By Alissa B Daschbach MA FF EMT
“Dance is for everybody.” Mark Morris
Some days you may be tired or unable to put one foot in front of the other. The day is weighing down on you like you are Atlas, carrying the world on your shoulders. But, you know you can’t let go, because the world will fall, and take you with it. So, you know you have to keep moving. You tell yourself, don’t stop moving.
But, what if you thought:
“Never, ever stop dancing.”
What Is Dance for PD®?
“Everything that helps a dancer move helps someone with Parkinson’s move.” Olie Westheimer
A beautiful community of dancers around the world has joined together to build a network of health and healing that reveals the power of dance in the management of Parkinson’s disease (PD). It’s called Dance for PD® – an internationally-renowned program that embraces the idea that people with Parkinson’s can benefit from the insight and techniques used by dancers to guide their own bodies and minds.
In 2001, Olie Westheimer – dancer and founder of the Brooklyn Parkinson’s Group (BGP) – approached the internationally-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group with a request. She proposed a new dance program that embraced the beauty of dance for individuals living with Parkinson’s disease.
Olie led a group for PD in Brooklyn, and she became increasingly aware that people with Parkinson’s disease felt trapped by the symptoms in their bodies and by their diagnosis. She also noticed that they felt constrained by the medicalized nature of their lives. This group inspired her to create a specialized dance class for people with Parkinson’s.
Using her own experience as a professional dancer, Olie knew that dancers trained their minds and bodies to execute difficult movements with power, confidence, and grace. Westheimer understood that these attributes combined with the cognitive strategies used during dance training would be beneficial for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Thus, Dance for PD® was born. Two incredibly-gifted dancers, John Heginbotham and David Leventhal, began to lead monthly classes with the help of a professional musician. These classes were offered free of charge at the Mark Morris Center for Dance in Brooklyn, New York. These classes still take place and they are still free.
Dance for PD® is now offered worldwide, an internationally-acclaimed program that offers research-backed dance classes both online and in-person. Today, more than 400 other communities of people with Parkinson’s disease in 30 countries are experiencing the benefits of dance.
Read: Remember Who We Are: A Dance for PD Instructor Speaks
Dance and Parkinson’s disease
“When the dance class is going on, there are no patients. There are only dancers.“ Reggie Butts in documentary Capturing Grace
Dance is a fundamental part of the human experience, with the oldest depictions of people dancing found in prehistoric caves in India dating back to the upper paleolithic period (~50,000 -10,000 years ago). This ancient movement system offers people the opportunity to not simply express themselves, but innumerable other benefits. These include physical benefits like improved muscle tone, balance, endurance, and strength AND mental health benefits (i.e., self-confidence, satisfaction, and social support).
These benefits have been especially relevant for people managing Parkinson’s disease (see details of scientific studies below). Using music and movement, programs that teach dance for Parkinson’s help people to increase coordination, balance, and flexibility while also enriching their lives through artistic expression.
People come to class for a wide variety of reasons. Some look to improve mood or retain a sense of home. Others are looking to work on specific skills like gait or balance. Dancers with Parkinson’s disease also realize that they can try other activities because of the built confidence developed in class.
While balance, strength, and coordination are all important aspects of dance, the primary goal is the aesthetics of movement – to move with grace for the sake of beauty. But, this is not all. A dancer often will use music and movement to express emotions and to tell a story. Here is where many in Dance for PD® classes discover that, through dance, a certain freedom is found.
What dancers and people living with Parkinson’s disease have in common
“I don’t want to fall. And, I don’t want to look stupid.” Dancer living with Parkinson’s
People who dance for a living and people with Parkinson’s have the same challenges. A choreographer expects their dancers to memorize and perform complex movements that are difficult and challenging. A person with Parkinson’s also faces these challenges: life is their choreographer.
A dancer must be aware of where all parts of the body are in space and at all times. So does a person with Parkinson’s. To help navigate moving through space, a dancer will rigorously train to develop strength, flexibility, and balance. These same core components of movement are impaired in Parkinson’s. Yet, through dance, improvements can potentially be made in these areas, that in turn improve movement through space and overall quality of life.
Movement of any kind is at its core a cognitive practice. Both dancers and people with Parkinson’s understand the complexity of movements and use strategies to get their bodies to move through space. Dancers execute complex movements through practicing sequences of movements using intense concentration. A professionally trained dancer has so much to teach a person with Parkinson’s disease because of this experience.
What are the benefits of dance for Parkinson’s disease?
Studies have shown that physical and cognitive activities like dance offer neuroprotective and mental health benefits for people with Parkinson’s disease. Recent research suggests that dance can improve motor skills like balance, strength, and walking ability while also supporting non-motor related symptoms and mental health.
