HYDERABAD: Did you know that dance can heal a person? People have been trying different things to keep themselves calm and composed in the past few year during various situations in life. When we tend to get stressed and feel unhappy for reasons best known to us, get up and dance, says dance movement therapist Srini Nelluri. His growing workshops and popularity at Sacred Earth Cafe, Jubilee Hills, could be proof that it works!
Explaining the concept in lay persons’ terms, she says, “Dance movement therapy is a form of psychotherapy that is usually given as an approach or an intervention with clients who have issues of mental health or mild body issues. DMT focuses on forming that mind and body in ourselves. Our generation has become very disassociated with our bodies. When you experience a situation it is not just your mind that is experiencing it, but also your body experiencing it all along with you. A mind and body connection must be formed on the basis of body memory.”
She gives an example: “When someone experienced something as terrible as sexual abuse or any other traumatic event, the mind conveniently tends to forget it, but is somewhere rooted inside and the body holds on to it. This comes out in unusual ways like issues with sexual intimacy problems, relationships, consent and bullying. This is where DMT comes in — it allows people to open up via the spectrum.”
Sharing how her recent workshop fared, she says, “The group was very diverse — children, adults, the elderly — everyone moved. I wasn’t expecting people from Hyderabad to be open to something like this.”
Having done his specialisation in Pune and abroad, she thought only certain places would believe in holistic approaches, but to see something like that here was rewarding to her.
Asked what drove her to explore something like this, she says it was the understanding that there was so much learning to do, in terms of the human mind. “There were several things that I left unprocessed all these 24 years of my life and when I was training in this areas, I was actually able to come out of all the trauma with just the help of DMT. I knew that this can and has to help many others, especially in a generation that thinks it’s vital to connect to yourself,” says she.
Asked what’s next, she says that because a lot of people are yet to open up to something like this, she will be reaching out to people she knows are into holistic approaches like yoga or body based work. “We are still in the process, but I’m thankful to Scared Earth for giving me the space to introduce this to people. While I did try this online, the experience of doing it with others around you is unmatched. India is reach in culture and heritage, but some think that dance is supposed to be only ascetic — which is untrue.
The body talks too, and should be allowed to move that way. I encourage everyone to try this out — you would not know what you’re missing until you start something. The way the reflections of music, movement and drama come together with DMT is inexplicable,” she says, informing that she will be back in town with another such session next month.