Dance and movement are helping 4-year-old Balazs Csizmadia learn to talk.
The Waiheke Island boy was diagnosed with a language development delay and could barely talk before dance therapy eased the words from him. "I couldn't find anything for my child,'' says Balazs' mother, Piri Csizmadia.
Talking to other parents eventually convinced her dance therapy might work for Balazs.
"I thought, if it's fun, it can't hurt him. And it worked.''
She decided to work with Anaia Treefoot, who has been teaching dance to children with special needs for three years.
Mrs Csizmadia says dance therapy was effective for Balazs because Ms Treefoot doesn't solely focus on forcing changes in children's behaviour, she also changes the learning environment.
"One of the most important things is for the kids to be in a stress-free environment and to have that down-time. I believe what Anaia does is try to get to them through music and movement and, because the kids can relax, she's effective.''
To help children like Balazs relax and learn, Ms Treefoot also uses drama, drawing or painting.
"I completed 16 sessions with him and by the end of it, he was using full sentences,'' says the dance therapist. "When I have an intense and focused period of time with each child, all my energy and attention is dedicated to them.''
Educational psychologist Marie Kelly, from Mt Albert's Kidz Psychology Education and Learning centre, has heard about dance therapy.
"Dance is universal - you don't even need to speak the person's language, really. Like most things in life, if you think it's working then it's a benefit.''
Ms Treefoot first learned to combine her lifelong love of expressive dance with ways of
helping autistic and special needs children in America.
"In my early 20s, I went to the US to study a form of dance called five rhythms,'' she says. "It's a dance used as a healing practice. It's not used as therapy, but it is kind of
therapeutic.''
When she returned to Auckland in 2007, she enrolled at Whitecliffe College to further focus on applying music therapy to special needs children.
This month, through an AMP scholarship, she headed back to Manhattan to learn from pioneering dance and music therapist Dr Suzi Tortora.
"She's a dance teacher who works with the special needs students. I'm really happy to learn from someone who's been doing this for 30 years,'' says Ms Treefoot. "It's such a satisfying and rewarding way of working with children.''
Anaia Treefoot will be back in Waiheke in June next year, and hopes to set up dance therapy classes in Auckland to help many more children like Balazs.
