PHILOSOPHY

Serving the Whole Dancer

Working with amateur and pre-professional dancers who are facing limitations, injuries, or weaknesses over the past five years has sharpened Naomi’s determination to serve the whole dancer. As a professional dancer herself, she is aware of the struggles not only physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually that all dancers face. As a researcher who focuses mostly on the connections within the body, she is aware of the impact the different facilities of the body have on one another. She is devoted to evidence-based practice and instruction, providing the most up-to-date education and care to her clients. Naomi’s philosophy has been greatly shaped by her college studies, research, and top-of-the-line mentors, such as Boston Ballet’s former director of Physical Therapy, Mickey Cassella Kulak, PT. Combining methods from the best of the best traditions, practices, and knowledge, Naomi continually augments her approach to ensure she is bringing the best the dance therapy world has to offer to her clients in New Hampshire and beyond.

Naomi is aware of the common obstacles dancers face due to their physical limitations, but also due to a lack of proper knowledge, treatment, and training. Coming alongside dancers to learn about their bodies, skills, and weaknesses, she is able to inform them of potential risks, strategies, and strengths they possibly hadn’t seen. Through screenings, treatments, and instruction, Naomi intervenes to provide support that can address the dancer’s needs and optimize their capacity to fulfill their potential.

“A lot of limitations can actually become strengths if they’re handled carefully.” — Naomi Sawyer

Encouragement, instruction, and relief are three essential experiences Naomi aims to provide her clients with in every session. Dance is a tough discipline, the dancer often battling the mentality of being their own worst critic. Naomi hopes to break through the destructive thoughts that lock up our minds, block our hearts, and harm our bodies. By caring for the dancer as a whole person—body, mind, and spirit—addressing their pains from head to toe, Naomi and her clients walk away with a greater sense of worth. And this perspective shift blesses not only the individual dancer, for the community of people they are performing for.

It is art. It is science. It is magic.