Introduction to Developmental Movement

AUDIENCE: For ALL who parent or work with parents and young children including teachers, home visitors, child care providers, paraprofessionals, ECFE, Head Start, ECSE, nursing students, occupational therapists, movement and dance instructors and those interested in the development of young children.

This workshop will provide a clear overview of developmental movement patterns, and the foundational skills to facilitate normal movement development as well as help us to recognize difficulties that suggest a need for a referral. It is through touch and movement that children gain their initial understandings of self, others, and the world they live in. Through these early learning modalities they develop perception and begin to neurologically organize themselves to build connections with others, develop physical and cognitive agility and establish the foundation for emotional wellbeing. You will learn why we should introduce movement experiences into the daily routine, and how to incorporate them in simple and easy ways.

Michele Rusinko is a teacher, choreographer and writer. She is the Professor of Dance at Gustavus College where she has taught since 1988. She holds a B.A. from St. Olaf College and a M.F.A. from Arizona State University where she was the recipient of several academic and artistic honors. As a guest artist and teacher, her work has taken her from Mora, Sweden to Dublin, Ireland and her essays have been featured on Minnesota Public Radio. Her grounding in developmental movement came through her studies with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of the School of Body-Mind Centering. Her current area of research involves the integration of movement, mediation and writing practices in navigating resiliency through illness and healing. She is the founder of Cairns After Cancer, offering movement based classes for individuals living with a cancer diagnosis.