Dear DWP community,
I am buzzing with energy and excitement as we move toward this next chapter of DWP. This month, a few of our dancers said "just when I thought you guys had done it all, you go and do something new!" And it's true! We are committed to inspire, we are committed to connect and we are committed to dance with you. We will stop at nothing to bring our vision and mission together for our dance family.
Last month, in partnership with Dance for Parkinson's Network Canada, Canada's National Ballet School and Dance for PD®, DWP trained some incredibly talented new instructors who I can't wait for you to meet! I had the total pleasure and honour of facilitating our annual training workshops with David Leventhal, Dance for PD® Program Director and founding teacher.
The Dance for PD® Method was initiated and created over 22 years ago in New York City by dancers from the Mark Morris Dance Group. It began as a visionary idea in 20o1, and by October of that year, six Brooklyn Parkinson Group (BPG) members walked through the doors to take their first dance class.
In these intensive workshops we deconstruct the method: why we do this, how we do this, and for whom we do this all become very clear. Through this process I am reminded of the pure magic of artistry, storytelling and the power of granting ourselves permission to explore new ways of moving.
As we share the intricacies of the Dance for PD® Method, it becomes abundantly clear just how special and intentional this work is. I am eternally grateful and deeply moved to see the impact dance is having for people living with Parkinson's and the joy it brings for all who participate.
Thank you for being on this journey with us!
Best regards,
Sarah Robichaud
Founder and Executive Director
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In recognition of Parkinson's Awareness month, DWP dancers took part in a very special awareness campaign called "Dopamine Dance Against PD".
Inspired by Barbara Mathew's wonderful dance video that went viral on Twitter, leading up to World Parkinson's Day on April 11th, DWP dancers shared videos of themselves dancing, and included a message about how dancing makes them feel. Through this initiative, we were part of helping to spread the word about the importance of movement for our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
Thank you to our dancers for sharing your Dopamine Dance! Click here to view the "reel"!
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On April 27th 2020, Ruth Van Horne lost her husband, Phil, to Parkinson’s disease. In search of something to bring her comfort, Ruth heard about Dancing with Parkinson’s through the Recreation Manager, Heather Cozens, at her retirement residence, Caroline Place, located in Hamilton, Ontario. During those early days of COVID lockdowns, when opportunities for gathering were limited, Ruth started joining DWP’s daily, online dance classes from her room. One day became every day, and Ruth has been dancing with DWP ever since.
Heather Cozens understood the importance and impact of bringing art, connection and engagement into the lives of those most at risk of isolation. During those particularly restrictive months of the pandemic, Heather found creative ways to offer 30 minutes of joy to the residents she is so fond of. She would bring participants down, one-by-one, to "The Cottage" — the activities room at Caroline Place — where they could dance with DWP’s Daily Dance Connect class on the big screen TV.
Three years later, on the anniversary of Phil’s passing, the DWP team surprised the Caroline Place community with a visit and a chance to dance together in The Cottage. After all of these years getting to know her through Zoom’s little squares, we got to meet Ruth in-person for the first time. We laughed, we cried, we shared stories...we DANCED! And it was magic.
A heartfelt thank you to Ruth, Heather and the entire team and community at Caroline Place for welcoming us! It was a day we will not soon forget.
DWP is available 365 days a year to come to your assisted living, retirement residence or long term care home. Feel free to reach out to info@dancingwithparkinsons.com for more information!
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2023 Intergenerational Dance Project
We are so excited to be working with Rosedale Day School and Forrest Hill Public School on this year's Intergenerational Dance Project!
Since 2013, DWP has been collaborating with dancers, visual artists, writers, poets, and multidisciplinary arts organizations to create ground-breaking programs that promote greater understanding and connection between seniors and youth. We build upon the insights and experiences of each generation to share the artistry of dance with each other and the broader arts community. We have a wonderful program planned for 2023 which we can't wait to share with you!
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New DWP Teacher: Cassie White!
We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Cassie White to the DWP team of teachers!
Cassie, an accomplished triple threat performer, has been volunteering with DWP since 2017 when her school, The Randolph Academy of the Performing Arts, participated in DWP's second Intergenerational Dance Project.
A regular at DWP's Trinity St. Paul classes, Cassie completed the recent teacher training in the Dance for PD® Method with Sarah and David, and soon after, led her first in-person class! We are so excited for you to experience her experience, creativity and passion for dance!
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Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre (CONC)
Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre (CONC) is a multi-service agency in West Downtown Toronto providing essential and innovative services for vulnerable community members. DWP founder, Sarah Robichaud led an energetic demonstration class with seniors at their drop-in centre on April 26. Looking forward to dancing together again soon!
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DWP Road Trip!
Dancing with Parkinson's is taking the show on the road! For a few days in May, the DWP team will be visiting Sunset Manor and Living Better with Parkinson's community in Collingwood, and the Active Innisfil community to run some pop-up classes, with a few surprise visits along the way! Curious about a DWP pop-up at your location? Email us at info@dancingwithparkinsons.com!
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DWP is passionate about introducing our fun and beneficial program to new dancers near and far by offering free demo classes everywhere! To inquire about a demo class for your group, please email us.
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Making Healthy Food Choices: Workshop #3!
