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AMANZ Annual General Meeting
Our AGM was held at Te Whaea
National Dance and Drama Centre in Newtown, Wellington on Tuesday 29 February
at 7.15pm. Present were Dawn Sanders (president), Roz Wilson, Susan Simpson,
Nicky Newton, Sharon Callaghan, Amanda Skoog (DANZ), Deirdre Tarrant,
Jill Mullen, Marianne Power, Roger Page, Athena Moisa, Marilyn Young,
Alister George, John Sloane and Melanie Young. Apologies were received
from Dame Kate Harcourt, Robert Ibell, Libby Eglinton, Steve Targett,
Heather Trotter, Gillian Webb, and Warwick Long.
Dawn Sanders gave background
information on AMANZ and read out the minutes of last year's AGM (published
in Newsletter Number 4, May 1999) which were accepted (Moved: Deirdre
Tarrant, Seconded: Sharon Callaghan). Dawn then presented the President's
Report, outlining our achievements during the year, particularly the formulation
of Strategic and Business Plans. Unfortunately the Registry have mislaid
our Constitution so this must be presented again before we can become
incorporated. A number of successful seminars were held, including those
of Elizabeth Andrews, Alison Bagnall and Susan Simpson ( with DANZ). Our
internet correspondent, Nicky Newton, is moving overseas and Dawn extended
our farewell and heartfelt thanks for her worldwide contact. Thanks were
also extended to our retiring Treasurer, Libby Eglinton, to Sharon Callaghan
(secretary-treasurer) and to Susan, Robert, Amanda and Alister and all
the Executive. The report was verified (Moved: Deirdre Tarrant, Seconded:
Susan Simpson).
The Treasurer's report outlined a current balance of $1068.00,
expenses for the year $361.22, income: $857.00. This was accepted (Moved:
Dawn Sanders, Seconded: Sharon Callaghan). Reimbursement of expenses of
$275.55 to be paid to Nicky Newton. An auditor needs to be appointed.
Membership is steady - we need to check our contacts again - Dawn has
forms available for distribution. Correspondence was received from Nicky
Newton and Libby Eglinton (resignations). Accepted (Moved: Susan Simpson,
Seconded: Roz Wilson).
The Strategic plan is now ready for implementation
so the Executive will be looking at this at our next meeting. Our programme
for the year includes organising the Helpline (mentioned in the last issue
- more later), and involvement through Susan Simpson and Amanda Skoog
(DANZ) in the “Healthier Dancer” programme targeting dance teachers nationwide.
Deirdre Tarrant and Footnote Dance Company are also running an 'at risk'
programme in secondary schools around the country. We would also like
to present a seminar run by an Arts Psychologist (any volunteers..?).
Those present at the meeting then introduced themselves, their work and
areas of interest. Of note were aims to create and place Arts medicine
posters similar to those produced and widely distributed by ACC which
depict a variety of sporting disciplines and associated stretches et cetera.
Also mentioned were the need for more cross referencing between practitioners,
opportunities to make articles available on order through DANZ's “Mind
Moves”, and comparative video studies of movement involved in undertaking
various artistic disciplines (John Sloane, Podiatrist). We were also very
pleased to have the input of artists from the Head Injury Society.
Election of Officers: Dawn Sanders was unanimously re-elected as President (nominated
by Sharon Callaghan) and Sharon Callaghan was elected Secretary Treasurer.
The newsletter and other internal roles will be shared among the executive
of whom five are retiring (Warwick Long, Libby Eglinton, Nicky Newton,
Loretta Lander and Dr Ruth Highet) and we welcome Alister George, Melanie
Young, Will Aitken, John Sloane and possibly Stu Armstrong and Heather
Trotter - thank you for your help.
Next Executive meeting : 5 April, 7.30pm at 32 Cecil Road, Wadestown, Wellington.
All welcome.
The meeting closed at 8.25pm and was followed by a wonderful demonstration of Swiss Ball
technique and exercises by Susan Simpson. Susie alerted us to the need
for very careful 'pre-ball' assesment and training to avoid injury and
ineffective use of the balls, using volunteers to give some very correct
and some very funny incorrect demonstrations of a variety of exercises
(beware the 'quick fix' at the gym...). These are good tools and well
worth investigation, both as an aid to treatment and as an exercise discipline
to help artists avoid the muscle imbalances which many of us encounter
in our area of the arts.
The Helpline: Update
As mentioned in our previous
newsletter and in the AGM Minutes, we are planning to establish a Helpline
this year. The concept includes a phone number with an answerphone and
an e-mail address checked by someone who channels queries to the appropriate
practitioners. We are talking to the manager of “Quitline” for some guidelines
and to Southern Cross as a possible sponsor.
