Body

"Being in class with our participants reminds me of the pure joy of dance," said School of Dance senior Emma Simons of her time interning with Dance for PD®.

Dance for PD is a national program providing movement-based classes for people with Parkinson's disease. Photo provided

Dance for PD is a movement-based class for people with Parkinson's disease, which offers physical benefits to the participants and helps reduce the social isolation associated with the neurological disease. George Mason University's School of Dance has offered the national program, administered by George Mason arts partner Mark Morris Dance Group, in Northern Virginia since 2021.

When Simons and fellow dance major Asiah Moore interned with Dance for PD, each took a different approach to her work, a practice encouraged by George Mason adjunct Elizabeth Spatz, a certified Dance for PD teaching artist.

Moore concentrated on increasing internal awareness of Dance for PD at George Mason, creating strategic social media content and encouraging her peers in the School of Dance to engage more robustly with the program.

She recruited fellow students to attend the classes and perform brief dance selections for class participants. After these showings, participants had the opportunity to ask the students questions about the pieces and their experiences overall.

"I wanted to combine these worlds and give the community a chance to see inside the work we do," said Moore. "When [the participants] have a chance to see pieces beforehand, they might come to a performance, [then] they come in feeling like they're already part of this world because they know us."

Dancers participating in Dance for PD®. Photo provided

In her work, Simons focused on external communications, building on previous interns' research into local medical practices, retirement communities, and businesses where patients and caregivers might be looking for the resource that Dance for PD provides.

Simons made cold calls and sent out emails, aiming to bring more people to George Mason's Fairfax Campus. But as she spent more time in class, she noticed that people's hesitation melted inside the studio, and she decided to pivot in her approach.

"It's so much joy to be in the room with the participants, and I knew words can't bring people in as much as the movement itself could," said Simons.

Simons and Moore joined forces and started reaching out to administrators at various retirement communities to organize in-person trial classes on-site. The class they offered with Westminster at Lake Ridge was very well attended.

"There were staff members who said 'We're just here to watch' at the beginning of the session, but within five minutes, they were dancing and smiling and moving. It has this power for connecting people," said School of Dance Associate Professor and George Mason alumna Shaun Boyle D'Arcy, who helped bring the program to George Mason.

Simons and Moore graduated from George Mason in May with BFAs in dance and look forward to building on their experiences with Dance for PD. They both plan to perform professionally and are looking for companies that value community engagement and service.

Spatz said these internships can lead to jobs. "One of our former interns was hired by a company that was impressed with her [Dance for PD] experience," said Spatz. "It's so valuable for our students to see the different ways dance applies to people's lives."

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of improving human health, well-being, and preparedness.

Discover more GCI human health, wellness, and preparedness research >>

Learn about other solutions >>

Related Stories

Topics