Feature
Dance for Parkinson's Registered teachers Johanna Hadley and Kezia Mitchell explain how they use dance as an aid for people with Parkinson’s.
Johanna Hadley Registered ISTD teacher
In 2017, I received an enquiry for my Silver Swans® ballet classes for the over 55s. As I spoke with the contact they explained that they had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and wondered if it would be possible to still join the classes. I confirmed to them my belief that dance is inclusive and that they would be most welcome. Although Parkinson’s was a condition I was aware of, it wasn’t something of which I had specialised knowledge and so I decided to research it further. It was at this moment that I discovered the world of dance for Parkinson’s. Reading research articles, watching videos, hearing participant stories, it was incredible to discover the profound impact these classes were having. I completed my training in ‘Dance for Parkinson’s’ in 2019 and was fortunate to receive this from industry-leading tutors from English National Ballet, People Dancing, Cardiff Metropolitan University, NDCWales and Parkinson’s Dance Science. In early 2021, I was invited to work as Associate Artist for People Dancing in their Live Well & Dance – with Parkinson’s online programme, under the directorship of Kiki Gale MBE. This is the pilot programme for a wider scheme in Birmingham, Bristol, Carlisle, Leicester and Newcastle. The programme is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. To ensure that participants can access these online classes for free, further funding was provided by the Parkinson’s UK support group in Trafford. The patron of Live Well & Dance – with Parkinson’s is British writer, script editor, producer
and actor, Paul Mayhew-Archer, who himself was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2011. Our classes In these online classes, I work alongside Lead Artist, Helen Gould, in a class that incorporates many different styles of dance. The music is often selected in response to the participants’ interests. Through discussion with the participants, we reached the theme of ‘Music through the Decades’; we’ve since enjoyed dancing to artists including Mick Jagger and Enya. The inclusion of classical repertoire from ballets such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and La Fille Mal Gardée remains a favourite, however. Dance for Parkinson’s classes are open and inclusive. We have participants of all genders in early to advanced stages of Parkinson’s. Their carers often join in, giving respite from their role and an enjoyable, shared activity. To cater to all participants, my colleague Helen teaches the standing version of each exercise while I perform a seated alternative. As someone who trained via the traditional dance student route, learning to teach chair-based classes was completely new to me. It may not be immediately obvious how a step like a plié can be translated into a chair-based exercise, but it is in the core understanding of the plié, meaning ‘to bend,’ that the chair variation can be found: a gentle bending and rolling down of the spine, helping participants with their spine mobility. In this way, almost all of the basic components of a dance class can be translated into a chair-based version.
36 Dance | Issue 492
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