Marian Chace

Marian Chace ( born October 31, 1896 Providence, Rhode Iceland, USA, † July 19, 1970 ) was a pioneer of dance therapy.

In 1916 she began studying at the Corcoran School of Art From 1923 she took on the advice of her physical therapists, dance lessons at the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. They soon had their first appearances as a dancer, choreographed and taught. She began to develop her dancing therapeutic method. In June 1942 she was invited to the St. Elizabeth 's Hospital in Washington DC to work with the mentally ill. Later she also worked at Chestnut Lodge, a private psychiatric hospital in Rockville ( Maryland), which was known for its advanced therapists and innovative approaches in psychiatry.

Marian Chace was instrumental in the founding of the American Dance Therapy Association, whose first president was 1966.

The Chace technique

Marian Chace fell to her students of her dance school on time and again that a lot of feelings of loneliness, awkwardness, shyness and aggressiveness were expressed, so they changed the goal of their teaching. She began her dance training not more than one instruction in an art form, but as a medium of communication and perception of the body to use.

The Chace technology is now an integral part in the dance therapeutic work. United in a circle and mirrored respectfully by the dance therapist in their movements, the patient experienced the expression of their emotions without having to talk about it.