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I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Columbia College Chicago’s Dance/Movement Therapy & Counseling MA program (and the College at large) provides many opportunities for its students.  One of those opportunities, which I briefly mentioned in an earlier post, is the student organization MOVED.  MOVED stands for Masters Organization Volunteering and Educating in Dance/Movement Therapy and is an organization specifically for students in the DMT & C program.

The executive board of MOVED is made up of current DMT & C students, and these students are what make the organization possible.  Board members run for a position of their choice or are elected by peers; positions are then voted on.  MOVED positions are traditionally passed from second year students to first year students at the beginning of the Spring semester.

What is more important than the organization’s structure is what MOVED does.  As stated on their Facebook page (which I suggest checking out since it’s usually more up to date than the Columbia website) MOVED’s missions is…

It is our mission to promote dance/movement therapy as a healing technique through sponsoring events and volunteering at events for students, staff, and faculty on and around campus, as well as for members of the greater Chicagoland community. MOVED, as an organization and a part of Columbia College Chicago’s student organization committee (SOC), continues to uphold the tradition of the hard work and dedication set during the previous years and will continue to promote the integration of body and mind in dance/movement therapy for the future.

And promoting is something they have certainly done this past year.  Below is a picture of MOVED at the 2011 student convocation which is held in Grant Park every year as a way to kick off the Fall semester.

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MOVED on International Dance Day. Picture retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moved-Student-Organization-Columbia-College-Chicago/211124565585491?sk=info#!/pages/Moved-Student-Organization-Columbia-College-Chicago/211124565585491

Above is MOVED, faculty member Susan Imus, and members of the community on April 29th, International Dance Day.  MOVED used dance improvisation at various sites in and around campus as a way to engage community members in dance and increase their awareness about dance/movement therapy.  And, simply, to get people to dance.

The next picture is from the performance art piece titled, “Bodyscape” that was a part of the 2011 PGA: Please Generate Art project during Manifest.  Not only did MOVED members perform in the piece during Manifest, but the organization also helped fund the project.

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Finally, the following picture is from the Fall Student/Faculty Dance Concert, one of MOVED’s bigger projects of the year.  MOVED members utilized Kickstarter as a way to raise funds for a dance show, giving DMT & C students an opportunity to perform and showcase choreographic work.  All of the funds raised covered the cost of the show.  The remainder was put back into the MOVED account to be used for future projects.

Fall Student/Faculty Dance Show. Photo taken by Heidi Landgraf

If you want to learn more about MOVED or see what MOVED is up to, e-mail us at moved@loop.colum.edu.