The Dancing Dialogue: Using the Communicative Power of Movement with Young Children

The Dancing Dialogue is a brilliant book by Dr Suzi Tortora that explains the fascinating processes she uses in observing, assessing, interacting, intervening in her dance movement psychotherapy practice with young children. She demonstrates how her non-verbal communicating and relating, play a critical role in her interventions. Her style is very clear even for the non-professional and she writes in a way that makes the reader ask questions and is quickly answered in a very satisfying explanation. She uses descriptions of sessions with patients to demonstrate the process she is very effectively using. I found those stories to be very compelling.As a dance educator, I particularly enjoyed the guides Dr. Tortora shares about non-verbal understanding of a child or classroom that allow a lesson to support the children’s individuality, stimulate the excitement of learning and create social connection and empathy for others. I will be reading and referring back to this book for a long time.Karen Diaz EnsanianDance educatorAuthor, I Can Make a Water Dance

Suzi Tortora has written a brilliant and inspiring apologia for using movement with young children. She brings together a vast amount of knowledge regarding different fields and their overlapping need to honor the creative process. Her introduction is wonderful, a piece of writing that I will go back to again and again.

As a mother, it is particularly challenging to watch any child, but especially your child experience traumas that you cannot fix for them. Family therapy, CBT, beach vacations, yoga retreats, personal trainers, smothering, space, etc., we’ve tried everything money can buy and none of it was enough because, I think, my child was still receiving care, but not practicing it herself. I first read Dancing Dialogues when it was published in 2005 and tried to get my daughter to read it to inspire her to follow a career in movement therapy—she always loved to move as a child and my thinking was that working in alternative medicine would be empowering. Now in her mid 20s, she has rediscovered Dancing Dialogues on her own and is rebuilding her connection to herself and her body one movement at a time. I can’t recommend this book enough.

The reason I'm writing this review here is because I tried to write a review of Suzi Tortora on ZocDoc but she doesn't seem to be listed on that or other medical sites for some reason. So I figured I'd write one here. I need to make it clear that this is a review of Dr. Tortora as a therapist, however, and not as a writer because I have not read "The Dancing Dialogue." That said, I believe that one's line of work is inextricably linked to any books they write about that work.I was a patient of Dr. Tortora's several years ago, and I found her to be extremely lacking as a therapist. The two main things I remember about my sessions with her (and I had quite a few sessions with her, not just one or two) were a lack of compassion and a lust for money. In fact, when I told her I would probably be terminating with her -- in part because I don't have a ton of money and couldn't afford to keep seeing her -- she did not even try to work out a deal with me or meet me in the middle. At the time, a friend of mine told me that she couldn't imagine her own therapist doing that. In addition, there were times when she would either make inappropriate interventions or start to doze off while I was talking! I also hasten to add that both before and since seeing Dr. Tortora, I've worked with other therapists that I felt were a better fit. I feel that behind her smiling, faux-New Age persona is a greedy person with questionable skills.But hey -- everything is subjective and no one is perfect. And maybe Dr. Tortora is a better writer than she is a therapist. I did feel the need to share my two cents, though, for whatever they're worth. If nothing else, reading this may help a potential 'future patient' make the same mistake that I made.P.S.... I have posted this review several times now and Dr. Tortora keep paying someone to remove it! It seems we are turning into a country where people in positions of power -- whether it's a doctor or our current President -- feel the need to silence anyone who disagrees with them or doesn't give them a good review.

I loved this book, and found it immediately applicable to the clients I see. Dr. Tortora is a leader in the field and this is a definitive tome on the subject. A++.

I am reading this book for a class and find the content fascinating and richly rewarding. Based upon the author's experience, she's created a terrific text--a straightforward working tool-- for working with and communicating with children, particularly those that may not communicate in typical ways. The book has deeply impacted my attitude about movement and communication in general and more specifically about ways to observe and interact with people. I have found myself reflecting on my own children (now grown), my siblings' children, my friends children, and how my siblings and I grew up. If for a required course of study, or for people of a reflective nature who like to stretch their minds, this is an excellent read.

The Dancing Dialogue, by Dr. Suzi Tortora is the handbook that every dance/movement therapist should have in their library. Dr. Suzi Tortoa is renowned in her field and has changed many young children's lives through her mult-sensory approach to dance/dance movement therapy. This book is not only a practical guide but it provides deep insight into the psychological, physical and emotional impact of this healing modality. It is an invaluable resource!

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5*****