David Leventhal writes:
We regularly work with people who use walkers in the class, and have several in our Brooklyn class who dance with walkers. First, we use a team-teaching approach with several volunteers in our Brooklyn class so there is often someone on hand to help who is trained to dance with someone in a way that minimizes the risk of a ‘double fall’. There are a few techniques we use. One is to have someone on either side of the walker user, so that they are moving across the floor as a trio (this is a nice way to dance as well). Another is to have one of our teachers explain some modifications so that the walker can be used and integrated into across-the-floor combinations (ie, taking out the arm moves but focusing instead on the foot rhythms or choreographed steps). We also have a long wall barre in our studio so that someone is able to go across the room while holding on to a solid barre for the entire duration. Finally, I sometimes dance with someone by facing them and holding both of their hands (in essence, I become the walker) and I walk backwards. Most dancers are trained in partnering, so we have a good sense of weight sharing and balance, and I am not scared to do this. This allows the students to move across the room without the walker, and to use the dancer/assistant as a partner/support.

It’s important to remember that there are two basic kinds of mechanisms on walkers–those that brake when you press them, and the U-Step which is specially designed for Parkinson’s and only releases to move forward when you press the handle down. It’s good to have a sense of what your student is working with.

If you have other ideas for integrating people with walkers seamlessly into the class, please write to us so that we can share your approach with other teachers.

One of my regular class attendees knows that our dance class began one year ago tomorrow, and we were discussing our “anniversary” during class last Thursday about class this coming week. With eager enthusiasm she said in relationship to her improved physical abilities “We have come so far in one year! Imagine how much better we’ll be next year since we’ve improved so much this year! Wow!”

Members of the Brooklyn Parkinson Group will participate in a demonstration Dance for PD class at the 2012 Unity Walk in New York’s Central Park on Saturday, April 28. The Unity Walk is the largest grassroots event to raise Parkinson’s awareness and funds to find a cure. Since 1994, families, friends, caregivers and representatives from the Walk’s sponsors and seven major U.S. Parkinson’s foundations have gathered once a year in unity, with 100% of donations going directly to Parkinson’s disease research. While more than 10,000 people are expected to turn out for the event, many others raise funds from home and support the Walk without ever coming to Central Park. Faculty from the Mark Morris Dance Group will lead the Dance for PD demo class, which will also feature live musical accompaniment. Click on the logo to the left for more information, or call 866-PUW-WALK (866-789-9255)

David Leventhal writes:
We don’t tend to ‘track’ our dance classes, although over the years I’ve certainly come to understand the desire to have a separate Young Onset group and philosophically I’m not opposed to it. I would like to consider several scenarios.

First, what about someone who is “Young Onset” but declines more quickly than peers and has trouble keeping up. Are they bumped out of the Young Onset class, or do they get to stay with their age cohort even though they may need to go at a much slower pace? And generally, when does that Young Onset class become a regular Dance for PD class and a new Young Onset class start? Does that cohort stay together, or do they join a more age-appropriate group? Another example is someone with PD who is 78 but newly diagnosed and very fit and energetic; they may be a more suitable dance colleague for Young Onsetters than someone who is 52 and has real mobility issues or dyskinesia because they’ve been dealing with PD since 35.

I guess the big question is how you define who gets to be in the Young Onset class, and how do you negotiate transitions into and out of that particular label? Those are going to be difficult negotiations, so it would be good to think about them in advance. I don’t think anyone is going to want to be transitioned out, so over time, the class will probably become a diverse Dance for PD class since peoples’ progressions are all going to be different.

In general, in promoting such a class, you can certainly be clear about your parameters but I wouldn’t, when it comes down to it, ever outwardly exclude anyone of any level. We have the same policy for our Dance for PD class when it comes to other conditions. It is a class for people with Parkinson’s, and we’re very clear about that. But we do not turn away other people who may be curious about the program and have another physical condition. Over time, we find that they don’t return consistently (they get the sense on their own that they don’t belong since there’s such a PD-centered vibe, but we don’t do anything to discourage them).

Sometimes we hear from newly diagnosed persons that they aren’t comfortable participating in a class in which they may be faced with people whose Parkinson’s is more advanced than their own. I try to remind people that when faced with such life-changing news there may be many areas in which not knowing all of the details might suit our current state of being. However, we all set out on this wonderful adventure called life and no two people have exactly the same experience throughout time. In a similar way, there is no way of knowing how each person diagnosed with PD is going to experience the progression of the disease. In taking a step forward into the unknown of a Dance for PD class one might find the benefits of dancing and improving the ability to multi-task, improve posture and balance, carry a rhythmic beat and step in time all while developing friendships and a community of support a valuable asset for all of us. I tell them that there will be a professional dancer/teacher leading the group and so I encourage them to focus all of their energies on the teacher and on the possibilities of studying dance and becoming the greatest dancer they can possibly be. And if more encouragement is needed, I would recommend that the participant access the Dance for PD website with classroom footage and verbal feedback from the class attendees to encourage participation and build enthusiasm.

