Check out these items recently posted to the Members' pages.
New Members' Blog Post
Misty celebrates a class anniversary, while David begins a conversation about integrating people who use walkers. Log in here and go to the Blog.
You can continue the conversation via our members' listserv.
Dance for PD in Pune, India
Hrishikesh Pawar and Maithily Bhupatkar launched a Parkinson's dance program based on the MMDG/BPG Dance for PD model in Pune, India in 2010. This trailer for a longer documentary about their program features members of their class, which takes place at the Sancheti Clinic. This video is featured on our Members Only AV page.
The impact of aesthetic evaluation and physical ability on dance perception
This study, just posted on our site, addresses the way in which observers’ aesthetic evaluation of dance relates to their perceived physical ability to reproduce the movements they watch. The findings reveal strongest activation of occipitotemporal and parietal portions of the AON when participants view movements that they rate as both aesthetically pleasing and difficult to reproduce. This study is available on our Members Only Research page under the heading "Dance, Music and the Brain". (Look for the ► to find our Newsflash-featured article).
Parkinson's Dreams About Me
Choreographer Pam Kuntz, who teaches a Parkinson's dance class in Bellingham, WA and attended a Dance for PD training workshop, created this film with Rick Hermann, a dancer in her PD class. This film has been entered into the 2012 Neuro Film Festival from the American Academy of Neurology Foundation. This video is featured on our Members Only AV page, and can also be viewed here. And speaking of the American Academy of Neurology, Dance for PD Founding Teacher Misty Owens will present demo classes at the AAN's Brain Health Fair in New Orleans. Click here for more information.
Tai Chi and Parkinson's
The New England Journal of Medicine published a randomized, controlled trial in which Tai Chi training appears to reduce balance impairments in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease, with additional benefits of improved functional capacity and reduced falls. Read the summary. In response to this report, Tai Chi instructor Bob Hughes wrote on a National Public Radio blog: "If I had to choose one exercise program, I'd choose the Dance for Parkinson's program rather than my Tai Chi classes....I have several students diagnosed with Parkinson's in my Tai Chi classes. They love it. But it's a real challenge for them. One student has been with me for 6 years. However, recently I have also steered them to the Dance for Parkinson's program developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group in NYC--with dozens of programs throughout the world....Tai Chi has it limits for people with more advanced Parkinson's. Tai Chi is driven by the mind. And since Parkinson's deteriorates the Central Nervous system there comes a point where the student has great difficulty mentally commanding a sequence of steps coordinated with arms/hands. The Dance for Parkinson's program pushes a bit further beyond this threshold with live piano music providing rhythm and repetition to activate alternative neural pathways. This is not to say that Tai Chi doesn't do this, too. It's just that Dance and music is a lot more fun."
