Dr. Leventhal is an internationally known lecturer, workshop leader and Professor, who has developed many innovative techniques and been awarded grants and honors for her work in assisting human growth and development through the arts. She is committed to helping individuals re-discover the deeply healing/transformational potential in dance movement and the creative process.

Director of the Graduate Dance Therapy Program at New York University for sixteen years, where she was an Associate Professor, she went on to play a significant role in the history of the development of dance movement therapy in this country. Her first visit was in 1987, when she was invited to be the keynote speaker at the first Australian Dance Therapy Conference in Melbourne. Since then she has been a frequent visitor conducting training groups, mainly in Melbourne, but also making presentations in Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Tasmania, initially travelling here three or four times per year. Dr. Leventhal helped found the training organisation, The International Dance Therapy Institute of Australia (IDTIA), created and taught in their Diploma Course for 10 years and continues to support the teaching faculty as Education and Training Director.

Dr Leventhal (Ph.D in Clinical Psychology) currently directs Dance Therapy Training courses worldwide and offers Quantum Healing Dance (tm) workshops and integrated arts programs for various art, education and business organizations. She has assisted in the development of Dance Therapy Training in Argentina, Greece, Japan, Great Britain and Sweden. Dr. Leventhal is the co-founder of the Dance Therapy Course at Froebel College in London. Graduates of the four year training program in Greece met all the qualifications from the IDTIA and were awarded Diplomas in Dance Therapy from IDTIA. She is the Co-founder of the Dance Therapy Institute of Princeton.

Besides having trained and studied in all styles of dance, theater and mime worldwide, and various body therapy techniques, Gestalt and Psychosynthesis, she is certified as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Dr. Leventhal has studied with non-traditional healers in Bali, Peru, Hawaii, India and the American Southwest in her quest to develop an understanding of healing and change. She has been a lifelong student and research associate of Dr. Valerie Hunt and also studied with Dr. David Bohm.

Dr. Leventhal is a former co-editor of the Journal of the ADTA and has served on the ADTA Board of Directors. Her latest book, Journey to The Heart of Matter, The Ancient Healing Art of Dance - A Blueprint For Change, is being readied for publication. She resides in Southern California where she maintains a private psychotherapy practice, teaches, performs, consults and works extensively with Juvenile Offenders.

Dr. Leventhal has been an officer on the Boards of Directors for non-profit organizations in NYC, Los Angeles, and Melbourne, Australia. Her degrees are from Brandies University (BA), UCLA (MA) and FIT, School of Psychology (Ph.D), with certificates from the University of Paris, the Common Market School in Paris, and the Professional Actors Program at The Royal National Theatre in London.

Reprinted, with kind permission, from “Moving On”
the DTAA’s Quarterly Vol 4, No 2. p. 2.

Elizabeth Loughlin works as dance therapist with Mothers with post natal depression and their infants in individual and group dance therapy. She also works as social worker using dance therapy and phenomenological creative arts therapy as a therapeutic intervention with girls and young women with Turner Syndrome. Her Masters Arts (Creative Arts in Therapy, La Trobe University 1998) was titled “The experience in dance movement of three individual women with Turner Syndrome”. She offers supervision and consultations in dance therapy with mother /infant and with ill-health populations. Elizabeth has presented her dance therapy work nationally and internationally in both Infant Mental Health and Endocrinology conferences, and nationally in Australian dance therapy conferences. She lectures in dance therapy at IDTIA and has also taught creative interventions in social work practice at School of Social Work, University of Melbourne. In addition she has a studio creative dance practice. Elizabeth has published in American Journal of Dance Therapy, British Journal of Psychotherapy, Dance Collections, Australia and other journals and publications. Elizabeth also has qualifications in Performing Arts (B. Litt Hons) and Social Work (BA (Psych) & Dip Social Studies).

Tony Norquay has conducted classes and workshops in dance-movement for personal growth and creative expression since 1978. Several of these have led to public performance rituals. He has also worked as a dance-movement specialist within the therapeutic team in psychiatric settings, presented at many conferences and conducted training for others interested in therapeutic dance and movement including teaching at La Trobe University and with IDTIA. Tony was the inaugural convenor of the IDTIA.

Tony has worked extensively in the personal development field and is a past director of the Augustine Centre for Drama and Growth. In addition to his current dance-movement work he also consults to organisations, particularly in the health and welfare field, in areas of staff and organisational development.

His particular interest in the dance-movement work is to encourage people to find the eloquent, creative and nourishing dance that lies within and to bring it into full being.

Anna Schlusser’s background includes extensive experience in creative dance with adults, children, and parents with infants; using dance therapy in early intervention; in community day/arts centres with adults with disabilities (cognitive, sensory and psychological); and as Director of Stretch Physical Theatre for 10 years. Anna also has experience in group supervision and with individual DMT sessions using Authentic Movement. Anna is a member of the DTAA Professional Members Committee.

Naomi is a Dance Movement Therapist who specialises in developing and running therapeutic dance movement group work programs with children and adolescents with a range of mental health issues at the Royal Children’s Hospital Mental Health Service Community Group Program. Naomi draws on her wealth of experience and creativity as a dancer, physical performer and Clown Doctor (Dr. Polly Waffle) to engage, dance and play with her clients. She is currently completing her Masters in Dance Movement Therapy looking at a Dance Movement Therapy program she developed with adolescent girls with body image issues and low self-esteem. Naomi is a guest lecturer in the IDTIA Certificate course, runs professional development training at the RCH MHS in using dance movement as a therapeutic intervention for other mental health practitioners, facilitates public groups for growth and change, and runs a private healing practice.

Jenny Czulak Riley has had a long career as an educator, mainly via radio & television with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. While in Britain on an Imperial Relations Trust Scholarship her study of Peter Slade’s ‘body movement’ approach to drama (University of Newcastle-on-Tyne) fuelled her dedication to body-mind unity. For the ABC Jenny conceptualised and directed ‘Free To Move!’, a weekly radio series combining music, drama, movement & dance for the active participation of primary school children and which was broadcast on a national basis for over three years. Jenny was assistant author of ‘Dance Therapy Redefined – A Body Approach to Therapeutic Dance’ (pub. Springfield, Illinois, 1994) and currently conducts participatory workshops based on her own book entitled ‘Growing Older Dancing On’ (pub. COTA Vic, 2003).

Anna is currently employed as a dance therapist working with children and adolescents in two special school settings as well as teaching creative dance in a primary school. Her work in Dandenong commenced in 1999 and she has been in Ascot Vale since 1994. As part of her on-going development as a therapist Anna has been taking improvisation performance classes with Anne O’Keefe. She has recently taken up the position of Convenor of the Professional Membership Committee of the Dance Therapy Association of Australia.

Jane is a Physiotherapist who has used dance movement therapy in physical rehabilitation throughout her career. She specialised in application with traumatic head injury, and is experienced in all areas of physical rehabilitation, pain management, application in permanent care hospital wards, Day Activity Hospitals and Centres, and with children with special needs. She is the present President of the professional association, the DTAA (Dance Movement Therapy Association of Australia). Until recently, she worked full-time at Epworth Hospital and is now involved in locum work and a private practice in DMT. She is also completing a CMA training, currently a student in a program in Canada connected to LIMS.

Susan Maling has worked in the dance therapy field for over 25 years. She specialises in working with pre-school children and has focused on Early Childhood Intervention for the past 15 or so years. She has also worked with mothers and babies in the mental/emotional health arena for the past 5 years.