When I Open My Eyes

Celebrated dance artist and body therapist Miranda Tufnell takes us on a moving and inspiring exploration of the field of dance and health. For 14 years she worked in a GP surgery in Cumbria and the book opens with a vivid account of an arts project that she and her collaborators ran there for people with long-term health conditions.

This is a book about the body and movement, about imagination and health. It gathers many stories, voices and activities from artists, patients and health practitioners. The arts have long played a role in medicine and there is a substantial body of evidence for the potency of arts practice in strengthening our resources and capacity for wellbeing.

While the work is sourced in the body and movement, it is not only written for people with a dance background. Listening creatively to the body strengthens our body intelligence and ability to look after ourselves effectively. Practitioners from many backgrounds come into this field and will find something of interest. This book sets out to inspire rather than to teach, to offer windows into practice, and to convey something of what it is like to work in this field.

Author Biography

Miranda Tufnell is a dancer, Alexander teacher and craniosacral therapist. She has been showing performance work in galleries and theatres since 1976, often making site-specific events and collaborating with visual artists. She has taught widely, including at Dartington College of Arts and at Fellside Alexander School. Her work both as a dancer/choreographer and body therapist has been to make visible the invisible world of the sensing body.