Two great learning weekends

[Guest guest]

In the last nine days, CATs in Rochester, NY have had two opportunities to grow professionally and personally: NYCCAT Rochester's conference and Dr. Louise Montello and Wade s, LCAT, NMT, MT-BC's workshop on Performance Wellness .I knew last week's NYCCAT Rochester chapter conference would be good, but I never expected that it would be so well-organized, so full of learning, and so much fun. Dr. Betsey King's thought provoking keynote raised important questions regarding theory and practice, laying the groundwork for meaningful discussions and commentary that emerged during the presentations that followed.The closing ritual that Konecny, DeLucia and their hard working committee created brought us all together as we made art, played music, and danced. Bringing the three art forms together simultaneously seemed daunting, but it worked. We had a great time. That the conference covered as much material as it did in just one day is still hard to believe. This weekend Dr. Louise Montello and Wade s, LCAT, NMT, MT-BC, gave a workshop on Performance Wellness that filled participants both cognitively and affectively. Like last week, we learned (1) new things—from statistics about stressed musicians to Essential Musical Intelligence —, (2) experienced music in new ways, and (3) had fun. As a dance/movement therapist, I loved having the opportunity to deepen my understanding of music therapy and to experience the ways in which music, art, and drama can work together to diagnose and treat performance related concerns such as stage fright. I was especially excited because I could see how LivingDance~LivingMusic and the Performance Wellness approach can work together. Having two weekends to focus on the healing inherent in art, dance, drama, and music was a gift. Dani __________________________________________________le Fraenkel, Ph.D., BC-DMT, NCC, LCAT, LMHC, CGPDirector,Kinectionsat Imagine Square718 University AvenueRochester, NY 14607USATel: FAX: www.kinections.com