The BAPAMT (The British Performing
Arts Medicine Trust) Helpline is a totally confidential first point of
contact for artists seeking medical help. BAPAMT have also inaugurated
'Take a Bow', a Supporters' organisation which helps to subsidise BAPAMT's
work - the Helpline, clinics, education and research. Their 'Take a Bow'
brochure says “ Not all performers are stars. The vast majority of performers
cannot pay for private health care. If a performer gets injured or ill,
and specialist help is required, then the only way is to 'join the queue'.
Even if they do so, the person they see will be medically skilled, but
may not be familiar or perhaps even sympathetic, with the needs of the
artist. Performers not only have to be 'well', but 'fit to perform'. If
you join, you will help performers tap into the skilled, specialist medical
assessment, treatment and therapy they need, when they need it. Clinics
on offer can be medical or psychological, conventional or alternative.
The spread of the 'Take a Bow' scheme will publicise the cause. It will
ensure that more performers hear about the help that is available to them.
* Students sometimes believe that there is some kind of mystique in suffering
for their art, not appreciating the damage they are doing;
* Out of work performers will ignore pain to chase their illusive goal, the next
audition, the next opportunity;
* Performers in work can be afraid to admit to a problem because there can be a
hundred waiting to step into their shoes.
The Helpline can arrange a thorough assessment of the problem by a specialist
GP, Consultant or practitioner. This assessor not only will be skilled
within their own profession, but also have developed an expertise in working
with performers. This is a great incentive to AMANZ to provide a similar
service to artists in New Zealand!
Quitline 0800 778 778 Are you a smoker?
Are any of your patients smokers? This free and confidential service receives
around 1000 calls each week and answers each personally. Callers opt to
receive a Quitpack or talk to an adviser. For more information, give them
a call. Many thanks to the Quitline team for help and ideas for our AMANZ
Helpline.
Are you a Psychologist with an interest in working with artists?
Would you be willing to conduct a seminar with AMANZ this year - please
contact us (details above). We would like artists to have a greater awareness
of this area of medicine and its role in treating and preventing injury.
Dorothy Daniels Dance Foundation - Creative work rewarded
Dorothea Pienaar and Merenia Gray are the latest recipients of Dorothy Daniels
Memorial Awards. Whilst both are involved in creative processes, their work is very different.
Special Needs Teacher at Kapiti College, Dorothea was given a grant to
travel to a Dance Therapy Conference in Melbourne, Australia in February
2000. At this she presented a paper with Jennifer Shennan entitled S-T-R-E-T-C-Hing
the boundaries, and conducted a workshop demonstrating the use of music
and dance. “I want to extend the work I am doing into the community and
work with different disabled groups,” said Mrs Pienaar. “Because there
will be many different people from all over the world at the conference,
it will be very interesting to see what other people are doing.” Dorothea
was born in South Africa and in June 1998 immigrated to New Zealand, where
she lives in Paraparaumu. She has an Honours degree in Psychology, Junior
Professional Course in Music (Conservatoire, Pretoria), post graduate
Education Diploma and post graduate course in Music Therapy (Avril Elizabeth
Home for the Handicapped.) Working with different kinds of disabilities,
Dorothea has assisted a range of people from traumatised children to cancer
patients to increase their self-confidence, self-expression, communication
and motor skills.
Merenia Gray, of Wadestown, is an accomplished young
choreographer, whose works include Tee Tee Kura - A Beginning from an
End for the 1989 Hong Kong International Festival of Arts, Hono Tai - Where
the two seas meet, Alchemy, Poutokomanawa and Rough Fusion for Footnote
Dance Theatre, Pounamu for the 1999 WOMAD festival, A Christmas Wish directed
by Jim Moriarty with Arohata Women's Prison inmates in 1997, and for the
1998 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards. A new season of contemporary dance
entitled Wild Civility will include a new work, Lysistrata, a Jose Limon
work and a solo for herself, entitled Delight in Disorder. Merenia was
given a grant to assist with the development of this work, which is based
on a poem of this name by middle English poet, Robert Herrick. Composer
David Long, with whom Merenia collaborated for Hono Tai, has agreed to
create a 15-minute work especially for this solo. ”I expect to produce
and create a thought-provoking, entertaining evening of new and old contemporary
dance of a high professional standard,” said Ms Gray. “I am establishing
a bi-cultural identity in New Zealand that draws on my Maori and Pakeha
heritage.” Merenia aims to reflect the experiences of the community as
her season will portray the complicated processes of people's innerworlds
and the most acute life situations.
