CLINICAL OBSERVATION: MOVEMENT QUALITY AND CLASSICAL ART Greek sculpture as a tool in understanding the phenomenon of movement quality

Previous research has shown that movement quality may be described as offering a general impression of a whole unified person, understood as a relation between postural stability, free breathing and awareness, which combined produce a refinement of movement as well as enhancing well-being. The phenomenon could further be structured in terms of four movement dimensions: structural, physiological, psychological/relational and a purely human dimension. So far we have little knowledge about these dimensions. The aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon of movement quality through close observation of Greek sculpture, reflection and literature studies relating to Greek sculpture. The aim was to see if these methods could be a tool for achievement of a deeper understanding of movement quality, in clinical observation and reasoning. A phenomenological method was used to study the essence of the phenomenon of movement quality. A study of Greek sculpture was chosen because of the way ancient Greek sculptors sought to express several dimensions of human existence. The results show that close observation, reflection and literature studies of Greek sculptures deepened the knowledge of the four dimensions of movement quality and provided a way in which this knowledge could be expressed in words. These methods may represent a tool for achieving a deeper understanding of movement quality in clinical observation and reasoning. & 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.