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Responses to Body and Earth
“Andrea Olsen sees wide and deep, bringing us her vivid and remarkable experience of organic connection between body and earth. Written in a language both poetic and practical, this timely offering is contemporary in its unique perspective and ancient in its apparent wisdom.”
—Janet Adler, author of Offering from the Conscious Body: The Discipline of Authentic Movement
“Andrea Olsen’s work is an essential complement to artists, teachers, and students who are interested in the intersections of ecology, poetics, and somatics. She is masterful at guiding students into a deeper appreciation of their bodies and the world around them.”
—Chris Aiken, Associate Professor, Theater and Dance Department, Ursinus College
“With its ingenious combination of philosophical inquiry, poetic musings, autobiographical narrative, and practical exercises, Body and Earth is one of the most inspiring and versatile books available. Olsen’s writing resonates across the curriculum. It speaks to both the spirit and the flesh.”
—Ann Cooper Albright, Professor of Dance, Oberlin College, and author of Traces of Light: Absence and Presence in the Work of Loïe Fuller
“Body and Earth challenges us to connect body and earth with the creative spirit that animates them both. I felt moved—physically and spiritually and creatively—as I read a text packed full with practical advice, solid scientific data, and soaring meditations. Andrea Olsen has done her homework on so many levels. But the magic of this book is that it does not read like homework. The writing dances!”
—Julia Alvarez, author of Saving the World
“Body and Earth is for those of us who feel a longing to be in closer touch with ourselves and nature. We are of the earth, and we are of the body. The evocative quality of the writing fuels our passion for fuller contact and communication, providing a bridge to embodied experience.”
—Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Founder, School for Body-Mind Centering and author of Sensing, Feeling, and Action
“Dance artists have long been on the forefront of the sustainability and environmental movements through their deep investigations of the body. Andrea Olsen’s elegant book brings form to this accumulated knowledge. From the microcosm of a cell to the macrocosm of gravitational pull, Olsen reflects on the vast interconnectedness of body, earth and place.”
—Jan Erkert, Head, Department of Dance, University of Illinois
“Body and Earth is a cherished, information-packed resource for my work and life as a college educator in interdisciplinary dance and body-centered, experiential learning. Chapters provide a complete curriculum for place-based, outdoor coursework combining dance with environmental perspectives.”
—Liz Faller, Instructor in Dance and Human Development, Prescott College
“Health and the environment go hand in hand. Body and Earth provides a much needed basis for establishing healthy patterns for self-care and stewardship of the Earth. Olsen is a master in the art of dance and the science of experiential anatomy and dynamic human physiology. Through her encompassing approach, she is able to uncover and make transparent the interconnectedness of our world and its living ecosystems.”
—Shruthi Mahalingaiah, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
“Olsen’s unique and timely book invites us to explore the vital links between our environment and ourselves as artists. She inspires us to look at the world around us—whether it be man-made or of nature, and investigate our rightful place as creative collaborators. Body and Earth is a ‘must read’ for all those involved in site-specific projects.”
—Tamar Rogoff, Artistic Director of Tamar Rogoff Performance Projects and Arts Director at Solar One
“Understanding the interrelationships of the human body and the earth body is elemental—utterly vital—to our own health and the health of our planet, yet we remain mysteriously entrenched in a paradigm of separateness. Olsen’s book gently awakens the reader to a new paradigm, inviting a mindfulness that is joyful, playful, patient, and fully engaging.”
—Constance Schrader, Director of the Dance Program, University of North Carolina at Asheville, and author of A Sense of Dance
“Olsen seamlessly weaves together physiology, story, practice, and performance—all in the interest of embodied and enlightened engagement with the world. Her words and wisdom constitute a call for a conscious, intimate, and sensual relationship with the places we inhabit.”
—Laura Sewall, Director, Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area at Bates College and author of Sight and Sensibility: The Ecopsychology of Perception
“In Body and Earth we discover an experiential template for deepening wisdom through a broadening of perspective. This text provides an invaluable resource for those who practice yoga, articulating the inherent interconnectedness of body, mind, and spirit with the places we inhabit.”
—Patty Townsend, Director, Yoga Center Amherst
An Instant of Form. Greenwich Park, Canary Wharf, London. Dancer, Susanna Recchia. Photograph by Christian Kipp.
BODY AND EARTH
BODY AND EARTH
An Experiential Guide
ANDREA OLSEN
Foreword by John Elder
Preface by Bill McKibben
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS
Middletown, Connecticut
This book is dedicated to my father,
who taught me to love the land.
And to my mother,
who encouraged a world view.
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown, CT 06459
© 2002 by Andrea Olsen
Preface © 2009 by Bill McKibben
All rights reserved
First Wesleyan University Press edition 2020
Originally published by UPNE/Middlebury in 2002
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by Katherine B. Kimball
Typeset in Sabon and Albertus by Generic Compositors