The Dorothy Daniels Dance Foundation
was established in 1982 following the untimely death of Dorothy Daniels,
ex-Director of the New Zealand School of Dance (then National School of
Ballet), Board Member of the School and Royal New Zealand Ballet, Royal
Academy of Dancing examiner and teacher of thousands of young New Zealand
dancers. The Foundation gives grants to semi-and professional dancers
and dance teachers for short-term projects. It is currently trying to
raise additional funds to increase the capital sum.
Further enquiries
or donations contact: Dawn Sanders, Secretary, DDDF, P O Box 17 215, Wellington
Ph: 04 476 8369 Mobile: 205 283 6016 Fax: 04 476 8754
E-mail: Action-Sanders@xtra.co.nz
Do You Love Poetry?
We are a small group who meet at Khandallah Cornerstones
from 10.30am until 12ish on the third Thursday of each month to read and
write poetry (everything from Shakespeare to Sam Hunt...) Phone Linda
at Khandallah Cornerstones on 04 479 5420 (weekdays, 10am - 3pm) Cost:
$2.50 per session to cover club and cuppa and you are welcome to join
us for lunch afterwards.
Advertising in the AMANZ Newsletters
N.B. Our Affiliate members are entitled to one free advertisement of a
seminar in our Newsletter.The database sheet to be sent with the next
Newsletter will also promote our members' skills and services. To sign
up, go to the JOIN AMANZ form.
Deadlines for 2000: 31 May, 31 August, 15 November. Newsletters will be published
by the middle of the following month.
All types of advertising
are welcome, members, non-members practitioners, performers - anyone
with anything to advertise!
This newsletter has a
current circulation of 150+ (and increasing ) and is, as a serial
registered with the National Library, is also registered in Paris and
available to publishers, book suppliers and libraries globally. We
have affiliate organisations in the United States and Great Britain
and now have our own web site which contains the current
newsletter so the potential for coverage is enormous!
Schedule of fees:
$30 for a quarter page
$50 for a half page*
$100 for a whole page*
Sign up for a year (four issues) and receive a 15% discount.
*Half and whole page advertisements can appear on left hand pages only
in the print newsletter.
Back to Contents
Seminars for 2000
Thursday 18 May - 'The Hypermobile Patient' (Sports Medicine NZ & AMANZ) 7.30pm at CIT City Campus, 158 The
Terrace, Wellington
Thursday 7 September - 'Female Issues, including eating
and osteoporosis' (Sports Medicine NZ & AMANZ) 7.30pm at CIT City Campus,
158 The Terrace, Wellington
Further seminars will be publicised soon.
Seminar reviews
Voice and Spirit Workshop with Alison Bagnall and John Warren
For those who could not attend Alison's Voicecraft workshop last year,
she is a Speech Pathologist, Certified Voicecraft Practitioner, Feldenkrais
Practitioner and Churchill Fellow. John is a certified Transactional Analysis
Clinical Therapist, Anglican Priest and author of the successful book
'Your Hidden Career'. At the Voice and Spirit workshop in January they
explored the links between our voice and our emotions, the source of which
is our genuine Self, our Spirit. Alison sensitised participants to the
physiological connection between vocal disturbance and emotional pain
and, with Voicecraft techniques, address any repressed or distorted emotion
in the voice. John explored the psychodynamics of voice difficulty, the
connection with emotional pain and the concept of healing for empowerment.
Their brochure reminds us of the unique nature of our being - we are not
a machine. We are "a piece of the universe made alive" (S. Blow, OBE)
Our voice has its origins in our emotions. Developing the voice to its
fullest potential requires us to address the need for emotional healing
and empowerment.
Pain Management
In April 1999, the Australian Pain Society
held its 20th Annual Scientific Meeting in Perth, Australia. The invited
faculty included doctors and specialists from Australia and the USA, and
the course was described as providing a comprehensive review of implantable
therapies for pain management. It was designed for clinicians with experience
in pain management who wished to expand their knowledge and skills in
the use of spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug delivery systems
and, as a hands-on program, addressed important factors which must be
considered when selecting appropriate candidates for these therapies and
provided practical didactic and hands on training on the use of implantable
pain therapies to treat patients with chronic pain. The course used an
interactive format to encourage group participation and participants were
given the opportunity to discuss their clinical experiences with others
and be involved in group case study discussions. A pre-session study package
was sent to all registrants and included a self-test to be completed before
the course.
Participants in the plenary sessions were trained to:
* Explain the rationale for neuromodulation pain control techniques used in the
management of chronic pain
* Identify the role of the multidisciplinary
team in pain management
* Better evaluate complex candidates for neurostimulation
and intrathecal drug therapy
* Program implantable pain management systems
* Implement effective patient management support, follow up protocols
and management of potential complications.
