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DANCE FOR PARKINSON’S: Arts and

Healing
Thomas Hassett

AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT
Dance for Parkinson’s Disease (DfPD) is a program of dance classes for people with
From left to right: Abby Wiegand, Ashton
Parkinson’s and their caretakers. It was started in 2001 in a collaboration with
Pedagogic principle: Participation
Clevenger, Leah Abrams, and Thomas Hassett at
Although I played an integral role in the planning process of
The Juilliard School while participating in training professional dancer Olie Westheimer and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and now has
to conduct Dance for Parkinson’s classes. these classes, I wasn’t always actually playing the piano during
over 200 communities worldwide. JMU dance professor Kate Trammell wanted to start
class, and in these moments I made a point of dancing with the
a DfPD community in Harrisonburg, and I along with fellow music education student
participants as a way of connecting with them. I learned how
WHAT I LEARNED Abby Wiegand and dance students Leah Abrams, Ashton Clevenger, and Chloe
important this was, because it fostered deeper relationships
Conway, were recruited to provide live music or be teaching assistants for the classes.
which allowed me to be a more attentive educator. Participants
All five of us completed training in Brooklyn, New York and Toronto, Canada.
Professional Knowledge shared with me the type of music they liked and wanted to hear
in the future, and this helped me tailor my educational practice.
As part of preparing to be a live accompanist for classes
specifically geared towards people with Parkinson’s, I had to Instructional Planning
learn about the disease and its symptoms, how it’s managed,
what to do in an emergency involving the disease (primarily
falls, although also things like freezing), and how to tailor my Planning a Dance for Parkinson’s class is similar to planning
contribution to the classes to relevant to the dancers. I also for any other class in that the instructor must keep in mind
had to learn how to dance! Because my role is primarily as a the students’ abilities and limitations, but different from
musician, I didn’t have to become a dancer myself; I just planning other classes in that many of the limitations can be Instructional Delivery
needed to participate in a few of the classes themselves and predicted based on the known symptoms of Parkinson’s
keep an open dialogue with our team so that I could make disease. For example, planned choreography has to be
One of the most rewarding parts of participating as a
sure that my contributions were both authentic and valuable. simple enough that someone with limited mobility and a
facilitator in these dance classes was when I and our other
high fall risk will be able to accomplish with relative ease.
collaborative musician on the team, Abby Wiegand, were
Further, the music has to be interesting, often recognizable,
able to teach a “Music for Parkinson’s Disease” class which
Scan this QR code to see evidence I attended the but music that either doesn’t have a clear pulse or has too
utilized many of the same concepts as the dance classes
workshop where I learned these skills and knowledges: fast a tempo will not be effective in a Dance for Parkinson’s
(empowering people through a new art, familiar materials,
class. In addition, each class has a core set of elements that
comfortable activities, etc.) but using music as the medium
are always included: an opening stretch activity, a seat-to-
instead of dance. Some of the learning we experienced as a
stand activity, and a final upbeat group dance (among others
result of teaching this class occurred at the time, such as
in between). Planning instruction around learners’ needs and
Pedagogic principle: Flexibility being engaging and flexible, and adapting on the spot. We
essential content is the essence of Instructional Planning.
also learned a great deal in our debrief with our professor
One of the most salient concepts I learned by participating in
I learned these skills and knowledges by being a leader in Dr. Jesse Rathgeber. Bigger-picture concepts like engaging
these classes was that of flexibility: the ability to be dynamic and
these series of classes offered at the Forbes Center: learners in meaningful and active learning, using multiple
respond to changing environments in real time. As an
tools as instructional devices, and specific changes to our
accompanist who was primarily improvising, and doing for a
communication habits (like not saying “you guys” or asking
highly specialized classroom setting, being flexible was an
singers if they can complete the next activity rather than just
absolute must. This will transfer to other settings because even
telling them to) were among the most important concepts
though in this setting I was improvising musically, teaching in
learned through this debrief.
general requires improvisation in all ways. Follow this QR code to see notes that I took at our debrief
meeting.

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