 volunteers and the walk itself is 20ft long over wood embers burning at 48°C.

   Volunteers can get a sponsorship form by telephoneing Dance Voice on 9532055 or e-mail linsey@dancevoice.org.uk

Published in The Spark Magazine

Aug-Nov 2006 edition.

Various students were asked to let people know what they had learnt during the Summer

Dance Movement Therapy

by Pauline Sewards

Last winter I studied Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) as a module of a counselling course I am doing.  DMT is a person centred therapy

hat uses movement to enable mental, physical and emotional growth.

  Often courses quickly fall into an unvarying routine but not so here! Each session was dramatically different and each one carried a frisson

of anticipation; what would the tutor come up with next?  We experienced mirroring where two people simultaneously copy each other's

movements and sometimes used props such a hoops, sticks, dressing up clothes, glittery wigs and hats.  One week the room was decorated

like a magic grotto, draped with shimmering materials.

  The most unusual exercise involved a Grow Bag - a piece of pink lycra shaped like a giant's shower cap, we were instructed to stand in a circle

and pull the end of the Grow Bag over ourselves and under our feet until the whole group was enclosed inside it.

  The course was taught in a structured, supportive and down to earth way.  We worked closely together and it was okay to opt out of any exercise

and to express any emotional reaction, including laughter.  Most weeks were a lot of fun, and it was physically exhilarating to participate in the

movement activities.  I was fascinated to learn that dance therapy was developed independently in the East and West coast of the States and in

Europe all at the same time during the early 20th century.

  Taking part in the DMT course has had a profound effect on me; and I gained valuable insights for my counselling course.

  I studied Dance Movement Therapy at Dance Voice in Bedminster, Bristol, and the organisation runs a wide variety of courses and therapeutic

groups for men, women and children with all kinds of needs.

fi: admin@dancevoice.org.uk    0117 953 2055

Dancing away from cravings

by Lynne Hutchinson

l.hutchinson@bepp.co.uk

PIONEERING work in Bristol that helps people overcome drug and alcohol problems through dance and movement therapy was

in the spotlight at a major international conference in Los Angeles.

  Pam Fisher is co-director and senior dance movement therapist at the Dance Voice Therapy and Education Centre in

Wedmore Vale, Bedminster and was the only UK speaker at the 40th anniversary conference at the American Dance Therapy

Association.

She recently carried out a two year research project into the way such therapy can help people and gave a presentation to about

50 delegates, including those who work with young offenders, school strugglers, people with mental health problems and prisoners.

  Pam, who serves on the Professional Registration Committee of the Association for Dance Movement Therapy UK, said

"We believe the work in Bristol is unique and this conference was an opportunity to pass on that knowledge to other dance

therapy specialists from around the world."The Bristol centre was set up by founding director Marie Ware about 15 years ago

It is a charity with no statutory funding so relies on fundraising.

   The range of clients seen by the six therapists include the elderly, children, people with special needs and those with mental

health difficulties

But Pam has a particular interest in working with those in drug and alcohol rehabilitation and carried out her research because

she was often told by clients they had learned so much by attending sessions.

   Many said they would never have otherwise got involved in dance and movement.

  Since taking up dance many have successfully gone back to education or have been retrained in new careers. She said

"The research showed that dance movement therapy can have an unlocking effect that enables people to re-access learning.  

"Many of these people did not cope at school and struggled with behaviour patterns that prevented them learning.  Through

dance movement therapy they have found that they can learn, and that has led to many improvements in their lives.

"Some people make amazing changes and it's very heartwarming to see such results. 

  "For one agency we deal with attending sessions here is compulsory for their clients so they come in weekly as part

of their programme before going on to the next stage of their rehabilitation.

  "We also have open sessions but they are always full and although so many people say they have been helped through

a programme and would like to come back, they may not be able to afford it.

  "Ideally we would like to expand our building as we are desperately short of space, as well as finding someone to sponsor

our work.

   "We have had grants, including one from Children in Nee, but one of the problems is we fall between the categories of art,

health and care.

  "We also don't have a lot of time to fundraise yet it costs about £100 to keep this place open for just half a day.

• Comment Page 10