Body Focused Creative Resources is the creative process work that I teach and practice!
My work is deeply grounded in the body; it offers a way of developing a relationship with ones creative self. Finding each person’s unique internal rhythm patterns, colors, pulse and impulse, breath, and way of speaking through movement is a central focus of my work. Masks, Childhood Stories and Body Maps are three of the techniques I use for tapping into the treasures of creative resource we have in us.

I feel that we each have unique movement songs to sing and that singing them provides a vital balance for our verbal expression. The body has deep intuitive knowing that can be expressed through movement and gesture. We can link up with valuable energies if we learn to listen to both our deep organismic sense and our imagination in the body.

In a typical session, I begin by adressing the body, listening to what is needed. My work with the body is informed by the techniques of Shiatsu, massage, cranial sacral work, principles of the Alexander Technique, Kinetics, the visualization and functional anatomy work of Irene Dowd and my personal work with Osteopath Paul Wagner. I introduce to the process, the use of many different expressive techniques such as Touchdrawing, finger painting and work with clay. Remembering our spontaneity and playfulness is basic to this part of the work, as is deepening our perceptual ability, our ability for deep listening in the body. I invite movement improvisation, Authentic Movement, journalling and tracking, to allow the energy to further take shape and transform as it needs to.
In the process, we come into contact with our own metaphors, our own internal rythmn. Respecting our resistance, we feel both what moves and what longs to move in us. What has moved us exists as potential movement in us and is a rich source and resource for us to tap in to in our creative work.
To honor the presence of soul in the body, we let the body know we are not imposing an agenda but listening to her knowing, her ability to regulate through moving.

Candace’s sources in the work:
Early mentors in the creative process and mask work- Til Thiele and Richard Pochinko;
Shiatsu with Mitsuki Kikkawa;
Authentic movement with Judith Koltai;
Clay sculpture with Claudine Ascher;
Touchdrawing with Deborah Koff-Chapin;
The BodySoul Rhythms work of Jungian Analyst Marion Woodman and her colleagues Ann Skinner and Mary Hamilton;
The work of deepening perceptual ability and tracking felt sense in the body, inspired by the work of Peter Levine, which I have done with both Susan Harper and Caryn McHose;
The work of Body Maps has been inspired by my work with Dr. Paula Reeves.

Students comments:
“Painting and writing help me go beyond what I already know. I don’t think that my painting is aesthetically pretty, but it makes me realize things about myself that I never realized were part of me. Being able to see what my dance is on paper, helps me understand where my impulse is coming from.”

“ Improvisation is usually an area of modern dance practice that I tend to avoid, because I become very self-conscious…what I enjoyed about this course was that we usually used some kind of art materials ( Pastels, clay, or paint) to help us find our impulses …it enabled me to initiate movement more easily and freely…led to strong impulses…once I found these impulses, the movement just came through them.’

“The movements become something different and I feel as though I can really communicate something…my artwork reveals a different layer of my persona.”

“Information hidden in the body is revealed through exercises designed to short- circuit paths regularly travelled. Students find themselves in foreign territory which is where the artistic impulse is animated and renewed”

“When I work with the clay I feel weight… the massage that we do in partners changes me and I feel such a difference when I move afterwards- I feel rooted in the ground and my pelvis is so heavy and free at the same time… It’s a good way to understand contemporary dance.”

“I really enjoyed the work with primary colors…the first few times I did it it was hard to move from painting into movement… I chose red… the movement came from my centre and had lots of spiralling and torque… About the third time I got used to it and it felt good ”

“What I see is a painting created by the inner movements of my body”