EFFECTS OF DANCE AND MUSIC THERAPY

Arts have consistently been part of life as well as healing throughout the history of humankind. Today, expressive therapies have an increasingly recognized role in mental health, rehabilitation and medicine. The expressive therapies are defined as the use of art, music, dance/movement drama, poetry/creative writing, play and sand play within the context of psychotherapy, counseling, rehabilitation or health care.
Through the centuries, the healing nature of these expressive therapies has been primarily reported in anecdotes that describe a way of restoring wholeness to a person struggling with either mind or body illness. The Egyptians are reported to have encouraged people with mental illness to engage in artistic activity (Fleshman & Fryrear, 1981); the Greeks used drama and music for its reparative properties (Gladding, 1992); and the story of King Saul in the Bible describes music’s calming attributes. Later, in Europe during the Renaissance, English physician and writer Robert Burton theorized that imagination played a role in health and well-being, while Italian philosopher de feltre proposed that dance and Play was central to children’s healthy growth and development (Coughlin, 1990).