The partnership between Contemporary Dance and the Bloomington chapter of Dance for Parkinson’s Disease® offers a unique opportunity for collaboration between Contemporary Dance students and members of the Bloomington community. The program and instructors inspire people with Parkinson’s—and those close to them—to experience the grace, fluidity, and joy of dance.
Dance for Parkinson's Disease
About Dance for PD®
Dance for PD® offers dance classes for people with Parkinson’s disease in Brooklyn, New York, and through their network of partners and associates in more than 100 other communities in 11 countries around the world. In Dance for PD® classes, participants are empowered to explore movement and music in ways that are refreshing, enjoyable, stimulating, and creative.
An on-going non-profit collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, the Dance for PD® program also provides teacher training and nurtures relationships among organizations so that classes based on the model are widely available.
IU dancers as instructors
Dance for PD® believes professionally-trained dancers are movement experts whose knowledge about balance, sequencing, rhythm and aesthetic awareness is useful to persons with Parkinson’s disease. Dance majors who chose to participate in the program work alongside Dance for PD® licensed instructor Roberta Wong. Together, they strive to impact the local community through dance.
The dance program at IU produces artists who graduate with the skills necessary to thrive in the professional dance community. The partnership between the IU Contemporary Dance and Dance for PD® provides motivated dance majors with the unique opportunity to practically apply and enhance the techniques that are the foundation of the dance major curriculum at IU.
In class, dance majors integrate movement from various dance forms to engage participants’ minds and bodies, creating an enjoyable social environment for artistic exploration. 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 every day. Increased awareness of these skills are both helpful and essential to persons with Parkinson’s disease.
Bloomington participants in Dance for PD®
Dance for PD® has an all-inclusive philosophy. Classes are open to any persons with Parkinson’s disease, as well as their family, friends, and caregivers of any age or ability. The class allows participants to explore the range of physical and creative possibilities that are still very much open to them. It’s not about therapy, but about the technique and fun of dancing.
The Bloomington program strives to create an active and engaged Parkinson’s community. We believe that the act of dancing together enables people to learn together, talk together, and inspire one another to explore their creative and physical potential through dance.
Contact us for more information Visit the Dance for PD website
The College of Arts