Trudi Schoop

Trudi Schoop (October 9, 1904, Zurich, Switzerland – July 14, 1999, Van Nuys, California) [1] was a Swiss dancer who pioneered the treatment of mental illness with dance therapy.[2]

Trudi Schoop
Born1904
Zurich, Switzerland
DiedJuly 14, 1999
Van Nuys, California
NationalitySwiss
Occupation(s)Dancer, Comedian and Therapist

Life and work

Born in Switzerland, the daughter of the editor of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung,[3] Her younger sister was Hedi Schoop. Schoop was mostly self-taught, though she did study some ballet and modern dance after she was an established performer. She performed throughout the 1930s and made several tours of the United States, arranged by the impresario Sol Hurok.[2] Schoop, the performer, was often referred to as a female Charlie Chaplin.[4] She often toured often under the moniker, "Trudi Schoop and her Dancing Comedians."[5]

Schoop stayed in Switzerland during World War II, and often performed in anti-Fascist cabaret shows. In a tribute article on Schoop, the American Journal of Dance Therapy told of her comic protest performances, "As the Germans marched relentlessly through Europe, her wishful fantasy led her to dance Hitler as the Dying Swan. A black tutu suggested the uniform of the SS and her face was adorned with a mustache. The German consul was outraged, and her own Swiss government was decidedly nervous."[6] She resumed touring after the war, but disbanded her dance company in 1947 and moved to Los Angeles, California[7] to undertake an exploration of dance as therapy for schizophrenic patients.

Among the several California medical institutions where Schoop worked was the Camarillo State Mental Hospital, where she was recommended as a therapist by UCLA neuropsychiatrists who had reviewed her theories.[7] Schoop developed what she called body-ego technique, which used movement to help draw patients out of isolation and help them to respond to, rather than shrink from, human contact.[8]

Schoop impacted countless people and is known as one of the founders of dance/movement therapy, based on the dance/movement therapy created by C.G:Jung in 1916. In Los Angeles she worked together with Tina Keller-Jenny.[9] Many people who studied with her mentioned her sense of humor, warmth, and love.[10]

She died in Van Nuys, California. Her Ashes were scattered at sea, off the coast of Orange County, California [11]

References
  1. Oliver, Myrna (July 21, 1999). "Obituary; Trudi Schoop; Comic Dancer, Mental Illness Therapist: [Home Edition]". Los Angeles Times. 18.
  2. Anderson, Jack (1999-07-23). "Trudi Schoop, 95, Pioneer In Therapy Using Dance". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  3. "Comic Dancer". TIME Magazine. 1936-01-06. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  4. Oliver, Myrna (July 24, 1999). "Comic dancer Trudi Schoop called female Charlie Chaplin: [Final Edition]". Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Que. F.13
  5. "DANCING COMEDIANS MAKE DEBUT TONIGHT: Trudi Schoop and Her Company From Switzerland to Appear Here in Two Ballets". New York Times. December 27, 1935. 14
  6. Chodorow, Govine, Gould, Verebes (September 1999). "Honoring and Remembering Trudi Schoop". American Journal of Dance Therapy.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Volume 21, Iss. 2, 1.
  7. "Trudi Schoop". Variety. 1999-08-03. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  8. Goertzel, May, Salkin, Schoop (1965). "Body-ego technique: An approach to the schizophrenic patient". Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) 141, 53-60.
  9. Pallaro, Patrizia (2007-01-15). Authentic Movement: Moving the Body, Moving the Self, Being Moved: A Collection of Essays - Volume Two. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-1846425868.
  10. Gilbert, Jeff. "Trudi Schoop: Passing on her Legacy (Thesis)".
  11. "Trudi Schoop (1903-1999) - Find A Grave Memorial". www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2017-12-30.

Further reading
  • Dance magazine, article, "Trudi's Here Again", (mime Trudi Schoop), February 1938.
  • Levy, Fran. 1988. "Trudi Schoop, Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Art."Reston, Virginia: The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
  • Mitchell, Peggy and Schoop, Trudi, "Won't You Join the Dance: A Dancer's Essay into the Treatment of Psychosis", National Press Books, ISBN 0874842298/9780874842296/0-87484-229-8.
  • Young, Therese Adams. "From Dance Mime to Dance Therapy", Thesis (M.A.)--Texas Woman's University, 1986. Microfiche.|bEugene :|cMicroform Publications, College of Human Development and Performance, University of Oregon, |d1988.|e2 microfiches : negative.
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