Other benefits include:
- Improved executive function (practicing spontaneous decision-making improves inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility)
- Improved cognitive health (long-term dance participation is associated with improved cognitive outcomes)
- Emotional benefits (reduced depressive feelings, increased feelings of self-efficacy)
- Social benefits (increased sense of belonging and social support)
Dance in particular has been shown to promote neuroplasticity in the brain, including in those regions that influence motor control (i.e., basal ganglia). These benefits, however, reach beyond the central nervous system. Dance has been shown to reduce feelings of self-consciousness, restore sense of autonomy and self-control, and boost confidence – all of which improve overall well-being.
Why dance? Isn’t exercise just as good for me?
Exercise and dancing are quite beneficial for Parkinson’s disease, with some studies suggesting that both may slow down the progression of the disease. HIIT (high-intensity interval training) exercise, for instance, has been shown to be neuroprotective in some studies.
You may be wondering, then why shouldn’t I just exercise?
Heart rate, stamina, balance, and strength are all being worked on when you are exercising or dancing, and have been shown to be beneficial for improving symptoms. Dance, however, may have distinct benefits when compared to exercise alone.
What sets dance apart?
Dance, when compared with other forms of exercise matched in intensity, appears to yield different motor and non-motor outcomes because of the intrinsic artistic elements inherent in dance. Music (often live), metaphorical language, and the shared experience of artistic expression are unique elements of dance distinct from exercise alone. But, it is the specific relationship of movement to these elements that sets dance apart.
Study: Beauty That Moves
One small study, aptly titled Beauty that Moves: Dance for Parkinson’s Effects on Affect, Self-Efficacy, Gait Symmetry, and Dual Task Performance (2021), explored the distinction between the benefits of dance and other forms of exercise. The authors hypothesized that dance yields different outcomes – both motor and non-motor – because of the aforementioned intrinsic artistic elements.
In the study, the researchers compared the impact of a single Dance for PD® class to the impact of a similar movement intervention that, while equal in intensity and structure, lacked the artistic elements found in dance. Simply put, the effects of one dance class was compared to the effects of an exercise class for each participant.
At the conclusion of the Beauty That Moves study, the researchers reported that after dancing, the participants showed a greater improvement in gait performance and dual task performance as compared to exercise alone. They also reported higher emotional arousal and an increased positive affect after dance class.
This study suggests that what sets dance apart from other physical activities centers around the shared feelings of grace and beauty inspired by evocative music and metaphorical imagery within the participants. Lastly, the researchers observed that the participants’ experience was highlighted by their identification of themselves as “dancers”. They concluded that dance – when compared to an exercise intervention of matched intensity – yielded these differences through the means of these embedded artistic qualities specific to the dance experience.
The Beauty That Moves study is one example of a growing body of studies reporting the benefits of dance in Parkinson’s disease. Some of these benefits were witnessed by Olie Westheimer when she began the Dance for PD® program over 20 years ago. Today, these insights are supported by science and translated into accessible opportunities for people at all levels of experience in dance classes.
Getting started with Dance for PD®
Even if you have never danced before, you may find that Dance for PD® is just what you are looking for to get moving. If you need motivation, consider the following testimonials from dancers with Parkinson’s:
- “I did not have to explain to anyone why I moved differently and that was such a freeing feeling.” Dance for PD® participant NYC
- “It has helped my concentration, grasping memory thus leaving me more confident.” Dance for PD® participant, Pune, India
- “The focus is not illness; it is living. It is self-expression, human connection, beauty, love. It’s magic.”
One of the easiest ways to get started is to watch or join an online class. Here are some tips for getting started.
Find a class
Dance for PD®classes may be taking place in your community. However, if this option is not feasible for you, there are many online classes you can take! You can find them here: https://danceforparkinsons.org/take-a-class/for-dance-for-pd-beginners/
Prepare a safe space for an online class
When you begin dancing remotely, there are a few important things to prepare a safe space for you to practice your new artform. You will need a chair, something sturdy like from your kitchen table, that you can easily move. Be sure to choose appropriate footwear too. Dance for PD® recommends dancing barefoot or with socks (that are not too slippery). Otherwise, ballet or jazz shoes work well too – anything that allows you to articulate movements through your feet.
Honor yourself
Remember always, there is no wrong way to dance! As you explore this new adventure, honor yourself first and foremost. This means being aware of your own comfort level and giving yourself the freedom to change anything that doesn’t feel right to you.
Before you take a live class, you can always try a recorded version that allows you to pause or rewind to work through unfamiliar movements.
And, when you are in a live class, put yourself first. Pause, take a break, slow down the movements, or stick to simplicity by practicing only one movement at a time. This is your place to celebrate dance in your way.
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About the author
Alissa Daschbach, MA FF EMT began dancing as a child. She returned to dance in her thirties at the same time she was pursuing graduate work in medical anthropology and natural product chemistry. During the pandemic she turned to writing, and has written scientific content for Bened Life and other publications.
Recommended reading:
Remember Who We Are: A Dance for PD Instructor Speaks
