You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Body Mapping workshop to focus on efficient, healthy performing

By John Andert '10
September 23, 2008

Imagine that you could play a piano concerto by Mozart without getting tired or sing an entire Wagnerian opera without any vocal fatigue. You may not be able to do all these things after just one workshop with Dr. Amy Likar, but in her upcoming seminar at St. Olaf College she will explain how understanding the way the human body works -- through a process called Body Mapping -- can help anyone perform more efficiently and healthily.

LikarAmy
Likar
Likar will hold a Body Mapping workshop Saturday, Sept. 27 beginning at 9 a.m. in Christiansen Hall of Music Room 140. The day will consist of six one-hour sessions that will examine topics of movement, breath management, muscle coordination and more. There will also be an "Introduction to Body Mapping" seminar held Thursday, Sept. 25 at 11:30 a.m. in Christiansen Hall of Music Urness Recital Hall.

The body map is described by Andover Educators, the organization that Likar leads, as "one's self-representation in one's own brain." Ohio State University Professor of Music William Conable came up with the concept of a body map by observing that his students moved according to how they thought they were structured rather than how they were actually structured. When their movement in playing became based on their actual structure, it became more efficient, expressive and conducive for music making. Barbara Conable founded Andover Educators and developed the theory and practice of Body Mapping, which is "the conscious correcting and refining of one's body map to produce efficient, graceful, coordinated, effective movement."

In the 1990s, Barbara Conable created the course What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body, taking the practical information of Body Mapping and presenting it in a workshop format to help musicians learn how to integrate awareness and kinesthetic movement into a musician's everyday life to enhance performance and prevent injury.

When Conable retired, Likar took a leadership role in teaching and promoting Body Mapping. Likar says her workshop benefits not only musicians, but anyone who does everyday activities such as walking, singing or typing. "Application to everyday life has to occur because many times it is how one is using their body in everyday life that eventually causes the problems at the instrument ... the same Body Mapping information that one can use to play an instrument without injury can be applied to computer usage, athletic participation and other everyday activities," she says.

Likar holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Kent State University, a M.M. and D.M.A. in Musical Arts from Ohio State University. She is a member of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and along with her active performance career as a chamber musician, she now manages and directs all the workshops on Body Mapping around the United States. "It's a really fun course -- people can only start where they are with self-awareness and then move on from there," Likar says.

Kay Sahlin, a music instructor at St.Olaf who organized Likar's visit, says she's open to new ways of thinking about her playing and teaching and is excited for the workshop. "I'm optimistic that having this at the start of the school year will help bring attention to issues that may be getting in the way of our effectiveness as performers," Sahlin says.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.