David Leventhal and John Heginbotham lead a Dance for PD commmunity pilot class at Princeton Dance and Theater Studio/Dance Vision, Princeton, NJ in January, 2011. Classes like these often lead to the development of an on-going local program led by professional dance artists.

“The class itself was incredibly fun! I can’t even tell you what all we did, mostly because I can’t remember what the steps were called. Our teachers, Private Freeman and Sharon Wehner, are professional dancers and we had a lovely woman providing live music for our efforts. And effort it was. I learned a lot of things yesterday.

Then the music started and we danced from our chairs, behind our chairs, and then across the room. It didn’t matter that we weren’t perfect. I was moving to the music and I felt like a dancer! I credit the teachers for this. They treat us as though we are peers and they make it clear that our movements, even if they are limited, are beautiful to them. They didn’t have to say this, it was obvious in every way they interacted with us. This could be another benefit of the class. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll start to see my movements as beautiful, too.”

Read Terri’s blog

Researchers, clinicians, therapists, fellow patients and Dance for PD program manager David Leventhal presented information about medical techniques, research, diet, exercise and dance to more than 500 people with PD and caregivers at the Sunflower Revolution Sept. 10 in Cincinnati, OH. The message was clear: there is lots people can to to live well with Parkinson’s, and there are committed professionals in a variety of fields who want to help.

The Gardner Center, University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute, and University of Cincinnati Health sponsored the annual event, with participation from the Davis Phinney Foundation, which shared a video of Phinney offering words of inspiration and declaring the room a “tremor-safe zone.”

After lunch, Leventhal taught participants several dance phrases, including a short phrase of Mark Morris company repertory, and spoke about the Dance for PD program’s development, approach and philosophy. Leventhal’s participation was a part of an effort by the Tri-State Parkinson’s Chapter (APDA) to start Dance for PD classes in Cincinnati in 2011/2012. The day before, more than 50 people with Parkinson’s and their families attended two back-to-back Dance for PD community classes with Leventhal, organized by the chapter and local community leader Elizabeth Grover at de la Arts Place.

For more information about the Sunflower Revolution, please click here.

Twenty people with Parkinson’s, their friends and families participated in a Dance for PD community class with Mark Morris Dance Group dancers Sam Black and Lesley Garrison at Jacob’s Pillow Friday, August 26. The class coincided with performances by the Mark Morris Dance Group in the Ted Shawn Theater and an Inside/Out performance of choreography by John Heginbotham, one of Dance for PD’s founding teachers. The class was co-presented by the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and the Mark Morris Dance Group and took place in the Ben and Estelle Sommers Studio, home of The School at Jacob’s Pillow, of which both Garrison and Heginbotham are alumni. “We were thrilled to be able to work with the Pillow to offer this program to the community,” said David Leventhal, Dance for PD’s program manager and another alumni of The School at Jacob’s Pillow. “Participants really seemed to appreciate the opportunity to dance together in this historic and beautiful setting, and to meet and network with others in the Parkinson’s and PD support communities.”

For those in the Berkshires who are interested in dancing through out the year, Megha Buttenheim offers on-going movement classes called Let Your Yoga Dance for Parkinson’s. More information is available here.

Two new Dance for Parkinson’s classes are launching in Denver as a result of months of planning and collaboration among several local partners and Dance for PD staff. One class, presented by Parkinson Association of the Rockies in association with Colorado Ballet will take place in the studios of Colorado Ballet and will be led by CB principal dancer Sharon Wehner and Private Freeman, a dancer with Ballet Nouveau who taught Dance for PD classes in Berkeley, CA before moving to Colorado. The other class, presented by Art as Action will take place under the leadership of dancer, choreographer and Art as Action Artistic Director Sarah Leversee and will be presented at A Living Arts Centre.

“We are thrilled by the opportunity to bring a nationally recognized model to the communities we serve,” said Cheryl Siefert, the executive director of the Parkinson Association of the Rockies. “We look forward to adopting this model locally, and hope to add it long-term to the innovative programs and services we currently offer those living with Parkinson’s disease in the Rocky Mountain region.”

The class launch follows a Dance for PD training workshop in early August that was co-presented by the Association and by the University of Denver. The workshop brought teachers from five states to learn the Dance for PD approach from the program’s founders. To view a moment from the teacher training workshop’s demo class, please click here.

“Having danced for 25 years, it means a great deal to me to bring the power of dance and artistic expression to a group of people who have been deeply betrayed by their bodies and need to find new ways to connect and move,” said Sarah Leversee, Artistic Director of Art as Action. “Art as Action’s mission is to use the power of collaborative art to create social change – and working with the Parkinson Association of the Rockies to create the foundation of an innovative model here in Colorado epitomizes that goal.”

For more information about the classes, please click here.