PRIMAL ELEGANCE
The Art of Sensual Dance
SENSUALITY AS TRANSFORMATION
The ability to access playful, sexy and joyful parts of ourselves is an essential component of identity and self-esteem. Yet, the exploration, understanding and celebration of this important, functional and necessary part of women can be a frequently misunderstood and overlooked subject area in American society, particularly in women.
We looked to change that.
"ECSTATIC DANCE IS LIKE FOOD...
SENSUAL DANCE IS LIKE MEDICINE."
Lisa Fasullo
Founder & Research Director
Primal Elegance
The Art of Sensual Dance
TABOO TO CELEBRATED...
We are excited to consider ourselves forerunners who are exploring the area of Sensuality and in the process, helping to bring what can be considered a
taboo subject - or something inappropriate to be talked about in public - into an open and academic conversation. We found that feeling sexy, alive and exuberant amidst their daily routines - is something most women love to feel!
Most of all… we have found from over a decade of offering programs in this area, as well as now through scientific research, that women in touch with their sensuality are happier women, and we have found that feeling sexy, alive and exuberant amidst and their daily routines - is something most women love to feel!
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS FROM STUDENTS
What They’re Saying
ABOUT THE STUDY
by Lisa Fasullo M.A., M.S.W., John Lurquin M.S., Gerard Bodeker PhD
ABSTRACT
This study reports on the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual findings of an 8-week pilot research study on the therapeutic effects of Sensual Movement and Dance in restoring women to a state of wholeness, enhanced self-expression and a general sense of ease. Informing the design of the pilot are reports over a ten-year period by women participants in a Sensual Movement and Dance program which indicate consistent growth in self-confidence, reduction in stress, marked decrease in levels of self-consciousness, and improvements in women’s senses of autonomy and overall quality of life. In the pilot study, most participants also reported improvements in emotional regulation and a decrease in anxiety and depression. According to study participants, women want to feel more sensuality within themselves and daily throughout their lives.
INTRODUCTION
Sensual Movement and Dance is considered to be a conscious connection to and expression of the senses, including one’s sexuality, accessible through specific style and moves of this dance genre. This study demonstrates that Sensual Movement and Dance is both an inner and expressive art form which evokes, activates, and increases feelings of self-expression and pleasure and decreases self-consciousness in women as they immerse themselves in this genre.
From both the self-reported comments of study participants, as well as facilitator observation, the study highlights the societal barriers that exist within American culture which discourage women from fully experiencing themselves as sensual beings. As participants expressed the essential quality of their own sensuality during the program, they reported significant shifts in their experiences.
METHOD
The pilot study, using both quantitative and qualitative measures, was designed around an experimental Sensual Movement and Dance program developed for adult women over the past decade. The method utilizes a combination of Conceptual Learning (Mental/Emotional), Instruction in Movement (Physical/Self-Expression), and Group Discussion (Processing/Connection). The 8-week pilot study examined the physical, emotional and transformative effects of learning sensual movement and dance in subjects between the ages of 18-70 years. Eight women self-selected for this study from the following age groups: one was 18; two were in their 30’s; three were in their 40’s; one was in her 50’s; and one was 69. All of the participants were upper middle class and college educated. All the women were either students during the pilot study or worked professionally outside the home. Most of the women were mothers.
Participants were assessed using formal pre/post psychological questionnaires, pre/post verbal interviews, and participant self-assessments throughout the pilot.
RESULTS
The written pre- and post-pilot surveys used standardized tools to measure sensuality, anxiety, depression, and emotional regulation. Even though the sample size was small, the results showed statistically significant increases in the psychological and emotional elements measured. However, what is most notable are the larger transformational gains expressed through the anecdotal data collected throughout the study. This anecdotal data -- results of the pre- and post-program verbal interviews, participant self-reporting, group discussions, and overall observation by study facilitators - - reflected significantly higher positive shifts in each woman’s own sense of sensuality and her increased confidence, decreased self-consciousness, and increased overall sense of wellbeing than what was able to be measured by the standardized measurement scales.
Overall, what we learned from the pilot study was that a woman’s connection with her sensuality, seemingly unrelated to other areas of life, is in actuality significantly correlated with how she feels within and shows up in all areas of her life. This insight warrants and deepens our held belief that there is a critical need for more easily-accessible, high-quality and approachable opportunities for women to explore and align with this wellness-generating subject area.
DISCUSSION
The conventional psychological instruments used in the study were felt by participants to be inadequate in capturing their experiences. Movement and dance research has the potential to expand beyond the use of anxiety and depression scales, even beyond quality of life scales, to develop methods for establishing an evidence base for how sensual, ecstatic, and transcendent experiences are associated with deep brain and bodily changes and enhanced quality of life. Measuring how the bodily, brain and experiential effects of dance contribute to changes in lived experience, quality of life, enhanced mood and relationships, and overall generativity will require new assessment methods. Such methods point to future work in the context of transpersonal psychology applied to therapeutic dance. As the current study is only a small pilot, further research will attempt to incorporate new methods along with traditional ones.
WHAT EXACTLY IS
PRIMAL ELEGANCE - THE ART OF SENSUAL DANCE?
DO YOU HAVE THE DISCIPLINE TO BE WILD?
We guide women in their exploration of the sensual movement arts through our offerings of - classes workshops, private sessions retreats and training programs, academic articles and research studies - around the most ancient, sacred and sensual styles of movement that are so natural, effortless and innate to being a woman.
We've seen over and over again, the magic that that gets stirs up and blossoms when women begin to re-acquaint themselves with, and experience the inner shift that naturally happens once women open themselves up to their own sensual energy, to their inner playfulness, to their internal power and their to budding sensuality - simply by starting to move their bodies in sensual, fluid and rhythmic ways. We practice allowing our sensuality, our confidence and our inner knowing as women guide us on the dance floor, as well as, most importantly - beyond - in our everyday lives doing everyday things.
Many women who have taken this workshop report feeling more lit up about their lives - kind of a non-cerebral inner blossoming of their playfulness, feeling of body aliveness and sexiness! We have found that feeling sexy and alive amidst their daily routines - is a feeling most women like to feel!
PRIMAL ELEGANCE PROGRAM OFFERINGS
- Sensual Yoga Flow
- Evening of Sensuality - “Girls Night Out”
- Bride and Bridesmaids Pre-Wedding Sessions
- Primal Elegance - The Art of Sensual Dance 4, 6, 8 and 12-week workshop series
- Private Sessions with Individuals & Couples
- Couples Workshops
- Sensual Movement for Men
- Primal Elegance Retreats
- "Unleash your Unique Fashion Style!”
- Choreographed Group Dance Series w Performance
PRIVATE SESSIONS
For individual and private sessions, please reach out to my email lisa@scienceofsensuality.com
ABOUT LISA
Lisa Fasullo, M.A, M.S. W.
As founder and director of The Center for Transformative Movement, Lisa combines her master’s degrees in both Health Education and Social Work with her love of dance to create therapeutic and transformative environments where people discover self-expression through movement and renewed personal creativity, inner-strength and confidence. In both public and private classes, she has guided thousands of individuals - of all ages and walks of life - to use dance as a practice similar to martial arts or yoga, resulting in benefits both on the dance floor, as well as in other parts of life, including career, relationships, parenthood and self-image.
CONTACT ME