The cadaveric-based hands-on
sessions enabled participants to develop experience in the surgical techniques
for the implantation of spinal cord and drug delivery systems. If you
wish to know more about this or future Australian Pain Society Symposia,
contact Dawn Sanders at AMANZ for contact details.
More news from HAI
(Hospital Audiences, Inc., New York, USA) HAI's Fall 1999 newsletter included
details of recent filming for CBS News 'Sunday Morning' and stunning photographs
of their highlights from 1969 to the present. In this time it has reached
an audience of over 9.35 million through 286,500 events. Those interested
could write or e-mail them for the newsletter and/or copies of “Hope and
Inspiration Through the Arts: A vision of Health, Healing and Wellness”
(the report from HAI's 25th Anniversary Symposium) and “Live Arts Experiences:
Their impact on Health and Wellness”. AMANZ also holds a copy of the Newsletter.
For more information visit the website at http://www.hospitalaudiences.org ,
send e-mailto hospaud@aol.com, mail to 548 Broadway,
New York, NY 10012-3950, or phone +l (212) 575 7676, Fax (212) 575 7669
Books that may be of interest to you...
The Act of Living: Talks on the Alexander Technique by Walter Carrington
A book of lessons by one of the foremost
teachers of the Alexander Technique, this includes 29 talks oin The Act of Living
which range widely in subject - from breathing and the balance of the head on
the neck to the pain of sciatica and the effect of gravity on our lives.
Whether he is speaking about the bones of the pelvis, or the man who wants
to change without changing, Walter Carrington gives the reader an inside
look at this educational technique for changing habitual behaviour. The
Act of Living serves as a gentle reminder for teachers of some of the
thoughts worth considering in a lesson; it helps students quicken their
understanding of the fundamental principles of the Alexander Technique.
The book is invaluable for anyone interested in directing his or her energies
towards a freer, more spontaneous exploration of the world in which we
live. It will change how you see, think and feel about yourself. Available
in a hardcover edition, The Act of Living (Cloth, 188 pages, Foreword by
Tristan Roberts, Introduction by Glynn Macdonald) can be ordered by sending
US$28, postage paid to: Mornum Time Press 381 Bush Street, Suite 500,
San Francisco, California 94104. The Act of Living (ISBN 09644352-3-3)
can also be ordered through your local independent bookstore.
Also Available from Mornum Time Press: Thinking Aloud Talks on Teaching the Alexander
Technique By Walter Carrington This is the first volume of talks by Walter
Carrington. It was designed originally for teachers and teachers-in-training.
Now in its third printing, it has become an essential volume for any student
interested in better understanding the fundamental principles of the Alexander
Technique.
Curiosity Recaptured Exploring Ways We Think and Move: The Alexander Technique
in Daily Life: An Introduction
Curiosity Recaptured is a collection of 14 essays on activities ranging
from cycling to chair design. Each essay explores innovative ways to gain
greater mastery over our lives. In the foreword, Robertson Davies - internationally
acclaimed author and long-time student of the Alexander Technique - provides
a sweeping history of the Technique, and of his introduction to it more
than 40 years ago.
Understanding Balance The Mechanics of Posture and Locomotion By Tristan Roberts
An in-depth examination of the mechanisms
involved in standing and moving. Tristan Roberts is a distinguished physiologist
who wrote the foreword to The Act of Living. Published by Chapman & Hall,
Understanding Balance is for practitioners interested in better understanding
the physiological basis for balance and movement.
Freedom To Change - Frank Pierce Jones's Classic Introduction to the Alexander Technique
Jones explores the basic principles of the Technique in clear terms and gives a comprehensive
overview of the development of the Alexander Technique. First published
in 1976 as Body Awareness in Action, this edition by Mouritz Press remains
a superb introduction to the Alexander Technique and includes some of
the earliest scientific work done to demonstrate the efficacy of this
technique. Mornum Time Press 381 Bush Street, Suite 500 San Francisco,
CA 94104 http://www.mtpress.com
PLEASE NOTE: The Act of Living, Thinking
Aloud, Freedom to Change and Curiosity Recaptured: Exploring Ways We Think
and Move can all be ordered through Amazon.com or through your local independent
bookstore. Understanding Balance can be ordered through Mornum Time Press
at http://www.mtpress.com
Back to Contents
Disclaimer: The opinions
and statements of individuals in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect
views held by AMANZ. We would, however, be pleased to receive your comments/complaints
should you wish to contact us.
Newsletter design: Sharon Callaghan
Logo design: Mojo, Guy Protheroe, Sharon Callaghan.
Web site production: @URL
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