DVD "Carry Me Home" Uses Movement to Explore Illness, Healing and Consolation
We heard recently from Brenda Cantelo Ph.D., Department of Religion, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg about her dance film, “Carry Me Home.” Brenda specializes in religion and the arts with an emphasis on dance. She choreographed and filmed a dance performance which developed out of a project for Manitoba Artists in Healthcare inspired by her volunteer experiences in palliative care at St. Boniface Hospital. The performance interprets key issues in palliative care such as fear, loneliness, struggle, love, caring and family.Brenda reported the dances in the video were influenced by authentic movement techniques. She explains, “only after being witnessed or having one’s own experiences validated is one able to see oneself authentically and find one’s voice.”
She describes the work as a journey from fear to security. “By portraying the patient as transitioning from fear to security, the video allows the audience to move vicariously with the patient through illness to a deeper sense of self and connection to others. When one recognizes one’s situation, story and place, even in the re-constructed world of the imagination, one’s sense of self, both in the social and personal sense is reclaimed.”
For more information or to contact Brenda Cantelo about the DVD “Carry Me Home” cantelo@ms.umanitoba.ca
The poem "Coming to My Senses" by award winning Manitoba poet Laurie Block is also featured in the performance.
Read more about Laurie Block and his poetry at:
http://ccahtecrossingborders.blogspot.com/2007/04/in-conversation-with-manitoba-poet.html
