New Dance Class Launches for Parkinson's Community

New Dance Class Launches for Parkinson's Community

View video of the class online here.

ORLANDO, Fla., January 24, 2011- The study of movement, balance and coordination is bringing dancers and those suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) together for the launch of Central Florida's first Dance for PD program. Now offered the third Friday of every month through the Florida Hospital Neuroscience Institute's Parkinson's Outreach Center and Rollins College, participants will explore elements of modern dance, ballet, tap and social dancing in an enjoyable, non-pressured environment that features live musical accompaniment.  No prior dance experience is necessary.  Classes are appropriate for anyone with PD, no matter how advanced.

"Dance is first and foremost a stimulating mental activity that connects mind to body," says Anissa Mitchell, Parkinson Outreach Coordinator. "It helps to develop flexibility and instill confidence.  It breaks isolation; it invokes imagery in the service of graceful movement.  Dance increases awareness of where all parts of the body are in space. Initial response to the class has been extremely positive from all participants."

The Dance for PD teaching approach, created by the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn, is built on a fundamental premise: professionally-trained dancers are movement experts whose knowledge is useful to persons with PD. Dancers know about the power of dance to concentrate mind, body, and emotion on movement; they use their thoughts, imagination, eyes, ears, and touch to control their bodies. Dance for PD classes incorporate essential four elements that are unique to dance in comparison to other forms of movement:

• Classical and contemporary technique training to build strength, flexibility and coordination skills,
• Improvisation and aesthetic interpretation to stimulate creativity and the imagination,
• Choreographic repertory and new movement sequences to develop cognitive strategies, and
• Circle dances, line dances and scene work to foster social interaction and create a sense of community.

"We observe, day in and day out, that people become able to sequence movement more easily, and move with increased grace, confidence and musicality. They learn specific repertory and technique, and get to develop a sense of mastery over the movement and their bodies," said David Leventhal, one of Dance for PD's founding teachers and its program manager.  "Of course dance addresses very specific issues that start to go away with a Parkinson's diagnosis, but primarily, we're interested in the change of attitude that comes when people with Parkinson's engage in an artistic learning environment like a dance class. Suddenly, they are surrounded by a world of possibility, not limitation, and it's liberating and inspiring for them and for us."

For more information about the Parkinson's Outreach Center and the Dance for PD program, please contact 407-303-5295.

For media inquiries only, contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at (407) 303-8217.

About Dance for PD

Dance for PD is a collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group (BPG).  MMDG/BPG started offering free dance classes for people with Parkinson's in 2001, after BPG's Executive Director Olie Westheimer approached MMDG with the initial idea for a class.  Since 2005, the two organizations have expanded the Dance for PD program into more than 40 other communities around the world by engaging participants in Dance for PD master classes, training teachers through intensive workshops, and nurturing relationships among organizations so that ongoing classes are available to local communities. 

www.floridahospitalnews.com

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