January 28, 2026
During my first year of OT school, a pediatrics professor shared that rhythm could be an organizing element during treatments. Attempting to silence my inner snob, I slowly scanned the room, wondering if anyone else’s eyes were widened in disbelief. Was this really news to anyone? As a career transition OT student with a dance background, I was struck that this idea even warranted a bullet point on the lecture. I remember thinking: if this is groundbreaking information, add a bit of live music to your sessions and call me in the morning!
Jaques D’Amboise, renowned ballet dancer and founder of the National Dance Institute, famously championed the regulating power of rhythm. He asserted that rhythm facilitates the expression of all human emotion, and that life itself depends on physiological rhythmic patterns. D’Amboise emphasized rhythm’s role in human development, often pointing to a mother rocking her child to sleep as a clear example of how repetitive movement regulates the nervous system.
Clinically, we see similar movement patterns with a variety of neurologic and developmental diagnoses. Hand flapping and other repetitive movements are examples of sensory seeking behaviors performed to organize a dysregulated nervous system. Annoyed by constant pen clicking, or distracted by a peer’s rapidly bouncing knee in class or on the subway? These repetitive, often unconscious movements propel the body toward restored harmony. Thank you, brain! So, if repetitive, rhythmic movement regulates uncounsciously, imagine the healing potential when used with intention.
The Ancient Greeks believed that catharsis through the arts could restore inner harmony. For a healing experience to occur, rhythm must evoke an emotional response and not merely be used as an experiential framework. Mindfulness-based Interoception Training is a clinical approach used to increase awareness of internal sensations and emotional states. Simply put: when someone struggles to “feel,” pairing physically vigorous movement with mindful attention can help them access what is happening inside their body. Feeling is the goal; but movement is the medium.
In a recent YouTube post, dancer, choreographer, and Guggenheim Fellow Nejla Yatkin reflects on dance after the modern era. She suggests that, unlike the modernist’s emphasis on progress, dance today is no longer about moving forward in search of technical innovation, but actually about remembering. Yatkin proposes that our bodies are searching for meaning capable of enduring time, and she closes with the resonant question: if dance is no longer about progress, what is it asking us to remember?
More about the National Dance Institute above (donate if you can). Photo in gallery image: Thea Austin, singer/vocalist, Rhythm is a Dancer: SNAP.
Only a dancer can do that 