The Center for Movement Education and Research (CMER) is a non-profit
corporation which
was established in 2003 to promote education in movement and dance as
a creative and
integrated source for improving educational, medical, social and cultural
domains.
CMER has an advisory board of nationally and internationally recognized
dance/movement
educators, teachers, dance/movement therapists, dance artists, medical
doctors,
psychologists and university dance professors.
CMER DMT Faculty Members
Pamela Fairweather,
ADTR, NCC, RPC DMT Director of Southern California
Courses
Pamela Fairweather is
the CMER DMT Director of Southern California Courses and a DMT
faculty member. In addition to many years of clinical practice,
Pamela has held faculty positions at UCLA and CSULB, served on
the Board of Directors of the American Dance Therapy Association
as the Committee Chair of Education, Research & Practice, and served on the Editorial Board of
the Arts in Psychotherapy Journal.
Janet Lester, Psy.D.,
ADTR
DMT Director Of Northern California Courses
Dr. Janet Lester is a the CMER DMT Director
of Northern California Courses and a DMT faculty member. Dr.
Lester is a psychologist and dance/movement therapist who specializes
in working with children and adolescents in school and mental
health settings. She is currently Assistant Vice President
of the Family Resource Center at Hathaway- Sycamores Child
and Family Services, a community based prevention and intervention
program for children and adolescents. Janet has extensive professional
experience supervising dance/movement therapy interns.
Judy Gantz, MA, CMA
- CMER Director & Founder
Judy Gantz is the Founder and Director of
CMER. Judy taught and developed curriculum at UCLA (1982 to
2005). Alongside a strong academic career, Judy was the former
Fitness Editor for Shape magazine, Co-Editor of Kinesiology
for Dance, and she is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst.
Karen Clippinger,
M.S.P.E.
Karen Clippinger received her masters in
Exercise Science from the University of Washington and currently
is a professor at California State University, Long Beach.
She has worked for over 20 years in the areas of injury prevention
and rehabilitation for dance and sports. Ms. Clippinger has
worked with hundreds of dancers including members of the Joffrey,
Mark Morris, Bill Evans and Alwin Nikolais companies. She has
also consulted for the U.S. Weightlifitng Federation, U.S.
Race Walking Team, the California Governor's Council on Physical
Fitness and Sports, and various sports medicine clinics and
fitness facilities. Ms. Clippinger is a well published in the
areas related to dance and sports kinesiology. She wrote a
monthly column for Shape Magazine, was co-editor-in-chief of
the Journal for Dance Medicine and Science from 1996-2005,
and recently completed her textbook titled Dance Anatomy and
Kinesiology..
Irma Dosamantes-Beaudry,
PH.D., PSY.D., ADTR
Irma Dosamantes-Beaudry is an interdisciplinary
practitioner and scholar. Trained as a modern dancer, psychologist,
and psychoanalyst, her published work bridges these disciplines.
Prior to coming to UCLA in 1977 as a Professor of Dance Therapy,
she had danced with Alwin Nikalois and Murray Louis at Henry
Street in New York City, been an Associate Professor Of Psychology
at California State University in Los Angeles, and established
a clinical private practice in Los Angeles. During 1977-1999,
she served as the Director of the Graduate Dance/Movement therapy
program at UCLA.
Suzanne Ecker, MA, ADTR, MFT
Suzanne Ecker is a CMER DMT faculty member,
dance/movement therapist and psychotherapist in private practice.
She has taught workshops and courses at CSULB, Santa Monica College,
and Phillips Graduate Institute, as well as provided services
to a number of hospitals and mental health agencies. She is currently
training to become an analyst at the C. G. Jung Institute of
Los Angeles
Forest Franken, ADTR,
MA, MFA
Forest Franken received both her M.A. in
dance/movement therapy (1995) and her M.F.A. in choreography
(2003) from UCLA. Her work as a dance/movement
therapist spans thirteen years in inpatient psychiatric hospitals,
intensive outpatient programs, and rehabilitation facilities
with adolescents, adults, and seniors. Since 2001, she has worked
at UCSF/Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics. Her
current focus involves the teaching of Authentic Movement with
attention to the discipline as a vehicle for creative work
and for containing and expressing life changes/losses related
to the body.
Berti Klein,
MA, MCAT, MSS, NCC, ADTR
Berti Klein has spent over 35 years studying
and facilitating many aspects of dance, movement, dance/movement
therapy, authentic movment, somatic psychology, counseling,
bodywork, meditation, and the body-mind-emotion-spirit relationship.
She holds five Masters degrees and will receive a Doctorate
in Spiritual Science in June, 2009. Additionally, she has a
background in Nurturing Touch having studied and currently
practicing CranioSacral, Polarity, Oriental Medicine, Shiatsu,
JIN SHIN, and Chi Gong. Her teaching career has included courses
at Yale University, University of Santa Monica, Hahnemann Medical
University and the National University of Mexico while having
presented workshops, trainings, classes and seminars throughout
the U.S., Europe and Latin America.
Dawn Lyon, MA, ADTR
Dawn Lyon is a CMER DMT faculty member, and
has over twenty-five years of experience working as a dance/movement
therapist with adults in in-patient psychiatric, day treatment
and residential facilities and with children, adolescents, and
seniors in in-patient settings. She developed the dance/movement
therapy internship training program at Metropolitan State Hospital
where she is currently on staff.
Janice Meaden, MA, CLMA, RSMT
Janice Meaden is a CMER faculty member, and
the Director, and faculty of the Integrated Movement Studies Certificate
Program in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies at the University
of Utah where she holds the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor
in the Department of Modern Dance. She is a Certified Laban/Bartenieff
Movement Analyst, a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and
a Body-Mind Centering Practitioner.
Shira Musicant, MA,
ADTR, MFT, SEP
Shira Musicant is a CMER faculty member, dance/movement
therapist, somatic experiencing practitioner, and body centered
psychotherapist. With over twenty five years of clinical experience,
she has taught, led workshops, and published in the fields of
dance/movement therapy and Authentic Movement. Shira has extensive
hospital and agency experience with a range of psychiatric and
medical patients, and is currently in private practice, working
with people recovering from both developmental and acute trauma.
Paula Perlman, ADTR,
MFT
Paula Perlman, MFT, ADTR, is a member of
American Dance Therapy Association, Dance and the Child International
(DACI), and the California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapist (CAMFT). She received her Masters Degree in Dance/Movement
Therapy in 1983 from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
In 1987 she became a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
and in 1999 she received her certification as a Laban/Bartenieff
Movement Analyst. She studied choreography at the University
of California, Los Angeles, and dance/movement improvisation, “Logomotion,” with
Simone Forti for six years. Additionally, she has twelve years
experience as a participant in an Authentic Movement group.