Ilene Is Still Dancing

Dr. Ilene Serlin, who was a clinical psychologist, a certified dance/movement therapist, and a dancer, made this difficult world a better place in countless ways. Her influence was far-reaching. Just as throwing a stone into a lake produces concentric ripples of water that we can see, and then further out many more ripples invisible to the human eye, so Ilene touched people close to her, and by transforming them, she affected the lives of others who they came into contact with, and still further on, all of those in their transformed state, touched others. And this changes our world.

In addition to her clinical practice in the San Francisco Bay area, Ilene helped people in multiple countries release trauma, lifting their pain through movement and dance. Her healing work needed no words, just the beautiful, graceful example of Ilene, dancing and swaying into emotional wellbeing for others to emulate and follow. Without spoken language and the limits of verbal communication, Ilene’s work became truly international, a cross-cultural healing available to anyone suffering the emotional and physical illnesses that can affect human beings, and the multiple traumas resulting from these times of societal unrest.

After starting her international trauma work in Israel, Ilene heard about the plight of Syrian refugees and worked with them in Turkey and Jordan. She then worked with Ethiopian Jews, who migrated to Israel, helping them adjust to their new homeland. Ilene’s most recent efforts were to combat antisemitism, which she approached as a Jew and as a citizen of the world. It was her goal for all of us to live and evolve in a climate of acceptance and harmony.

Ilene’s compassion also led her to China, where she was very active in China’s increasing interest in the efficacy of Expressive Arts Therapies. Her work was so popular that Ilene told me her students in China now had students of their own. In June 2019, Peking University Hospital’s International Existential Humanistic Institute invited Ilene to present a training demonstration in front of 40 psychiatrists plus additional medical doctors in the eating disorders division of their psychiatric center (Serlin, 2022; Zausner, 2022). Ilene worked with “M,” a young woman patient, age 22, who spoke English, but had been near death from severe anorexia and bulimia.

They danced slowly to Chinese folk songs, with Ilene letting M choose the music and guide the steps. M moved stiffly at first, but as she relaxed, her movements became more fluid, and she took Ilene’s hands. When the familiar Chinese peacock dance played on the tape, M began to lift and flutter both arms. Then, she bent her arms into a rocking motion as if caring for a sleeping infant. M, who had symbolically given birth to a new self through dance, declared to Ilene, “I want to change my life,” and Ilene replied, “You will” (Serlin, 2022, np). M said, “I’m hungry. I want to eat.” Ilene noticed that in the hushed atmosphere of the room, many doctors had tears streaming down and realized there were tears in her eyes too. She recognized the tears were wishes for M's well-being and for her gratitude to work as a healer.

I knew Ilene as Leni, the name she went by with family and old friends, and Leni and I were very old friends. We met over 50 years ago when Ilene was a dancer. I remember her then as being so graceful that she looked like a human/fawn, able to leap preternaturally high with consummate grace. The capacity to leap with consummate grace was lifelong. I recall a rainy day in California when people were cautiously making their way around puddles. Ilene, who was in her seventies then, soared over those puddles with seemingly effortless grace. I was astounded at her abilities.

I am one of those people who seem to be able to see to the other side after people have passed away. I don’t know if this ability came from a Near-Death Experience in early childhood after an accidental drowning or whether it is because I was born this way, but I could see Ilene. At first, I saw family members, who had died before, greeting Ilene with love and joy, which is standard for those who have passed away. Then I saw what appeared to be another room, with three very high-level historic Imams, dressed in beautiful religious garments from centuries ago. The clerics were commending Ilene for all the great help she had given to Muslim people during her lifetime. A third space appeared, and it was filled with Jewish people of Eastern European origin, making what appeared to be Klezmer music. Ilene was there having a good time with the music and dance of her childhood and youth.

A soul first visits these parts of the other side that are closest to our physical world, and then goes off into deeper places that I cannot see. Yet, I can see that her spirit is still active, doing the wonderful dance of invitation that she used in life to bring people onto the dance floor. Facing us, with her arms and hands outstretched in welcome, she is doing her little multistep of joy and connection. As I write this, I can still see Ilene dancing.