What is Authentic Movement?
Authentic Movement is a form of expressive movement therapy which grew out of an inner-directed approach to movement developed by Mary Starks Whitehouse. It was described as unpremeditated, genuine, or “authentic.” The practice centers on a dyadic relationship: participants start in a comfortable position, eyes closed to sense their inner body-mind processes. They then wait for stimuli to arise within them, and follow each impulse expressing movement or sound. Individuals move through the space entirely free from any direction or expectation. The moving participants (movers) are witnessed by an outer witness, who ‘contains’ the experience of the mover by witnessing their movements without judgement, projection or interpretation. In this way, the witness is also an active participant, as witnessing is a practice in observing one’s own sensations and impulses while observing the mover’s.
Authentic Movement meaning goes beyond choreographed dance or expressive arts therapy. As Whitehouse explains, “When the movement was simple and inevitable, not to be changed no matter how limited or partial, it became what I called ‘authentic’ – it could be recognized as genuine, belonging to that person.” The movement becomes ‘authentic’ when the individual is able to allow their intuitive impulses to freely express themselves without intellectual directive, as opposed to movement initiated by conscious decision making — a distinction both simple in theory and subtle in execution.
Origins & lineage
Mary Starks Whitehouse (1911–1979) is considered to be the foremother of the many streams of practice that comprise Authentic Movement. Mary was a modern dancer who studied with dance pioneers Mary Wigman and Martha Graham, both German Expressionist and American modern dance innovators whose work accessed archetypal and emotional territories outside mainstream forms of the era.
Authentic Movement, rooted in Carl Jung’s concept of active imagination, was developed in the 1950s by dance therapist Mary Starks Whitehouse. Whitehouse called her work “Movement-in-depth.” Informed by her interest in and experience with Jungian psychology, particularly active imagination, projection, and polarities, Whitehouse integrated her study of dance and Jung into a new embodied inquiry, “an approach, an orientation” toward allowing “the unconscious to express itself in movement.”
Janet Adler developed this approach into a practice involving a mover and a witness. Janet has explored authentic movement in the presence of a witness since 1969, discovering an inherent order within the development of mover consciousness, witness consciousness, and the relationship between the two. Joan Chodorow (Jungian Analyst) and Janet Adler (Dance Movement Therapist and PhD in Mystical Studies) each studied with Mary Whitehouse. Chodorow’s work is based in Jungian analysis, working with Active Imagination in Movement, developmental psychology, intercultural elements, archetypes, dreams, and play. Adler’s teaching of the Discipline of Authentic Movement has focused on the development of the inner witness and the study of mystical elements such as clear seeing, intuition, direct experience, and energetic phenomenon.
The Authentic Movement Institute, co-founded by Neala Haze and Tina Stromsted in Berkeley, California, offered an intensive training program in the study and practice of Authentic Movement. Joined by Chodorow and Adler as founding faculty, and adjunct teachers in areas of special focus, their program served students who are among those teaching and practicing Authentic Movement today in a wide range of countries.
How it’s practiced
Authentic Movement practice typically unfolds in a dedicated, safe space with minimal furniture and no music. It is usually done with eyes closed and attention directed inward, in the presence of at least one witness. The mover waits for internal sensation — an impulse, an image, a feeling — and allows the body to respond without planning, performing, or controlling. Movement can range from subtle gestures to expansive full-body expression; stillness holds equal validity.
The practice of the witness is to develop a meditative, compassionate presence that provides the mover with a sense of safety and unconditional acceptance. The witness sits with a profoundly receptive attitude and attempts to “see clearly,” without judgment, analysis, interpretation, or projection. She also pays great attention to her own sensations, feelings, images, and stories, in order to distinguish between who she is and who the mover is. This dual tracking — of mover and self — is central to the witness role.
After the movement portion, participants engage in a structured speaking and listening ritual. It can help, for example, for mover and witness to speak in the present tense. This may sound strange at first, but it helps both to reenter the immediacy of the movement, and the corresponding sensations and images. Another language quirk, most often used in group authentic movement, is for the witness to say “the mover” or “a mover” rather than “you.” This helps witness and mover focus more on the movement rather than the person, diminishing any tendency toward projection.
Authentic Movement today
Authentic Movement for beginners is accessible through workshops, ongoing classes, one-on-one sessions with trained practitioners, and retreat centers worldwide. Subsequent generations of practitioners have furthered moving and witnessing practice, including diverse perspectives and applications in the arts, education, analytic/therapeutic training, medical recovery, differing levels of physical abilities, diversity awareness, conflict mediation, meditation, sacred dance, mystical practice, and ecopsychology. With many different approaches, exercises or practices (other than the basic practice above), AM is done not only in therapeutic sessions, but also as groups for personal expression of the unconscious mind. For many, it is a type of spiritual practice.
Teachers vary in their lineages and emphases. Some ground their work in Jungian depth psychology, others in somatic therapy, mystical inquiry, or creative process. There is no centralized certification body; practitioners often list their training lineage and whom they studied with directly.
Common misconceptions
Authentic Movement is not dance performance, nor is it “authentic dance” in the sense of traditional cultural forms. It requires no dance training, physical virtuosity, or aesthetic accomplishment. There is no “correct” way to move, no progress toward mastery of form, no external technique to perfect.
It is also not improvisational dance, contact improvisation, or ecstatic dance. While all share spontaneity, Authentic Movement emphasizes internal sensation over interaction, music, or visible expression. The eyes-closed container and witness relationship distinguish it from most other somatic or movement modalities.
Though therapeutic in potential, Authentic Movement is not equivalent to dance/movement therapy and is practiced by many outside clinical contexts — as artists, meditators, and seekers exploring consciousness through embodiment.
How to begin
The definitive entry point for understanding Authentic Movement meaning and history is the anthology Authentic Movement: Essays by Mary Starks Whitehouse, Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow (edited by Patrizia Pallaro, 1999), which collects foundational writings from the three pioneers. Janet Adler’s Arching Backward: The Mystical Initiation of a Contemporary Woman (1995) offers a first-person account of spontaneous spiritual awakening through the practice.
To experience what is Authentic Movement directly, seek teachers who name their lineage (Whitehouse, Adler, Chodorow, or second-generation teachers). Many offer introductory workshops where participants can sample the mover and witness roles in a held, ethical container. Peer practice groups also exist in many cities, though initial guidance from an experienced practitioner is strongly recommended before entering unwitnessed territory.