Room 004, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
The session will explore Dance Movement Therapy (DMT), a Psychotherapeutic discipline that harnesses our body movement and its creative expression to enhance our psychological, emotional, social, and physical well-being. Facilitated by Tripura Kashyap (who pioneered DMT in India in 1990), the lecture demonstration will draw upon her work, which has spanned 35 years, encompassing her artistic-therapeutic practice, teaching, and research. It will trace the evolution of DMT in India, highlight its applications across mental health, education, healthcare, rehabilitation, and community settings, and also examine the integration of Indian movement traditions with contemporary therapeutic approaches.
The lecture-demonstration will offer the audience a first-hand understanding of the body-mind connection and the therapeutic power of movement. They will develop an understanding of the principles and applications of DMT and gain insights into its role in promoting our holistic well-being.
The session is designed to inspire faculty and students from diverse disciplines, including psychology, education, performing arts, medicine, social work, and the humanities to engage with ideas and concepts based on embodied learning and discover the expanding possibilities of Dance and movement in our contemporary society.
Tripura Kashyap is a pioneer of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) in India, introducing the field in 1990 after training at the Hancock Centre for Creative Arts Therapies in Wisconsin, USA. With a Master’s degree in Psychology and formal training in Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra, Chennai, she was also a performing artist with the renowned Chandralekha Dance Company for many years.
She went on to found her own contemporary dance collective, Apoorva Dance Theatre, which toured widely across India with original choreographic works. As an educator, Tripura teaches Dance Therapy on the Sancheti–Pune University M.A. program in Expressive Movement Therapy and on postgraduate certificate courses across the country. An author and thought leader in the field, she has written My Body, My Wisdom, a seminal book on dance therapy, and Contemporary Dance: Practices, Paradigms and Practitioners. She is also a co-founder of the Creative Movement Therapy Association of India. Her contributions have been recognised through fellowships from the Ashoka Foundation, the Ministry of Culture (Government of India), and the Sangeet Natak Akademi, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sancheti Healthcare Academy. She has shared her work extensively through talks, lecture demonstrations, and workshops at numerous national and international conferences.
For more details visit: https://www.Tripurakashyap.info