Rhythms of Resilience: Exploring the Dance for Parkinson's Program

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Episode 24.  Step into the world of healing movement in this episode as I shine a spotlight on the transformative Dance for Parkinson's program. I'll explore the profound impact of rhythmic expression on physical and emotional well-being, and how this program is fostering a community of resilience and hope.

Links:
Dance for PD 

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Episode Transcript

Lisa (00:00):
Imagine your body begins to have uncontrolled tremors.
Walking turns into a shuffle.
Something as simple as bringingyour fork to your mouth becomes
an unknown.
People who have Parkinson'sdisease experience this and many
other debilitating symptoms likestiff muscles, involuntary

(00:22):
movements, and problems withcoordination and balance.
It is a progressive disorderthat affects the nervous system
and parts of the body.
Controlled by the nerves likethe muscles.
Welcome to the Happy Sweat LifePodcast.
My name is Lisa Rung and in thisepisode I'm going to be talking

(00:42):
about and introducing you to theDance for PD or Dance for
Parkinson's Disease program.
It was started in 2001 by theMark Morris Dance Company.
They had opened a studio inBrooklyn, New York, and were
very committed to serving thecommunity.
One of the people that camethrough their door was a woman

(01:05):
named Ollie Westheimer, and shewas the founder of the Brooklyn
Parkinson's Group.
She proposed that the MarkMorris Dance Company start a
dance class for people who hadParkinson's.
And in October of that year, sixmembers of the Brooklyn
Parkinson's group took theirfirst class.

(01:27):
It was a bit of trial and error,but by 2005, they felt confident
enough with the benefits thatthey were seeing to give a demo
class for neurologists.
In 2007, Articles began toappear in newspapers and
magazines about the program andits benefits.

(01:48):
And in that same year, 30teachers attended the first
training workshop.
They have been expanding theiroutreach throughout the U.
S.
and overseas since then.
They are now in almost everystate in the U.
S., in 300 communities, and in28 countries.
In 20 Because of the pandemic,they were forced to go online

(02:14):
and they became a fully onlineprogram.
During that time, they attractedmore than 2, 000 participants in
38 countries.
In 2022, they restoredprogramming in 7 locations in
New York City.
and offered support toaffiliates to relaunch.

(02:38):
The Bowen Award for InclusiveChoreography was opened to an
international group ofcandidates as well.
So some of the benefits thatthey are seeing with the stance
class is a reduction in gait,tremor, reduced rates of

(03:02):
depression, increasedconfidence, and they don't
exactly know why that ishappening, but there have been
studies on dance for cognitivebenefits, and it's found that
dancing staves off dementia morethan any other activity, and

(03:28):
it's theorized that perhaps it'sbecause of the connection with
music and also having to learnSo as I said, some of the
benefits that they're seeingwith this also are reasons why

(03:51):
people would want to take it isbecause it helps with strength,
fluidity, flexibility, stamina,and balance.
It's stimulating cognitiveactivity that connects the mind
to the body.
It's shown to spark creativityand develop.

(04:13):
problem solving skills.
It supports social connectionand a sense of belonging.
And it is through dance that weexpress our stories and emotions
through our bodies.
So, in this dance class, thereis a variety of dance styles
that include contemporary,modern, and ballet, and they are

(04:35):
all adapted to accommodateparticipants ability.
The classes are aimed for bothpersons with Parkinson's and
their caretakers.
and the company and the classvalues accessibility, inclusion,
compassion, and artisticquality.

(04:57):
If you check out their website,which is danceforparkinsons.
org, you will see that there aremany ways that you can take a
class.
They have in person classes, asI mentioned before and also
Zoom.
They're still continuing withthat.
They offer the Zoom classes notonly in English, but I love

(05:19):
this, it's in Mandarin and inSpanish.
They have a digital classlibrary, which is available for
streaming and downloading.
They have some DVDs and homeinstructional videos.
And then I thought this wasreally unique, but definitely
really needed for people whodon't have internet connection

(05:41):
and can't make it to class.
You can do dance by phone.
So you call in and you'll getinstructions over the phone
about what movements you shouldbe doing.
most of the offerings are freebecause this is a non profit
organization.
Some of it is, they do have acost to it, but it's pretty low.

(06:07):
And the other thing that's onthe website which I thought was
really interesting is So there'slots of articles that have been
written about the connectionbetween the benefits of dance
and improvement in Parkinson'sdisease symptoms.

(06:30):
So, one of the things too that'spretty interesting is actually
music, how music plays intohelping with movement.
So I was reading that it's oftenused by, or increasingly used by
therapists and exerciseprofessionals to improve

(06:52):
walking, balancing, and otheractivities related to your gait.
Music has an effect oncognition.
And movement.
And people, when they'refocusing on the music rather
than their problems, it seems toreally help with their mobility.
There's also a phenomenon calledRAS, or Rhythmic Auditory

(07:16):
Stimulation, in which music isused to encourage subconscious
processes in the body to improvethe efficiency of physical
movements.
And I found another term whichis ergo, Ergogenic, which is
Work and stamina enhancingeffect of music.

(07:41):
It says that certain music helpsto eliminate or reduce people's
feeling of tiredness andincrease their exercise
capacity.
And if you've ever run orexercised, exercise to music.
I, I've had the experience thatit just, it seems to make the

(08:03):
exercise time go by faster.
It's more enjoyable.
If you're running, it can kindof help with your tempo maybe
keep you running faster than youmight normally do if you're not
listening to music.
And then the other interestingstudy that I was reading about

(08:24):
in terms of music is that, therewas a study that was published
in November of 2023 in ascientific journal, which was
called Cognition, and theyworked with 27 newborns and
discovered that these babieswere able to hear a beat and,

(08:52):
one of the research, researchersand authors.
Most people can easily pick upthe beat in music and judge
whether the music is gettingfaster or slower.
It seems like an inconsequentialskill.
However, since perceivingregularity in music is what

(09:14):
allows us to dance and makemusic together, it is not a
trivial phenomenon.
In fact, beat perception can beconsidered a fundamental human
trait that must have played acrucial role in the evolution of
our capacity for music.

(09:35):
So I just think it's reallyinteresting When you combine
music and dance, just the powerof that for helping in so many
different ways with depressionand with the Parkinson's and

(09:56):
probably other types of issuesthat we might not have explored
yet.
So anyway, I would highlyrecommend that you check out the
Dance for PD website and look atall of the resources and classes

(10:18):
that they have available.
And if you do have any commentsor questions I would love to
hear from you.
Just email me at HappySweatLifeat gmail.
com.
Thanks for listening and if youhaven't already subscribed I'd
love you to do that.