book review: museum movement techniques: how to craft a moving museum experience

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This article was downloaded by: [University of Ulster Library] On: 09 November 2014, At: 05:09 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Dance Education Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujod20 Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience Marilyn Berrett Published online: 18 Mar 2011. To cite this article: Marilyn Berrett (2007) Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience, Journal of Dance Education, 7:3, 95-96, DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2007.10387344 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2007.10387344 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Page 1: Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience

This article was downloaded by: [University of Ulster Library]On: 09 November 2014, At: 05:09Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Dance EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujod20

Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How toCraft a Moving Museum ExperienceMarilyn BerrettPublished online: 18 Mar 2011.

To cite this article: Marilyn Berrett (2007) Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving MuseumExperience, Journal of Dance Education, 7:3, 95-96, DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2007.10387344

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2007.10387344

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience

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Book ReviewsEdited by Pamela S. Musil, M.A.

Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum ExperienceShelley Kruger Weisberg Publisher: Altamira Press, 2006 Pages: 128; Price: $34.95; Soft cover with DVD

In her handbook Museum Movement Techniques©: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience, and the accompanying DVD, Shelly Kruger Weisberg presents her movement techniques in a variety of museum settings. She weaves theories and concepts of kinesthetic learning with practical examples from her own experiences in museum education, including tips on techniques, museum object selection criteria, educational linking, and assessment methods. This is a good resource for dance educators, museum educators, classroom teachers and parents interested in making art and dance connections. Weisberg’s processes are solidly based on current research in learning theory and museum education standards. She combines her background in dance and dance therapy with her love for museum educa-tion and the results are a delight. The book offers a fun approach for guiding children to respond to art with imaginative movement while maintain-ing museum appropriate behavior. The techniques she describes are clear. They help teachers guide children from simple and narrative kinesthetic responses to complex and abstract movement in-terpretations of art. This book gives all educators, even non-movers, confidence. Weisberg includes a Table Rock-produced video to promote her program of on-site docent training. Table Rock traveled to Ms. Weisberg’s home base

of Williamsburg, VA to tape two-hour training sessions at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Nor-folk, the Newport News Mariners’ Museum, and Children’s Museum of Richmond. Her five-minute presentation on DVD uses a mix of training foot-age and museum educator testimonials to make the case for including the Museum Movement Techniques’ (MMT) brand of kinesthetic teaching in any museum’s children’s education program. The real highlight of this book/DVD combina-tion is actually the other menu items listed on the DVD by Table Rock Productions. The other film segments feature mini-documentaries about art, artists, and museum experiences throughout the world. The most powerful segments come from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Simon Wiesenthal Center and Inside Indian Art Sections. Billy Crystal, Carlos Santana and Maya Angelou, all part of the Wiesenthal Center segment, are captivating, motivating, inspiring and not to be missed. I longed for Weisberg’s short MMT clip to show the kind of aesthetic depth that the other numer-ous, substantial and moving clips about art so meaningfully illustrated. My desire was to see more emotive depth from Weisberg’s video seg-ments. However, the curators’ commentaries were most complimentary about the potential MMT offers educators. They confirmed that Weisberg’s methods help teachers and children make concep-tual connections with art by responding to it with movement. For those desiring to help their students engage with visual art more meaningfully and those de-siring to guide their students into new movement possibilities, this book is a sweet little gem. One

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Page 3: Book Review: Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience

96 Journal of Dance Education Volume 7, Number 3 2007

evening of reading promises to spark new ideas and methods for all. One sitting watching the DVD of the other Table Rock Productions will inspire us all to get to the museum more often. Reviewed by Marilyn Berrett, M.A.

Pilates for RehabElizabeth Smith, P.T., A.T.C/R., and Kristin Smith, B.A., C.F.TPublisher: OPTP, 2005Pages: 223; Price: $59.95; Spiral Bound

Pilates for Rehab, written by Elizabeth Smith and Kristin Smith, is a principle-based resource guidebook with many potential uses. Though writ-ten for practitioners wishing to incorporate Pilates work within clinical, rehabilitative settings, the book is also a practical resource for more general populations. For example, as a dance kinesiology professor at my university, I find the book useful as a supplemental resource for my course prepara-tion. I also recommend it to students as a credible source for student-designed conditioning programs. As a requirement for my Kinesiology for Dancers course, students must design a personal condition-ing program to correct or address known skeletal alignment deviations and muscular imbalances. Many students are familiar with Pilates work, and find the exercise progressions invaluable in creating their own conditioning programs. Finally, I would recommend it as a text for students specifi-cally preparing to certify in Pilates-based practice, and for established practitioners working within a clinical environment. As a guide for rehabilitation within a clinical environment, Pilates for Rehab is a valuable re-source for practitioners. Replete with anatomical elucidation, assessment tools, functional demon-strations and descriptions, retraining/patterning techniques, exercise progressions and imagery, the book is packed with rich and informative substance. It is written and organized in a way that makes the information clear and easily accessible, from its spiral-bound cover to its 250 photographs and illustrations. The book begins with three introductory chap-ters addressing in detail the Pilates method from various perspectives, suggesting its possibilities for use within a rehabilitative program. Justification is provided for using Pilates within a clinical set-ting, and foundational assessment requirements, purposes, questions and tools are identified. The next five chapters present a progressive feast of Pilates-based exercise progressions, beginning with foundational work and progressing slowly and

carefully toward more advanced work. Each set of exercises is based on a principle, such as “Torso: Stabilization, Rotation, and Lateral Flexion,” or “Spinal Extension, Mobility, and Stability.” Many principles are accompanied by Practitioner’s tips, which help the reader focus on important aspects guiding each principle. Each exercise progression includes photographs and a detailed explanation of the activity, along with clear purposes for the application. Exercises also include an assortment of additional segments such as Variations, Faulty Movement Patterns, Clinical Applications and Teaching Tips. The final five chapters address re-lated topics, including principles of teaching; use of imagery; case studies in Pilates applications; fitness training for returning athletes to play; and additional resources. As a dance kinesiologist familiar with func-tional anatomy and healthy movement practice, I appreciate the sound principles presented in this book. However, I am neither a Pilates practitioner, nor an athletic trainer. Thus, I felt the responsibil-ity to seek supplemental reviews of the content. At Brigham Young University, we have a Dance Medicine and Training facility where we employ a staff consisting of a full-time trainer and several part-time staff. I asked two members of the staff to review the book and give feedback from a trainer’s perspective. The full-time Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) who manages and oversees all of the work in the facility is conversant with many modalities of rehabilitative work, including the Pilates method. He was very positive about the book’s content, from a principle-based perspective, and felt that it would be a useful resource within a training-room environment. One of the part-time staff is a Pilates-certified and athletic trainer (ATC) who works with dancers using various modalities, including Pilates equipment (Reformers, Cadillac and Balls). She expressed her appreciation for the careful, progres-sive, thorough approaches used by the authors. Her favorite features of the book included the Faulty Movement Patterns and the Practitioner’s tips seg-ments. Overall, her evaluation says it all—“...it is an excellent representation of the Pilates method as it is practiced by many practitioners.”

Read any good books lately? We would like to hear from you. If you would like to submit a book review to the journal, please address your manuscript or inquiry to:

Pamela S. Musil, M.A., Department of Dance, Brigham Young University, 280 Richards Bldg., Provo, Utah 84602, or by e-mail to [email protected].

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