On Wednesday, April 19th, our friends, chef Geremy Capone, and Registered Dietitian, Daniela Fierini, joined us for the our third cooking workshop in partnership with the Health Commons Solutions Lab's Neighbours initiative. Together we learned about what it means to live healthier, longer, and how to build better salads for better health. With that top of mind, we prepared a Mediterranean couscous salad with lemon tahini dressing which looked delicious!
This cooking workshop has been such an informative and enjoyable experience. Special thanks to Geremy, Daniela and Zoya for sharing your nutritional and culinary expertise!
To see the presentations and recipes from all three workshops, click here. Enjoy!
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Mother Said Workshop
DWP is thrilled to welcome internationally known poet and former poet-laureate of Queens NY, Hal Sirowitz and his partner, writer Minter Krotzer, to the DWP community.
On Wednesday May 3rd @ 11:30am EST, right after the Daily Dance Connect class (use the same link), Hal and Minter will lead a poetry reading and writing workshop featuring Hal's critically acclaimed and popular, "Mother Said" poems. Back in the 1990s, Hal was a regular on MTV and one of the original poet performers at the Nuyorican Poets’ Cafe. Hal has been living with Parkinson's for over 20 years, and he and Minter have become advocates for people with Parkinson’s disease and their families.
We encourage you to watch this short film by Ram Devineni, Hal & Minter, which originally premiered at the 2021 ReelAbilities Film Festival. It tells the story of their life together as a creative couple, and the importance of finding your voice.
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Mime Workshop with Barbara
The inspiration behind the Dopamine Dance Against PD campaign, Barbara Salsberg Mathews, is returning to the DWP community to lead a mime workshop on May 16 @ 11:30am EST!
As many of you know, Barbara is a retired high school teacher and multi-disciplinary visual and performance artist living with Parkinson's disease. She first started studying and practicing mime when she was just 17 years old, and is currently working on an innovative program exploring mime as a powerful therapeutic and useful tool for others living with Parkinson's disease. Barbara brings an abundance of passion and enthusiasm to movement and artistry -- this session is sure to be especially engaging!
Please join us on May 16 @ 11:30am EST immediately following the Daily Dance Connect class to participate in what we are sure will be an engaging and fun workshop! Use the class link to join the session.
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Mary Lou Dickinson
Mary Lou Dickinson is a very accomplished fiction writer/author with five published novels and one on the way! Mary Lou shared her writing journey with us and how she came into this career at 65 years young! Her novels cover a wide variety of topics ranging from mystery to short stories on the human condition.
Mary also offered us tips and insights for those of us who might aspire to take on a writing career (or just a hobby!), and explained her writing process.
We encourage you to pick up one of Mary Lou's incredible books for your summer reading! You can learn more and find a full list of her work on her website:
http://www.maryloudickinson.com
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Alan Sampson
Alan is an accomplished artist with thirty-five years as a Packaging Designer, Print Designer, Illustrator. He collects comic books dating back to the early 60’s and loves watercolour painting. Now, as a retired person living in Lindsay, Ontario, you will find Alan and his wife gardening in the summer.
During this Slice of Life, Alan spoke with us about his thirty years of experience as in print and package design and showed us some of his incredible work! We were all taken on a walk down memory lane seeing brands that we recognized from over the decades.
Congratulations on a very successful and impressive career, Alan!
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Our Slice of Life series offers opportunities for DWP participants to share stories, life experiences, hobbies and passions for all of us to get to know one another better and possibly, learning something new. These workshops take place every other Tuesday, immediately following the daily dance class.
Keep an eye out for our upcoming Slice of Life presentations for the month of May!
If you are interested in sharing a slice of your life, please contact akhil@dancingwithparkinsons.com.
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We love all of your incredible song suggestions and requests for our Daily Dance Connect class, so we thought we'd put together a DWP playlist for your enjoyment! Thank you for sharing your favourites — keep them coming! Click here to listen to the playlist.
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DWP is thrilled to have been awarded this years GEEK funding! We are very much looking forward to joining forces again with the Ontario Brain Institute.
The GEEK (Growing Expertise in Evaluation and Knowledge Translation) program provides funding, evaluation expertise, and support to community-led programs and services for people living with brain disorders. GEEK supports the sustainability, scale and/or spread of these programs, to improve the quality and quantity of evidence-based care in the community. We are so excited to evaluate our scaling into communities outside of Ontario and apply lessons learned to our future locations throughout Canada.
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Everything Zoomer and CARP Health
DWP was thrilled to see our recent Zoomer article included in The Zoomer View's "Top 5 Trending" list and the CARP Health newsletter! In the article which was originally shared on EverythingZoomer.com back in April, Sarah speaks to how music and movement can help to ease Parkinson’s disease symptoms. In case you missed it, click here to read this fascinating and informative piece!
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Curious to see how far DWP has come and the impact dance is having on the lives of those living with Parkinson's and seniors across Canada? Hear it from our participants! This video says it all... Enjoy!
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OUR DANCE AND ARTISTIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE OF CHARGE THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY OF OUR DONORS.
PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING DWP'S MISSION TO SHARE THE JOY AND BENEFITS OF MOVEMENT, CONNECTION AND COMMUNITY WITH PEOPLE LIVING WITH PARKINSON'S AND SENIORS ACROSS CANADA.
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