Professional Ethics Assignment

PHT 402

Artwork Chosen:

Four Seasons by Gregory Maqoma.

Please click on the link and watch the video to get a better understanding of my perception:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WSGbCu6Us8E

Picture 1: Winter

Picture 2: Spring

Picture 3: Autumn

Picture 4: Summer

Four Seasons:

This Contemporary African Dance was choreographed by Gregory Maqoma in 2010. Maqoma said “Four Seasons is a dance performance depicting destruction and deterioration of the human mind towards ourselves; towards life; towards each other; and towards the earth, it further embraces the beauty this planet provides. It is about giving hope to generations to come” (Media, 2010). This dance has inspired me since my Matric year, when it was introduced to me, which triggered a period of reflection and developed a sense of empathy within my clinical experience thus far. Also, seeing life from their perspective as a whole. I will focus my reflection on one of my patients (CVA), and how these ‘seasonal changes’ occurred in his life. Also, relating it to empathy, which is said to help a patient’s experience by improving their psychological well being , leading to the patient experiencing fewer negative emotions (fear, anxiety, demotivation) (Physiopedia, n.d).

In the first scene, the Winter season is introduced and the atmosphere is captured by the video projection of a dilapidated building (an after effect) – a feeling of loss and hopelessness. The lighting promotes a grey, cold feeling and the dancers are dressed in black capes with hoods (picture 1) which adds to the coldness of the unknown, with sharp and forceful movements, responding to the music. This corresponds to my 38 year old CVA patient’s feelings, after realizing the effect it had on his body – leaving him with unilateral spastic hemiplegia and facial paralysis. Furthermore, the realization of how his life will change physically and socially after the stroke. At this stage, I viewed my patient as his condition and focused more on analysing it, and had no sense of empathy towards my patient as yet.

In the second scene, the dancers start shedding their capes and reveal the spring colours in their costumes and become creatures in the wild – depicting spring as the beginning of life. The music becomes more rooted in African rhythms, and we see a burst of energy from different dancers (joyful dance). The lighting becomes warm and highlights the costumes. This joyfulness occurred as soon as I explained my purpose and aim within his treatment. I could see a sense of hope renewing within his eyes. He then became more motivated to better himself for his family. Our treatment sessions were productive and improvement in function was extremely visible. Additionally, I felt proud as his Physiotherapist and it always feels good to see progress within your patients. Our professional relationship grew, and simultaneously, did his functional activity.

Within the third scene (Autumn), the music sets the scene with the sound of wind blowing, building to a rock and roll feel – depicting chaos. The dancers become victims of strong winds, bodies are thrown to the floor, wind-milling and showing a sense of danger. In this way, my patient became a victim of this stroke which discouraged him occasionally. The costume and video projection reflects brown leaves depicting a dry season (picture 3). The two dancers left in the scene, accompanied by the sound of a violin, take us on a journey of survival, loss and pain. Additionally, a transition like this is never easy. Throughout our treatment sessions, the pain and journey of survival would return. He would become demotivated and I would be there to remind him where our treatment sessions are heading, and believe in him when he didn’t believe in himself. His functional level started deteriorating, due to the discouragement of his reality. I started feeling his pain and it slowly started affecting my personal emotions. I decided to motivate myself to be strong for his part.

The last scene presents with a sense of hope and a burst of joyful movements, with dancers in red costumes (picture 4). The music changes to Brazilian samba rhythms influencing the Samba-like movements. This section shows unity among the dancers and support for each other. My patient’s biggest fear is being a burden to his family. He eventually realized that they love him regardless of anything. They were supporting him through everything, and motivating him all the way. He had a different perspective towards life, and this was evident in his functional improvement. The video projection is the map of Africa, green in colour, depicting that the future is in Africa – an awakening, which my patient experienced eventually, resulting in the ability to do all ADLs independently and readaptation into his community. His progress made me so happy, because I know the amount of effort he put it in and I was grateful to see it all be worth it.

This piece empowered me to consider patients’ thoughts and feelings during certain experiences. The mind is a powerful organ, constantly influencing the rest of your being. The symbolism of the cyclical seasonal movement, relates to our own experiences as we each have a period of seasonal change within ourselves (Whats On In Cape Town, 2014). In this case, the seasonal change from a bread winner of a household to experiencing the effects of a CVA and the challenges of overcoming it, physically and mentally. We are taught to refrain from showing empathy towards our patients, and initially I never understood why. In the beginning of my post, I stated a fact that empathy is a positive attribute towards patients. However, showing empathy is the total opposite to the therapists showing it.

References:

• Media. (2010). Vuyani Dance Theatre explores Four Seasons. Retrieved on August 24, 2019, from https://www.mediaupdate.co.za/media/23954/vuyani-dance-theatre-explores-four-seasons
• Whats On in Cape Town. (2014). Review: Four Seasons. Retrieved on August 24, 2019 from https://www.whatsonincapetown.com/post/review-four-seasons/
• Physiopedia. (n.d). Effective Communication Techniques. Retrieved on September 8, 2019, from https://www.physio-pedia.com/Effective_Communication_Techniques

Links of the pictures:

1. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQgLt8jF1eULoiy38ZYqIvr9NvMGjSDoGAPzqkL-2xIWOHzNhG_
2. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzlC7Jmg9UCYjqbIU9CyP24c3HEK3RFTGlcSTrRasjSpK7uV0x
3. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT2ayN9YBh77C1wSty3_uvOIBKi9gUXUOw4TfgZw03ifqDTNzSn