26isfam038 10.3205/26isfam038 urn:nbn:de:0183-26isfam0388 Meeting Abstract Arnold Arnold Callie C

Puls Productions gUG

author Cornaro Cornaro Clara C

Research Institute for Creative Arts Therapies, Alanus University Network Aging Research, Heidelberg University

author German Medical Science GMS Publishing House

Düsseldorf

610 20260612 engl This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). M0652 038 International Society for Arts and Medicine The Healing Arts – Forging Alliances of Arts & Medicine Presentation Abstracts Berlin 20260618 20260620 26isfam038 TextSince 2020, “Pulse of community” has brought audiences and participants together to celebrate embodied practices of finding and creating community. As a dance performance project, it aims to offer an empowering approach to the choreographic and performance process for people experiencing depression. “Pulse” carries on the collaborative choreography methods developed by Anna Halprin (1920–2021) and the Tamalpa Life/Art Process. Beginning in 2020, Arnold developed an intersectional empowerment approach (informed by BIPOC empowerment lineages and researchers, including B. Andi Lee and Dr. med. Yeboah), which she applied in her “Pulse” project from the year 2024 to 2025. With “intersectional”, the authors refer to addressing the particular and interlocking needs arising from a range of systemic oppressions (e.g. racialization and stigmatization of depression), as well as interlocking pathways to liberation. Using questionnaires and qualitative analysis methods (Bingham 2023), we have researched how participants engaged with the project’s empowerment approach. This research offers insights for practitioners regarding organizational approaches and communication styles that encourage engagement with intersectional empowerment. It also offers insight into what intersectional empowerment means to the project focus group (people who have experienced depression), and how this changed over time. Questions arising in research methodologies, particuarly for dance-based projects, will also be discussed. The research analysis is still in progress and will be concluded by early spring 2026. 0 0 0 0