Andréa Labbée on Facilitating a Workshop Series That Supports Addiction Recovery Through Movement

Artist, behavioral-health technician, and motivational speaker Andréa Labbée presented Miss Enfranchised in 2024, supported by Creative Connections, an initiative by South Florida’s Pioneer Winter Collective to extend the impact of performances supporting inclusivity. Her autobiographical dance-theater solo, which explored addiction, loss, and healing, gave rise to Recovery in Motion, an ongoing weekly session that blends 12-step and creative-therapy approaches to bolster sobriety. Group exercises engage the imagination and energize the body as participants reach into a toolbox common to art-makers.

Sixty-six-year-old Labbée and her co-facilitators are complementary forces: A lengthy stage trajectory lets Octavio Campos apply postmodern explorations to personal growth, and former dance-ministry leader Darryl Brown fosters the practice of faith and resilience. Labbée’s journey into herself has led her to handing others a torch on their own paths forward.

I have a very dark, painful story of active addiction. When I fully embrace­d­­ my recovery, I reconnected to my music, theater, and dance.

Coming up in a privileged New England family, I was given every opportunity. That was part of the problem. When I entered the University of Miami, following my adored father’s footsteps, I had already­ started a dance company at a small liberal arts college in Indian­a­­ and performed as a showgirl in Las Vegas. I was hubris walking.

I graduated magna cum laude with a business administration degree. But my using was getting predominant. Performing took a back seat to hanging on—though I worked at a law firm for years.

By 1995 everything I owned was gone. I was living in abandoned buildings, parking lots, sleeping on cardboard. They call this the gift of desperation. In 2015, I was dying in a broken-down car when my number one angel, the man who’s stayed by me through all my errant behavior, put me into crisis treatment. I call it the best decision I never made. I pretty much had to be rebuilt.

The Collective provided everything I needed to create Miss Enfranchised: A Life Unimagined. There were many times in the studio with a lot of difficult remembrances, a lot of tears. This was cathartic.

In the midst of that, Carol Butler, my dance teacher from the time I was 6 to 20, passed away. I dedicated the piece to her, using Jackson Browne’s “For a Dancer” as tribute—for me, a full-circle moment since one time a group of us former students used the song to celebrate her decades of teaching in Massachusetts. Miss Enfranchised premiered on June 15, exactly on my ninth soberversary.

Afterwards I was energized, then followed what Pioneer [Winter] and I talked about as a postpartum experience. But he’d witnessed the positive response from the audience, many from the recovery community. He’s such an advocate for well-being he proposed a project to combine healing and creativity. I said, “Well, I’m in.” Having done motivational speaking since early in my recovery and with a performance background, I didn’t fear this.

Octavio [Campos] has been my primary collaborator for Recovery in Motion. We wrote a preamble, a format, prayers—all in the context of movement and recovery. In a way we put together our own steps program. After all, in today’s world it seems everyone is trying to recover from something.

We’ve dealt with mending fences and being accountable for good character. Addiction is such a lonely disease, so we talk about relationships—that’s a big one! Are we standing still or growing? I always say I’m not a human being having spiritual experiences but a spiritual being dealing with human experience, and having to do that without unhealthy coping mechanisms.

We open our sessions in a circle with a prayer. We ask a check-in question and voice a personal bill of rights to make this a safe space. We warm up, sitting at first, and gradually move to a standing position. After a little choreography, we talk about it to check how everyone’s feeling. In this we come up with a guiding concept, say, surrender, and figure out what to do with the music. Participants act out what this looks like for them. We love to have them create their own scenarios. We’ve done various things in different cycles: Reiki, a sound bath, a garden party. These encourage everyone to be playful. You talk about such tough things here—you can’t let them go until you get back in touch with joy.

The post Andréa Labbée on Facilitating a Workshop Series That Supports Addiction Recovery Through Movement appeared first on Dance Magazine.

The Creative Process,addiction,Andréa Labbée,dance therapy,recovery,the creative process#Andréa #Labbée #Facilitating #Workshop #Series #Supports #Addiction #Recovery #Movement1775748781