Press Releases

13th Annual Somatic Arts Scholarship Concert
Illustrates Healing Power of the Creative Process

BOULDER, Colo. (January 14, 2009)—Chalking Sides, the 13th annual Somatic Arts Scholarship Concert, will be held at Naropa University's Performing Arts Center (2130 Arapahoe Ave.) on Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31. Both performances begin at 8 p.m., and a donation of $12 is suggested.

This dynamic dance-based performance is entirely created and performed by students, faculty, staff and alumni of the Naropa University Somatic Counseling Psychology Department. Directed by students Sasha Chudacoff and Mary Rose, the concert allows students to translate the skills they are learning into creative work, as well as raise scholarship monies for the program.

“The theme of chalk,” says Chudacoff, “serves as a thread of creative exploration for the performers to dive into personal material. It is amazing to see the many different directions people have taken it.”

“Dance/movement therapy has roots in the modern dance movement and has always held, as one of its tenets, that the creative process is fundamentally healing and transformative,” says Leah D’Abate, academic advisor and admissions coordinator for the program. “In order to support that tenet, we devised this opportunity to give those involved a chance to come into intimate relationship with the creative process themselves.”

Naropa University was one of the first institutions in the nation to offer a degree in somatic counseling psychology. The 20-year-old master of arts program is based on the belief that a functional unity exists between the mind and body and that therapeutic change occurs through direct experience of the present moment.

Within the Somatic Counseling Psychology Program, there are two unique areas of concentration: Body Psychotherapy and Dance/Movement Therapy. Both areas offer extensive psychotherapy study, training and supervision grounded in the integration of body, mind and movement.

All proceeds from the concert fund scholarships for students of the program. For additional information, please contact Leah D'Abate at 303-245-4854 or via e-mail: leahd@naropa.edu.             

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.