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Integrated Dance Collaboratory – Dance for Parkinson’s and Neuromuscular Conditions

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DANCE FOR PARKINSON’S AND NEUROMUSCULAR CONDITIONS

DANCE, as a holistic experience, helps the body reconnect damaged nerve cells.
DANCE supports existing neural pathways and helps to create new, alternative neural pathways to replace those that have been lost.
DANCE increases body awareness using rhythmic counts and patterned steps. This new awareness supports greater movement function; safer encounters in your home, work, and recreational environments; and overall better brain health.

The setting is a large interior dance studio with a light brown shiny wooden floor. The photo’s foreground shows 2 older European American women sitting in profile, leaning forward in chairs, facing each other. They are mirroring each other’s movement with both their feet and their hands. Both women are wearing light summer clothes, including shorts and short-sleeve blouses in light colors. They are delighted at accomplishing their movement task and show their happiness in their brightly smiling facial expressions. In the blurry photo background are 3 other couples performing the same movement project of mirroring each other
The setting is a large interior dance studio with a light brown shiny wooden floor. In the photo’s foreground are 3 people sitting in chairs, in a row from left to right. All three people have linked their own hands together and are stretching their hands and arms straight to the left, across their torsos, causing each person’s upper body to twist slightly to the left of the photos. All three people are also stretching their torsos forward to extend their arm and hand stretches. All three individuals have planted their right foot on their floor in front of them to support their bodies’ tilt to the left and are also stretching their left foot to the back right space of the photo behind them to balance their bodies’ stretch. The first person on the left is an older woman with light short brown hair, wearing summery clothes, including green-checked shorts and a light white blouse with embroidered flowers. The second person from the left is her husband, with completely white hair, also wearing light-grey shorts and a short-sleeved light green shirt. The third person from the left is an African American woman with coffee-colored skin and greying hair in a bun at the back of her head, wearing dark blue shorts and a brightly-colored peacock blue T-shirt. The photo’s background depicts several collections of stored weights for weight training
The setting is a large dance studio. The photo shows two people sitting in chairs, facing one another. One Eruopean American woman, with light short brown hair, wearing a flowered blouse and green shorts, is seated facing to the back. A slim and tall European American man, with short balding greying hair, is seated facing front, wearing glasses and wearing a light blue polo shirt with a name tag titled “Dave” in capital letters, and wearing light tan shorts. Both individuals are mirorring each other’s upper body actions by slightly leaning to one side and stretching one arm and hand with relaxed fingers to that same side while the other arm and hand is gesturing lower and closer to their torsos. The man’s face has a faraway but concentrated look, because his challenging movement task is to copy his partner’s movement, while mirroring his partner’s opposite side, right to left

Movement disorders our dance classes can support include:

  • Parkinson’s disease and additional Parkinson’s syndromes, Ataxia and Dystonia
  • Multiple Sclerosis (MS); Muscular Dystrophy (MD)
  • Tic disorders; Essential Tremor
  • Huntington’s disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
  • Alzheimer’s Disease; dementia
  • Different types of arthritis
  • Many other types of functional movement disorders

We want to encourage anyone who has:

  • a congenital condition from birth,
  • a congenital condition expressed later in life, or
  • an acquired neuromuscular disability of any kind,

to attend our dance classes, which include:

  • Working on habitual patterns while seated in a chair
  • Standing behind a chair
  • Moving safely across the floor
  • Working with partners and the group to create dance together to enjoyable music that helps the body and the mind to reconnect.

Finally, and perhaps most important, for those who feel socially isolated for any reason, our classes encourage a feeling of community while dancing with others.

All classes are free.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Natalie Schulz-Kahwaty at: ns1199@mgsa.rutgers.edu

En Español

BAILE PARA PERSONAS CON PÁRKINSON
Y TRASTORNOS NEUROMUSCULARES

EL BAILE, como experiencia holística, ayuda al cuerpo a volver a conectar las neuronas dañadas.
EL BAILE estimula las vías nerviosas existentes y ayuda a crear nuevas vías nerviosas alternativas para reemplazar las que se han perdido.
EL BAILE aumenta la conciencia corporal al utilizar el ritmo y pasos organizados según un patrón. Esta conciencia nueva fomenta un mayor uso del movimiento, encuentros más seguros en el hogar, el trabajo y los ambientes recreativos, así como mejor salud cerebral en general.

Aquí se enumeran los trastornos de movimiento que nuestros cursos de baile pueden apoyar:

  • Enfermedad de Parkinson y síndromes adicionales de Parkinson, como la ataxia y la distonía,
  • Esclerosis múltiple (EM); distrofia muscular (DM)
  • Tics nerviosos; temblor hereditario
  • Enfermedad de Huntington; esclerosis lateral amiotrófica (ELA)
  • Enfermedad de Alzheimer; demencia
  • Diferentes tipos de artritis
  • Muchos otros tipos de trastornos funcionales del movimiento

Queremos animar a cualquier persona que tiene: 

  • una enfermedad congénita desde el nacimiento,
  • una enfermedad congénita que se presenta más tarde en la vida, o
  • cualquier tipo de discapacidad neuromuscular,

a asistir a nuestras clases de baile que incluyen:

  • Trabajar patrones habituales mientras estamos sentados en una silla
  • Estar de pie detrás de una silla
  • Movernos seguros por el piso
  • Trabajar en pareja y con el grupo para crear, con música agradable, un baile juntos que ayuda a que el cuerpo y la mente vuelvan a conectar.

Finalmente, y tal vez lo más importante, para aquellos que se sienten aislados socialmente, nuestras clases fomentan un sentimiento de comunidad gracias al baile con otras personas.

Clases: Gratuito

Si tiene alguna pregunta o necesita más información,

favor de ponerse en contacto con Natalie Schultz-Kahwaty: ns1199@mgsa.rutgers.edu

 

Upcoming Classes

Winter Session for Dance for PD – Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST
January 8, 15, 22, 29, February 5, 12, 19, 26, March 5, 12

Spring Session for Dance for PD – Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST
March 26, April 2, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, 21, 28, June 4, 11, 18