Open Access
Published:
June 2025
Licence: CC BY-NC-4.0
Issue: Vol.20, No.1
Word count: 811
About the creators

ClayDance: A collaborative exploration of combining clay work with dance and movement

Elske Reyneke-Barnard and Ruth Foulkes, with Ruth Clarke and Hilda Mali

Video production:
Elske Reyneke-Barnard

Video filming and production:
Elske Reyneke-Barnard and Ruth Foulkes

Music obtained from YouTube Audio Library and iTunes Media:
Moh moh ke dhaage’ – Singer: Monali Thakur / Music: Anu Malik / Lyrics: Varun Grover
‘Dance of the fireflies’ – Nathan Moore
‘Dholilda’ – Singers: U.Narayan, N. Kakkar, P. Muchchal, R. Hassan / Music: T. Bagchi / Lyrics: S. Ahmed
‘Better days’ – Bensound

Cite this videoReyneke-Barnard, E., & Foulkes, R., with Clarke, R. & Mali, H. (2025). ClayDance: A collaborative exploration of combining clay work with dance and movement [video]. JoCAT, 20(1). https://www.jocat-online.org/v-25-reynekebarnard

Creative arts therapist statement

Inspired by Clay Field Therapy (Elbrecht & Deuser, 2013; Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy, 2025), the Segni mossi project of Alessandro Lumare and Simona Lobefaro (Segni mossi, 2015), and the work of dancer and choreographer Vitoria Kotsalou (kalamatadancefestival, 2024), and our own experiences with creative expression, movement and clay, we were curious: what would happen if we combined clay work with dance and movement?

The intention was to create a playful, explorative group session, integrating clay with movement and dance. We hoped to facilitate a multi-sensory grounding experience, connecting the body with rhythm, balance, dance/movement – employing playfulness and curiosity. We hoped to foster the participants’ connection to self and others.

We hope that the video speaks for itself but offer the following accompanying thoughts. Each of us participated or facilitated at some stage during the day, and we share our experiences as both participants and facilitators. This was a pilot project, with a small number of participants. We thank the participants and parents of the participating children, for giving us written permission to film and share the experience, and for the privilege of working alongside them.

Karakia was shared to bless the space, the mauri of all present, and the materials being used. We expressed our gratitude for, and recognised our responsibility to and guardianship of, the natural materials we were about to use, and the environment from which they came, acknowledging our roles as kaitiaki. In this instance, the clay came from South Korea, but in future iterations we would like to source local clay to strengthen our connections to the whenua.

The clay scaffolded the dance and movement. It gave participants freedom and choice to move or to be still; the focus on being present seemed to be held by the clay. Bodies interacted with clay and each other in a way that worked in the moment. It was truly ‘process not product’.

In the children’s and the adults’ sessions, the interactions were both playful and soulful, and fuelled by curiosity. Each of the groups was responsive to the clay and engaged with it creatively. However, as facilitators of the process, we experienced subtle differences. In general, the children showed curiosity by playfully engaging in possibilities, whereas the adults displayed a curiosity that was more provocative, with a deeper sense of soul-searching and the concept of ‘what if…?’ Their creativity seemed more sensory and discerning, evoking communication at a deeper level, whereas with the children, the creativity was openly playful, accepting everything that presented itself. Imagination was exciting for the adults and the children, interwoven with both humour and a deeper visceral response. At times, the adults seemed to be testing their pre-existing knowledge and assumptions, while the children allowed their mischievousness to take the lead.

From a facilitator’s point of view, it felt that we were interacting with the children, while in the adults’ session we engaged alongside. The adults who participated were all therapists, or therapists in training, so there was the opportunity for the facilitators to acknowledge that each participant had a sense of autonomy in the deeper process. It seemed that the children connected first with themselves and the clay through playfulness, and brought this to their interaction with others. The adults found playfulness with each other, in connecting through the clay and initially they appeared more sensorially creative. While both groups investigated and ‘interrogated’ the resistance of the clay, the children seemed to do so more forcibly using their entire body weight. The adults appeared a little more restrained and mindful of unleashing the full force of their potential energy.

Quotes from participants

From adults…

“Playfully and pensively passing the clay from my hand to someone else’s hand in various ways provided opportunities to notice and explore the connections within and between self and others, grounded in the clay.”

“As I held and moulded the clay, I became wholly immersed in my body; the clay became an extension of my limbs and my senses... I let the clay lead me into a dance with the earth’s warm, playful embrace.”

“Permission to put your entire body into it. Inhibitions I usually feel in my body fell away – The clay holds all of that.”

From a parent

 “…I could see it made her feel very seen and empowered. She lit up as she talked about her process.”

Glossary

Karakia – prayer [back to place]

Kaitiaki – guardian [back to place]

Mauri – life force energy [back to place]

Whenua – the land [back to place]

References

Elbrecht, C., & Deuser, H. (2013). Trauma healing at the clay field a sensorimotor art therapy approach. Jessica Kingsley.

Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy. (2025). Clay Field Therapy. https://www.sensorimotorarttherapy.com/clay-field-therapy

kalamatadancefestival. (2024, July 11). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C9RfKNNNFbf/

Segni mossi. (2015). Exploring movement and graphic sign. https://www.segnimossi.net

Creators

Elske Reyneke-Barnard
MAAT (Clin) (Hons), PGDip (Arts Therapy), MA, BA, AThR
Elske is a registered clinical arts therapist in private practice at Soul Images Expressive Arts Studio. She has completed the Healing Trauma in Children with Clay Field Therapy course and attended the in-person Clay Field Therapy Summer School. Working with both children and adults, Elske believes in the power of art to connect, explore, express and heal and works from a place of playfulness and curiosity.

Ruth Foulkes
MAAT (Clin) (Hons), PGDip (Arts Therapy), MA, BA, AThR, PGCE
Ruth is a fully registered teacher, a facilitator, and tutor for initial teacher education and in-service teachers, and a registered clinical arts therapist. She has more than 35 years’ experience working with children. Ruth recognises the value of creativity, playfulness and movement in well-being and healing, and believes that we should all have an opportunity to be seen and heard.

Ruth Clarke
MACAT, BSocSci (Pych), BTchng (Primary), AThR
Ruth is a registered clinical arts therapist. She has a background in teaching and psychology and uses a range of materials and modalities to support tamariki in recognising, expressing, and processing challenging emotions and experiences.

Hilda Mali
MB BCh BAO, MCNZ 72437
Hilda is a practising integrative physician with special interest in primary mental health and art psychotherapy. Trained in dance/movement therapy, she is currently completing her master’s degree in Creative Arts Therapy at Whitecliffe College. Hilda’s practice emphasises integration of ancient and Indigenous wisdom with Western psychotherapeutic approaches through modalities of creative and expressive arts.