Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen is a movement artist, researcher, educator, therapist, and developer of the Body-Mind Centering® approach to movement and consciousness. This approach is an exploration of how we embody our body systems, tissues and cells as well as our developmental movement patterns and embryological development. In 1973 she founded The School for Body-Mind Centering® where students from over thirty countries have studied. Her work has influenced the fields of dance, bodywork, yoga, body psychotherapy, infant and child development, and many other body-mind disciplines. She is the author of the books, Sensing, Feeling, and Action, The Mechanics of Vocal Expression, and Basic Neurocellular Patterns: Embodying Developmental Movement, and numerous videos on dance, embodied anatomy, embryology, and working with children with special needs.
Educational Background
B.S. in Occupational Therapy, Ohio State University, 1963
Studied dance therapy with Marion Chase at the Turtle Bay School of Music, 1963
Studied dance at Ohio State University, 1964 – 1965
Studied Advanced Rehabilitation Technique at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, California, 1964
Studied dance with Erick Hawkins, New York, 1965 – 1976
Studied Neuromuscular Re-education with Andre Bernard and Barbara Clark, 1966 – 1968
Studied voice with Sylus Engum, New York, 1966 -1968, and with Herb Doussant, 1974
Studied Laban Movement Analysis with Irmgard Bartinieff, New York 1966 – 1974. Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst by the Laban/Bartinieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York, 1974
Certified as a Neurodevelopmental Therapist by Dr. and Mrs. Bobath in England, 1969
Studied Aikido with Kazuo Chiba in London, 1968; with Yoshimitsu Yamada in New York, 1969 – 1970; at Hombu Dojo, Tokyo, 1971; and with Michio Hikitsuchi in Shingu, Japan, 1973.
Studied Tai Chi Chuan with Cheng Man-Ching, New York, 1970 & 1973, and with Wolfe Lowenthal, Amherst, Massachusetts, 2000 – 2007
Studied Katsugen Undo (a method of training the autonomic nervous system) with the founder, Haruchika Noguchi, Japan, 1972
Certified as a Kestenberg Movement Profiler by Dr. Judith Kestenberg, 1982
Studied Craniosacral Therapy with John Upledger, D.O. and John McDonald, D.O. 1984 – 1986
Studied Zero Balancing with Fritz Smith, M.D., 1992
Work Background
Worked as an Occupational Therapist at the Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Center associated with Ohio State University, 1963 – 1966
Taught dance at Hunter College, New York City, 1966 – 1968
Worked as an Occupational Therapist at the Bird S. Coler hospital associated with New York Medical College, 1966 – 1968
Worked as a dance therapist with women in their 80s and 90s at the Amsterdam Nursing Home in New York, 1967 – 1968
Worked with movement and bodywork at the University of Amsterdam’s Psychiatric Research Clinic, Amsterdam, Holland, 1968
Helped establish a school for occupational and physical therapy at Fuchu Rehabilitation Center, Tokyo, Japan, 1971 – 1972
Founded The School for Body-Mind Centering® 1973; educational director 1973 – present
Taught dance at the Erick Hawkins Studio, New York, 1974 – 1976
Taught Kinesiology in the Graduate Dance Therapy program, Antioch College, Keene, New Hampshire, 1983
Private practice in occupational therapy and the Body-Mind Centering® approach with people of all ages, 1966 – present.
Teaches workshops in the US, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Has been a guest teacher/presenter at national and international venues, some of which include:
Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado, 1980s and 1990s
Esalen Institute, Big Sur, California, 1980s – 2012
Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, New York, 1980s – 2006
American Dance Festival, North Carolina, 1980s
American College Dance Festival, Texas, 1980s
Body-Mind Centering® Association Conference, US, Canada, Belgium, 1985 – present
Common Boundary Conference, Washington, DC, 1994
ZIST Conference, Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany, 1994
Tanzfabrik, Berlin, Germany, 1994 – 2016
U.S. Association for Body Psychotherapy, Maryland, 2002
Erick Hawkins Legacy Conference, New York, 2002
Canaldanse, Paris, France, 2004
Contredanse, Brussels, Belgium, 2004
Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Massachusetts, 2004
Whole Children, Hadley, Massachusetts, 2005
Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Lenox, Massachusetts, 2005 – 2012
National Dance Education Organization Conference, Long Beach, California, 2006
Laban for the 21st Century Conference, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2006
Associazione Culturale Di Promozio, Toscania, Italy, 2006
Earthdance, Plainfield, Massachusetts, 2007 – 2016
ODC, San Francisco, California, 2007 – present
Association SOMA, Paris, France, 2007 – 2013
Moveus, Cologne, Germany, 2007 – 2016
Somatic Education Society of Taiwan, Taitung, Taiwan, 2007 – 2016
Babyfit, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2008 – 2014
Yoga Spirit, Toronto, Canada, 2008
Moving on Center, Oakland, California, 2008
Mozart and Science Conference, Vienna, Austria, 2008
Leben Nuova, Toscania, Italy, 2008 – 2014
Yoga Center Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 2009 – 2016
New York Open Center, New York, NY, 2010
Kinesthetic Learning Systems, Durham, North Carolina, 2010 – 2015
Breath of Life Conference, London, England, 2011
Embody-Move Association, Liverpool, England, 2011
San Francisco Community Music Center, San Francisco, California 2011 – 2013
Dallas Yoga Center, Dallas, Texas, 2012 & 2014
Corporalmente, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2013
SESC, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2013
Embodiment in Education, Berkeley, California, 2013 – 2015
Luna Dance, Berkeley, California, 2013 – 2020
Centre De Formation Professionnelle Continue En Ostéopathie Et Thérapies Manuelles, Paris, France, 2013 – 2015
Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany, 2014
Tokyo Fitness Session, Tokyo, Japan, 2014 & 2016
Apollo Education, Beijing, China, 2014 & 2016
Dansarte, Patras, Greece, 2015
Movimiento Atlas, Madrid, Spain, 2015
Ritual and Research, Santa Barbara, California. 2015 – 2016
Center for Creative and Healing Arts, Missoula, Montana, 2015
Yoga on the Square, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 2015
Willow Street Yoga, Silver Spring, Maryland. 2015
Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing, China, 2016
Yoga Buddhi, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2016
Somaatikum, Saue, Estonia, 2016
Japanese Association of Somatics and Somatic Psychology (JASSP), 2016
Japan Association of Physical Education for Women (JAPEW), 2016
Guest teacher at numerous colleges and universities, including:
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California
Cornish College, Seattle, Washington
Denison University, Granville, Ohio
DOCH School of Dance and Circus, University of the Arts, Stockholm, Sweden
Dominican University, San Rafael, California
Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts
JFK University, Pleasant Hill, California
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts
National Taipei University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan
New York University, New York, NY
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Pomona College, Claremont, California
San Diego State University, San Diego, California
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
St. Mary’s College, Moraga, California (as Adjunct Assistant Professor)
Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Japan
University of California, Santa Barbara, California
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
University of Montana, Missoula, Montana
Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, 2017
Pioneer Award through the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (2023)