Main description:

This is a book about the body and movement, about imagination and health. It is a collage of stories, voices and activities from artists, patients and health practitioners who work in the growing field of arts in health. The arts have long played a role in medicine and there is a substantial body of evidence of the potency of arts practice in strengthening a person' s resources and capacity for well-being. While the work described here is sourced in the body and movement, it is not written only for people with a dance background. Being able to listen creatively to the body offers much in how we are able to look after ourselves. Practitioners from many backgrounds come into this field of work and will find something of interest in this text. As benefits a book dealing with the arts and the imagination, it sets out to inspire rather than to teach, to offer windows into practice, and to convey something of what it is like to work in this field.