I ran across this old interview with Irene Dowd that was published in Dance Magazine back in 2005. I love the way Irene describes movement and anatomy. I’ve had the pleasure of taking a workshop with her looking at the shoulder girdle and the anterior serratus. She is such an amazing teacher with the ability to break things down to a functional and graspable thought that can be applied to any movement practice.

In the interview, I especially love the question about visualization. Before we move we have to have some sort of idea of what the movement is going to be so we all use visualization whether we are conscious about it or not. Our brains are constantly communicating with the rest of our body. This becomes important when trying to correct old habits or change the way we initiate movement. Irene has extensive experience in re-training motor control processes and she does this through visualization techniques. You can re-train your body, it takes a bit of conscious thought and practice, but it can be done.

The question and answer below is great as well:

DO WE GET INTO TROUBLE BY HAVING A “RIGHT” IDEA OF HOW TO MOVE?

“Right” varies according to the movement goal. We are artists first, and our goal is to serve our art. “Right” is constantly changing. Mabel Todd used to say, “The mind is an instrument of thought, not a museum.” We are constantly learning.