Associations between body awareness, body trauma and joint hypermobility in the context of dance

Rationale: Joint hypermobility (JH) is prevalent in dancers and is increasingly associated with a commonly sought-after aesthetic of excess in dance choreography. Despite the widening body of literature, pertaining to the entanglement of physical and psychological characteristics associated with JH, these have yet to be addressed in dance education.
Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to scope existing literature and draw on a biopsychosocial perspective of health and wellbeing. With a focus on the eudemonic perspective concerning wellbeing (i.e. both being and doing well) which provides a conceptual context within which body-brain processes are framed and critical factors for JH in dance education discussed.
Approach: The methodological approach is pragmatic; it provides a critical narrative analysis of the JH literature. This is framed using a hierarchical model of autonomic activity (the polyvagal theory) which unlike pure physiology is rooted in psychophysiology and is driven by paradigms derived from psychology that contextualizes physiological parameters as observable behaviors. Content: The review conveys an original conception of links between disordered connective tissue, amygdala volume, emotional processing and body-awareness to signpost ‘bodily-crisis’ that occurs when these processes are disordered or imbalanced altering how the brain-body functions are experienced. For example, diminished proprioception experienced as fear and a feeling of not being safe (i.e. neither being nor doing well) is evidenced in somatic experience therapy and used to explain trauma, chronic stress, bottom-up processing in relation to the regulation of body awareness.
Practical Implications: The concept of ‘bodily crisis’ presented provides an interesting explanation for body awareness experienced in JH whereby the regulation of internal and external bodily focus is challenged and easily upset by additional stressors. These stressors may be for example, having to adapt to new situations such as performance venues or learn new skills and choreographic materials under time pressure. This presentation is of interest to practitioners, teachers and choreographers who increasingly work with dancers with JH.