Who am I? An artist. A lawyer. A movement research addict.
In 2017, whilst recovering from bunion surgery, I created the (re) MOVE ME initiative, which encompasses all of my arts based movement research work. In this case, it is aimed at encouraging patients recovering from surgery to be active participants in designing, developing and documenting a personalized post-‐operative protocol. Regarding my post-op protocol, I have been drawing from my dance training and my training as a GYROTONIC® instructor to design my own personalized protocol, with the supervision of my physiotherapist, Alessandro Visconti in Milan, Italy. Together with my arts brand MAstudioLAB, we created a film, which documents this experience.
Correct Toes® gave me kinetic confidence during my recovery after my surgery. I was unable to use them on the foot that had been operated on, but I wore one of them on my other foot, so that I could really focus on my alignment as I recovered. I also bought a pair of LEMS shoes (which I found out about from the Correct Toes® website) which improved my foot health enormously. I structured my post-operative recovery in such a way that the exercises I was doing and the health aids that I was using, like Correct Toes® or LEMS shoes, would become a life-long habit, instead of merely to be used in the immediate, short term post-operative phase. I have learned so much during this time, about just how proactive I need to be to commit myself to foot health and overall alignment. I have also shared my experiences with my surgical team, my physiotherapist, my osteopath, fellow artists, other GYROTONIC® instructors, dancers, just about anybody who will listen! I also created a post-op protocol including photographs to document my recovery, which includes pictures of the products I found helpful–and why–as well as links to various websites where you can also find educational tools for foot health. This inspired the film referred to before, which is part of a multi-media post-operative protocol package that I am designing for medical professionals here in Milan.
The experience of learning about and experimenting with Correct Toes®, taught me that I need to continue to learn and to experiment with alignment, every day, just as I used to do when I studied dance.
I would like to dance again. Not as I danced before. But I would like to find a path to dance that is healthy, and that allows me to align myself and express what I am unable to do through other media. I would like to dance again, because it is part of my voice and the way I see. I would like to dance again, to enjoy my body and not become afraid of it. I would like to dance again as it is catching and I love the way I have been able to encourage and inspire people of all shapes and sizes to move their groove! That is what (re) MOVE ME is all about. And Correct Toes® is a non-‐negotiable member of my kinetic confidence team.
I am Miriam Aziz and movement is my story.
Learn more about Miriam’s work and movement practices at her website.
