Our mission is to help girls and women develop body trust and autonomy. Our infrastructure includes networking, research, development/updating of programming, consulting, education, guidance, and training for those providing dance/movement/fitness aimed at improving health and well-being through the major reproductive transitions of our lives.
In addition to dance/movement/fitness programs centered on the major reproductive transition stages, we are creating a DTP5 Research Endowment to assist students and other researchers study effective methodologies for improving mental and physical health outcomes that derive from the dance/movement manifestations of embodied knowledge and physical fitness.
Girls and women deserve state-of-the art learning activities centered on how our bodies work, a friendly and fun community, and psycho-social support providing appropriate cultural grounding. Our identity as girls and women, whether or not we choose or are able to have children, is strongly affected by the reproductive rhythm of our lives.
While it is critical to have laws that assure autonomy, ultimately the greatest power we own is achieved by actualizing body trust at a profound level – something we learn through movement and acknowledgement of the circular rhythm and power of our lives. Our programs are aimed at providing dance-based activities and research that moves this purpose forward.
Both research and evidence-based practices show that dance produces social bonding, mental acuity, well-being, and improves health outcomes and self-advocacy throughout the life-span. As the importance of the arts in mental and physical health continues to be recognized, the impact of dance grows in value.
DTP relies on established evidence-based dance and neuro-somatic training methods for creation of programming. These methods include Demonstration/Return Demonstration (the perceptual and motor skill divide in attention), Centering (balance, deep breathing, and parasympathetic flow state), Ideokinesis (external imagery and interoception practices), Alexander technique (natural posture), Feldenkrais (awareness through movement), and Effort/Shape (perception of how people use space, time and energy).
…about our Global Trainers project
…how to become a DTP Pre/postnatal Instructor
…how to join our network
…how to contact us
…how to help us grow our Research Endowment!
Bookmark our site and return to find updates about new training, networking or research. Let us know what we can do for you!
Selected References on pertinent research findings are near the bottom of this page.
Brand C, Leite N, Lopes WA, Dias AF, da Silva LR, Araujo Gaya AC, Mota J, Cavaglieri CR, Gaya AR. Adiposity and adipocytokines: the moderator role of cardiorespiratory fitness and pubertal stage in girls. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Mar 26;32(3):239-246. doi: https://10.1515/jpem-2018-0407. PMID: 30844760.
Chaplin LN, Norton MI. Why we think we can’t dance: theory of mind and children’s desire to perform. Child Dev. 2015 Mar-Apr;86(2):651-8. doi: https://10.1111/cdev.12314. Epub 2014 Nov 9. PMID: 25382670.
Ishikawa S, Kim Y, Kang M, Morgan DW. Effects of weight-bearing exercise on bone health in girls: a meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2013 Sep;43(9):875-92. doi: https://10.1007/s40279-013-0060-y. PMID: 23754172.
Akin B & Saydam BK. 2020. The effect of labor dance on perceived labor pain, birth satisfaction and neonatal outcomes. Explore 16(5):310-31. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550830720302044?via%3Dihub
Alfdaniels Mabingo (2022): Decolonizing Assessment in Dance Education: Ubuntu as an Evaluative Framework in Indigenous African Dance Education Practices, Journal of Dance Education, DOI: https://10.1080/15290824.2021.2004313
Basso JC, Satyal MK and Rugh R (2021) Dance on the Brain: Enhancing Intra- and Inter-Brain Synchrony. Frontiers of Human Neuroscience 14:584312. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2020.584312/full
Cowlin AF, Tefler M, Kennedy HP. 2022. Body-Trust: Women’s Experience and Outcomes in a Dance-for-Health Pregnancy Program. Poster for 67th American College of Nurse Midwives Annual Meeting.
Cowlin AF. 2002. Women’s Fitness Program Development. Human Kinetics. Available via Amazon.
Gönenç IM, Dikmen HA. 2020. Effects of Dance and Music on Pain and Fear During Childbirth, JOGNN 49:2. March 2020. Pp. 144-153. https://www.jognn.org/article/S0884-2175(20)30002-2/fulltext
Hanna JL. To Dance is Human; A theory of non-verbal communication, U of Texas Press, 1979.
Tarr B, Launay J, Cohen E, Dunbar R. 2015. Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding. Biol. Lett. 11: 20150767. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0767
Wray H. All together now: The universal appeal of moving in unison. Scientific American Mind. April 1, 2009. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/were-only-human-all-together-now/
Janyacharoen T, Phusririt C, Angkapattamakul S, Hurst CP, Sawanyawisuth K. Cardiopulmonary effects of traditional Thai dance on menopausal women: a randomized controlled trial. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015 Aug;27(8):2569-72. doi: https://10.1589/jpts.27.2569. Epub 2015 Aug 21. PMID: 26357441; PMCID: PMC4563316.
Pichierri G, Murer K, de Bruin ED. A cognitive-motor intervention using a dance video game to enhance foot placement accuracy and gait under dual task conditions in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Geriatr. 2012 Dec 14;12:74. doi: https://10.1186/1471-2318-12-74. PMID: 23241332; PMCID: PMC3538689.
Teixeira GR, Veras ASC, Rocha APR, Chedid SS, Freitas Júnior IF, Neto RAF, Gobbo LA, Buonani C. Dance practice modifies functional fitness, lipid profile, and self-image in postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2021 Jul 19;28(10):1117-1124. doi: https://10.1097/GME.0000000000001818. PMID: 34284435.
Singh B, Olds T, Curtis R, et al. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. Br J Sports Med Epub ahead of print: 16 February 2023. Accessed 5 March 2023 doi: https://10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195.
