Trudi Schoop (October 9, 1904 – July 14, 1999) was a Swiss dancer who pioneered the treatment of mental illness with

dance therapy Dance/movement therapy (DMT) in USA/ Australia or dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) in the UK is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance to support intellectual, emotional, and motor functions of the body. As a modality of the creativ ...

Life and work

Born in Switzerland, the daughter of the editor of the Swiss newspaper ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...

'', Her younger sister was Hedi Schoop. Schoop was mostly self-taught, though she did study some

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

after she was an established performer. She performed throughout the 1930s and made several tours of the United States, arranged by the

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

Sol Hurok Sol Hurok (Solomon Israilevich Hurok; born Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov, Russian Соломон Израилевич Гурков; April 9, 1888March 5, 1974) was a 20th-century American impresario. Early life Hurok was born in Pogar, Chernigov G ...

. Schoop, the performer, was often referred to as a female Charlie Chaplin. She often toured often under the moniker, "Trudi Schoop and her Dancing Comedians." Schoop stayed in Switzerland during World War II, and often performed in anti-

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

cabaret shows. She resumed touring after the war, but disbanded her dance company in 1947 and moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to undertake an exploration of dance as therapy for

schizophrenic Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

patients. Among the several California medical institutions where Schoop worked was the

Camarillo State Mental Hospital Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a public psychiatric hospital for patients with both developmental disabilities and mental illness in Camarillo, California. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to ...

, where she was recommended as a therapist by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

neuropsychiatrist Neuropsychiatry or Organic Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neurop ...

s who had reviewed her theories. 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. 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 Tina Keller-Jenny (born June 17, 1887 in Schwanden, Switzerland, died October 25, 1985 in Geneva) was a Swiss physician and Jungian psychotherapist who witnessed firsthand the development of analytical psychology during its formative years. B ...

. Many people who studied with her mentioned her sense of humor, warmth, and love. She died in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

. Her Ashes were scattered at sea, off the coast of Orange County, California

References

External links

Guide to the Collection on Trudi Schoop.
Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoop, Trudi 1904 births 1999 deaths Swiss female dancers Dance therapists Entertainers from Zürich

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links