Barbara Clark Notes

Barbara Clark (1889-1982)

In 1889,

Born in Vermont. She was the weakest child in her family. She did not crawl as a baby and then a serious illness impaired her physical development and confident in movement.

In 1919,

- Entered a two-year nurse's training course at Faulkner Hospital in Boston.

- Focused on pediatrics and found great satisfaction in this aspect of nursing.

- As a Registered Nurse, Clark established a reputation as a highly qualified “baby nurse”, assisting families with the care of their infants.

In 1923, (In Boston)

- Clark learned of Mabel Todd's work and became convinced that Todd's approach was the answer to her long-standing problems.

- In exchange for the fees for some of her lessons, Clark took charge of the children who came to the studio for help with posture and movement.

   1. Explored ideas of making Todd's material simpler, using objects that embodied key aspects of idea posture as imagery.

         →Showing a small round sponge as an image of the relaxation desirable in the rib cage

         →Tiny sea horse demonstrating the alignment of the neck and jaw facilitated the child's grasp of concepts.

   2. Found ways to apply Todd's ideas in her nursing practice.

        →Some of the babies she worked with exhibited development delays and poor coordination. The sensory experience of Clark's touch in modified table work procedures often help them to improve.

   3. Devised simple games and rhymes to encourage the practice of rolling, crawling and other movements supporting the development of good posture.

   4. Taught parents her strategies for improved coordination through movement play.

In 1929,

Clark published a small pamphlet entitled “Structural Hygiene for the preschool Child: Steps in the Baby's Procedure for Balance and Movement”.

- Began to spread her knowledge of posture education and development movement to prospective preschool teachers through her work as nurse at the Ruggles Street Nursery School.

 (Ruggles Street was the first nursery “teacher training” school in U.S.)

In Ruggles Street,

- She designed and modified play equipment to encourage optimum physical development.

- Her best-know design was the “Tunnel Toy”, a small tunnel that youngsters could crawl through, straddle, or play inside of.

- Created a unique identity for herself as a practitioner of Todd's method.

- Success in reaching children through very simple imagery also motivated Clark to   pare down Todd's ideas in her work with adults.

- Taught elements of anatomy and their implications for postural balance as   matters of practicality and common sense.

In 1949 (Age of 60),

(In that time, Mabel Todd more concerted on her writing than teaching.)

Clark left the Boston area for New York City.

- Studied drawing at the Art Student's League with the goal of approach to Todd's teaching.

- Her hoped was to write body alignment “manuals” in a practical that could assist anyone to become, as she put it, “physically educated.”

- Abstracting the forms of the joints, bones and muscles into simple designs became a avenue of kinesthetic discovery for Clark.

Met Dr. Lulu Sweigard

Clark did form a relationship with Dr. Lulu Sweigard.

- Observed Sweigard's classes at NYU and briefly became her assistant.

- Relieves Sweigard of an overload of private pupils who came primarily from the world of dance.

- Groomed a few of the dance students as teachers of her version Todd's approach, which she began to refer to as “mind-body integration”.

In 1963,

“Let's Enjoy Sitting,Standing and Walking” -- her first body alignment manual.

- It focused on imagery for the axial skeleton.

The imagery was to practiced in simple activities of daily life such as sitting down and getting up, walking or tying one's shoes, as well as the development movements of rolling and squatting.

In 1968,

“How to Live in Your Axis- Your Vertical Line” --Second one

- was designed to supplement classes taught by her students.

The imagery was more abstract and the instructions for practice assumed the reader were familiar with basic dance movement.

• Imagery for the alignment of the arms and shoulders was presented in this manual as well as ideas for integration movement with breathing.

• The centerpiece of the work was a visual image that captured one of Todd's mechanical concepts-- the balance of compression forces conveying weights “down the back” of the body, with tensile forces suspending weights “up the front”.

In the late 1960's,

(Influence “post-modern” dancers)

- Clark was attracting a new generation of students who were also exploring “post-modern” dance.

- Her work enhanced their fascination with pedestrian movement and helped them to perfect its performance from the inside, out.

- Also influenced the way they teach.

- Her sessions with students centered on the issues that were uppermost in her own thinking-- the lessons and imagery she was creating for third manual.

In early 1970's,

Left City and settled in Urbana-Champaign, home of the University of Illinois.

In 1973,

Third Manual--

“Body Proportion Needs Depth—Front to Black”

Fourth Manual--

“The Body is Round-- Use all the Radii”

Dead in 1982.

In 1993

“A Kinesthetic Legacy: The Life and Works of Barbara Clark”--

Clark's biography and writings are documented in the book.

The book is written by Pamela Matt

From Ideokinesis

http://www.ideokinesis.com/pioneers/clark/clark.htm