Parkinson's and Dance

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History of the use of Dance for Individuals with Parkinson's

          Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Common symptoms of PD are resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, mask face, and difficulties with gait including short, shuffling steps, festination and/or freezing of gait, difficulty turning or walking backward and impaired ability to perform dual tasks when walking. Individuals with PD are also at an increased risk of falls.

          Medical treatments for PD, including medications, do not fully address gait and balance issues and so exercise has become an important part of treatment. Four key areas of focus when designing exercise programs for PD as recommended by Keus et al. are:

               1) Cueing strategies to improve gait,

               2) Cognitive movement strategies to improve transfers,

               3) Exercises to improve balance, and

               4) Training of joint mobility and muscle power to improve physical capacity.

Dance is suggested to address each of these key areas in the following ways as suggested by Earhardt:

               - The use of music to accompany the dance movement, acting as an external cue to facilitate movement.

               - The use of specific movement strategies when teaching the dance steps.

               - The need to control dynamic balance and respond to perturbations when interacting with other participants facilitating

                 balance exercises.

               - Dance is helps enhance strength and flexibility. It may also improve cardiovascular functioning if done to a sufficient

                 intensity.

          The first study that examined the potential benefits of dance for individuals with PD was completed in the late 1980s by Westbrook et al. comparing dance/movement therapy with a traditional exercise program over a 6-week period of time.Later in 2001, Olie Westheimer, the Founder and Executive Director of the Brooklyn Parkinson Group teamed up with the Mark Morris Dance Group, a modern dance compnay that had recently opened a dance centre in Brooklyn. Two dancers from the Mark Morris Dance Group, John Heginbotham and David Leventhal, started leading monthly classes, offered free of charge to individuals with PD. In 2004 the Mark Morris Dance Group began leading their classes in cities where the company was touring. From there they developed a training program for dance teachers and began offering free demo classes and teacher training workships. The original Brooklyn program now serves as a model for Parkinson's dance classes in 30 U.S. states, and ten countries: Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, and Scotland.

          Other studies have also focused on studying the benefits of partnered dance forms, with an emphasis on Argentine tango in the literature. These studies demonstrated that not only was functional capacity improved but that participants were more likely to continue with a dance class than a traditional exercise program. 

          As research on dance classes for PD and how they can affect functional and cognitive status continues, we can already see positive benefits as these groups have created engaging and active Parkinson's communities where none previoulsy existed.

References

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