This thesis examines an approach to movement education that I call Move into Life. This praxis is interrogated here through a set of ecological principles and tools. I discuss how this approach opens up our normative attachment to a fixed sense of self. My research question enquires whether an ecological approach to movement training can release a fixed and deterministic notion of self by engaging with the changing body/soma as part of a changing environment? A kinaesthetic awareness of context and environment are fundamental to this approach. It challenges the acculturated experience of ‘myself’ as both in control of, and fundamentally separate from, the cyclical life of the surrounding environment. The cultivation of environmental awareness through movement is shown to serve as a way of being simultaneously involved and self-reflexive within the presently changing moment. At the outset of this thesis, I identify movement as primary to human expression. Movement precedes and underpins cognition, language and creative art. The thesis then identifies four key movement dynamics: active and passive, proportion, transition/position and point, line and angle. These dynamics inform all movement and all analysis of movement. I proceed to investigate these dynamics through three practical research projects: facilitating a workshop, co-directing a performance and creating and performing my own piece. Subsequently, each project is analysed through the ecological lenses of niche, pattern and emergence. These lenses serve to reveal how an embodied sense of self as an impermanent dynamic system is an intrinsic part of a complex and shifting dance of multiple social, cultural and environmental systems. . The research projects are discussed in relation to seven traditions which have informed my critical reflections: Amerta Movement, (Suprapto Suryodarmo), Satipatthāna, (the Buddha’s Way of Mindfulness), Gregory Bateson’s understanding of pattern, James Gibson’s work on ecological perception, Tim Ingold’s research in the field of social anthropology, Paul Connerton’s notion of ‘inscription’ and ‘incorporation’, and theories of developmental movement. The relevance of ecological movement to intercultural communication and performance is explored through research as practice and in the context of relevant theories from cultural anthropology. By introducing a practical discourse of embodiment, movement and awareness into the ecological debate, this thesis intends to stimulate creative responses to the on-going environmental degradation that is here seen to result in part from a sense of body as object and of ourselves as separate from our surrounding environment. The practice of ecological movement is shown to offer a foundation in environmental embodiment for performers, teachers and arts therapists. It is also shown to contribute to our understanding and appreciation of cultural difference through the body and the way we move, as well as helping us to assess the cultural aspects of other-than- verbal communication and the body’s cultural memory and lineage.

Adolescence is usually considered to be a time of transition from child to adult. However, studies of perceptuo-motor control have tended to focus on infants and young children or on adults, despite indications that the actions of adolescent children are poorly coordinated. This thesis examines the adolescent growth spurt and resulting recalibration of perceptuo-motor control with respect to the coordination of movement. The first four experiments compared the performance of boys aged 12 and 13 (the age when a growth spurt is most likely to be in progress) with older (aged 14 and 15) and younger (aged 10 and 11) boys on tasks where their knowledge of their ability to perform certain actions was observed. These tasks examined actions ranging from placing objects on surfaces in front of them, reaching up to place objects on high shelves, stepping across gaps and walking along balance beams. In agreement with previous research, the younger children tended to overestimate their ability more than the older children. However, overall the poorest match between predictions and actual actions was observed in the 12 and 13 year old boys. In particular, they appeared to have a problem identifying the critical point beyond which they could no longer maintain balance during an action. This was linked to complex changes which take place in conjunction with height increases at adolescence: moments of inertia of body segments change and this must be taken into account when planning actions. The last three experiments examined the relationship between growth and performance on forward and upward reach as well as on a task where children used long sticks to increase their forward reach. In this case, the performance of boys aged 12 and 13 who had grown substantially over the previous six months differed substantially from that of boys of the same age who had grown only a small amount. Again, differences were most notable when it was necessary to identify the critical point beyond which balance could not be maintained: this was particularly apparent when reaching with long sticks. The High Growth boys greatly overestimated their ability in comparison to the Low Growth boys. The results of the thesis highlight the perceptuo-motor changes which accompany rapid growth and demonstrate that adult patterns of movement are unlikely to be in place until the child has learned to take account of changes in height, limb length and the moments of inertia of their body and limb segments. Until this has happened, it is likely that the adolescent will occasionally perform poorly planned and coordinated movements, especially in unfamiliar situations.

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Just as themes are important in the analysis of a movement, the means used to promote those themes are just as significant and that is the purpose of this paper. More specifically, the purposes are (1) to describe the sub-groups and report their goals, [2) to describe the numerous rhetorical devices extant in the movement, (3) to classify the subgroups into conservative or liberal categories: conservative, liberal, and those devices used by both conservatives and liberals, and (5) to suggest any trend of device usage which is apparent.

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Objectives: The diaphragm is the primary muscle of inspiration and provides life sustaining oxygen to the body (Voyvoda et al, 2011). It is active during relaxed and effort induced ventilation. Diaphragm contraction results in pressure changes within the thorax thereby assisting in airflow into the lungs and increasing lung volumes. During this inhalation process the diaphragm moves from a dome-shaped relaxed position into a flattened shortened position.Often during the increased work of breathing in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the diaphragm does not sit in its anatomical resting position; it shortens and weakens (Watson et al, 2001). Stretching of skeletal muscles is a physiotherapy treatment modality commonly used in clinical practice. The aim of this treatment modality is to increase the length of a shortened muscle thereby improving the range of motion of said muscle and improving the specific joint motion (Wepler and Magnusson, 2011). Head down tilt positions are commonly used in cardiopulmonary physiotherapy to utilise gravity to facilitate sputum drainage from different lung segments (Pryor & Prasad, 2008; Selsby & Jones, 1990). A head down tilt position could potentially have an influence on diaphragm length if applied for a sustained period of time due to likely abdominal content displacement from a caudal to cranial position resulting in a stretch on the diaphragm. The objective was to determine if diaphragm length could be influenced by providing a stretch using the abdominal contents. Moreover, to see if this hypothesized change in length would influence the diaphragm’s function. Method: A quasi-experimental study was conducted from January to April 2012 with undergraduate physiotherapy students as study participants. Seventy five study participants were assessed for baseline outcome measures at rest. They then underwent four body position changes after which each measurement was re-recorded. These body position changes were: • lying in a head down tilt position at 15 degrees for 30 seconds • lying in a head down tilt position at 15 degrees for two minutes • lying in a head down tilt position at 30 degrees for 30 seconds • lying in a head down tilt position at 30 degrees for two minutes Ultrasound was used to measure the diaphragm length. Its function was recorded in terms of the expiratory flow generated and the thoracic expansion measured. Dyspnoea was recorded for a subjective view of tolerance of the position and vital signs were monitored throughout for the volunteers’ safety. ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis, Bartlett’s test and the student’s t test were used for statistical analysis. Results: All 75 participants completed the entire study and none were withdrawn as a result of negative side effects. The results showed that the diaphragm could be stretched by using the abdominal contents in a head down tilt position (p=0.00). The mean and standard deviation for the greatest change from rest was 38.78mm (±11.51) on the left and 39.38mm (±11.92) on the right. There were no detrimental effects to the participants’ cardiovascular or pulmonary stability. Thoracic expansion and peak flow showed an insignificant change throughout the changes in position. Thoracic expansion had a mean change of 2.48cm (±0.86) with a p value of 0.54. Peak expiratory flow rate had a change of 428.94L/min (±95.01) with a p value of 0.98. These values were less than the normal expected values for the participants. Conclusion: A change in diaphragm length is possible by applying a stretch to the muscle. A stretch can be applied by placing the participant in a head down tilt position which allows the abdominal contents to push on the underside of the diaphragm in a cranial direction. No adverse effects occurred in healthy adult individuals during the different head-down tilt positions. Respiratory function did not show a significant improvement due to the change in diaphragm length as measured by peak expiratory flow rate and thoracic expansion.

The introduction of free mother and child services in South Africa in 1994, changed the way in which the services were delivered. There was an increase in the number of women seeking services, therefore a need arose to look at what constituted essential, basic services. The introduction of the maternal held card in State hospitals enabled the women to seek ante-natal care at the venue most accessible to her. This document also involved her in the responsibility of her own care and that of her unborn child. This study explored the information which mothers had been given ante-natally to assist them with the task of bearing the responsibility of their unborn child's health, which they had unilaterally been given by the Healthcare providers. A descriptive study was undertaken and 221 primigravid patients were interviewed at a large academic hospital post-delivery using a structured interview schedule. Their records were also reviewed retrospectively for type of delivery and foetal outcome. Results of the studies found that the mothers were given insufficient information to equip them with responsibility of assessing foetal health. Healthcare providers, it was found, did not give specific information and it appeared that at times, the mothers report of decreased foetal movement was disregarded. Implications of the study are that healthcare providers need to pay attention to how they provide information. The women interviewed clearly made the distinction between what was seen as 'teaching' and what was perceived as information given. It is also important to note that although the health workers understand the implications of foetal well-being, patients do not necessarily share the same insight or sense of responsibility. This has implications for the delivery of antenatal services in South Africa.

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Movement in relation to clothing has been conceptualized in many collections before mine. Mostly in terms of garments that move when the body moves. The aim for this project is to have another approach to movement. The attempt is to create a movement that is like a rhythm flowing through the collection. This approach allows me to work with static garments which together creates a rhythm. Movement is an abstract event and impossible to capture in a concrete way. To start my investigation about how I could picture movement I divided movement into three different categories. First, “the speedfull movement” which stands for “the actual” true movement, the one no one can ever capture except from the eye. “Trace of movement”, which represent that slight second where two cinematic pictures meets and creates an illusion of movement. “Static movement”, is the lines that in painting or sculpture can create an illusion of movement. The only movement that I therefore can create in a garment is always static. But, by butting them together in three I create a movement in between the garments. The movement is static but at the same time I could capture some of those “traces of movement” where two cinematic pictures meet. The movement in my collection is an interpretation of how static pictures create motion as seen in cinematographic images. The tools I use to accomplish this movement are perspectives, rhythm and pleating. / Program: Master Programme in Fashion and Textile Design