ASaP 2016 Symposium: Designing the Next Steps

ASaP 2016 Symposium: Designing the Next Steps was a day of workshops, community classes, discussion, design, lecture/demonstration, and art installations. In its fourth year, the ASaP Symposium explored holistic, artistic interventions for diverse populations. This year’s focus was on the power of design and the implementation of arts programming in the medical field. People interested in this symposium may include students, educators, health providers, artists, creative arts therapists, neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, anthropologists, and public health professionals.

All events were located in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts and were free and open to the public

Dancers from Dance for PD classes in Newport and New London join with dancers from the DAPpers class in Providence to perform a version of the Parsons Etude. This performance followed other versions of the Parsons Etude by dancers from Brown University and Central Falls High School as part of a lecture/demonstration at the 2016 ADLI/ASaP event.

March 5th, 2016

9:00 - Check-in
9:30 - Sara Houston - Opening Remarks
10:00-11:15 - Morning Workshops - Registration Required (Scroll down for detailed description of workshops and for registration form)

Community Class - Dance for PD® - David Leventhal &Rachel Balaban
Uniquely Human - Barry Prizant
Body Research Art intervention in Education - Deanna Camputaro

11:30- 12:30 - Lecture Demonstration
12:30-1:30 - Lunch on your own

1:30-3:00 - Breakout Group discussions - Registration Required (Scroll down for detailed description of workshops and for registration form)

ASD interventions
PD interventions
Art Informing Health/Health Informing Art
Qualitative/Quantitative Research

3:15-6:00- Design Workshop - Miranda Olson
6:00 - 7:30 – Reception and Docent-led Living Room Installations

ASap 2016 Symposium Schedule

ARTS PROGRAMMING IN HEALTH—DESIGNING NEXT STEPS

9:00 - Check-in

9:30 - Sara Houston - Opening Remarks

Dr. Sara Houston is Principal Lecturer in Dance Studies at University of Roehampton, UK. Her academic work centres on community and participatory dance, particularly for those who feel marginalised or who are excluded. Her current award-winning mixed-methods research examines the experience and effect of dancing with Parkinson’s, as seen within a programme run by English National Ballet since 2010. Earlier research included working with forensic psychologists and Motionhouse Dance Theatre in an adult male prison. Sara trained in dance at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance and was awarded her PhD in dance and politics from University of Roehampton. In 2011, Sara won the BUPA Foundation Vitality for Life Prize for her Parkinson’s work and in 2014 was Finalist in the National Public Engagement Awards. Sara won a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship in 2014. She is Chair of the Board of Directors and Trustees of People Dancing, the national professional organisation for community dance and is an Associate Member of the Royal Society for Public Health.

You can find out more about Sara’s research project here: www.roehamptondance.com/parkinsons and you can follow her on twitter @SaraPMHouston

10:00-11:15 - Morning Workshops

Community Class - Dance for PD® - David Leventhal/Rachel Balaban

David Leventhal is a founding teacher, lead trainer and Program Director for Dance for PD®, a collaborative program of the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Group that has now been used as a model forclasses in more than 100 communities in 15 countries. He's co-produced three volumes of a successful At Home DVD series for the program and has been instrumental in initiating and designing innovative projects like Moving Through Glass, a dance-based Google Glass App for people with Parkinson's. He has spoken about the intersection of dance, Parkinson's and health at the University of Michigan, Rutgers, Brown University, Stanford, Columbia, Georgetown, and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (Belgium), among others. He's featured in the award-winning 2014 documentary Capturing Grace directed by Dave Iverson. As a dancer, he performed with the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1997-2011, appearing in principal roles in some of Mark Morris' most acclaimed works. He received a 2010 Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for his performing career with Mark Morris. He graduated from Brown University with honors in English Literature.

Description of the Session:

In Dance for PD® classes, participants explore movement and music in ways that are enjoyable, stimulating and creative. A 15-year collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, the program is appropriate for anyone with PD, no matter how advanced. No dance experience is required. In chairs, at a barre or moving across the floor, you will explore elements of modern dance, ballet, tap, folk and social dancing, and Mark Morris company repertory in a non-pressured, social environment with music that energizes, enriches and empowers. (the remainder can be cut if too long)Classes modeled after Dance for PD now occur in more than 100 communities in 15 countries around the world.

Uniquely Human - Barry Prizant

Dr. Barry Prizant is among the world’s leading experts on autism, and one of the most sought after speakers on the topic. He has published 4 books and more than 120 articles and chapters, and has received numerous awards including Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Princeton University-Eden Foundation Career Award in autism, and the "Divine Neurotypical Award” of the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership (GRASP). Dr. Prizant's message is that autism isn’t a collection of “symptoms,” as it is typically defined —it’s a unique way of being human. In his new book, UNIQUELY HUMAN, Dr. Prizant shows shows that the best way to support people with autism is by changing the way we think and act, rather than by focusing primarily on changing them.

Brief description of Session:
In this session, Dr. Prizant will debunk many myths about the experience of autism for autistic persons and their families. He will provide paradigm-shifting directions for better serving children, adults and their families, and for helping mainstream society be more understanding, accepting and appreciative of persons on the autism spectrum.

Body Research - Deanna Camputaro —Art intervention in Education

Deanna Camputaro is a thirty-three year veteran high school teacher and for the past twenty-six years has taught Dance and Visual Art at Central Falls High School (CFHS). She is the founder and artistic director of Human Creativity, an after school multi-art program that brought the study of dance to CFHS. She is also the designer of the Arts, Communication, and Teaching Academy (ACT) which was developed as part of the transformation process of the school and moved dance from not only an after school program but also a for credit school-day program. Through partnerships with Brown University, Rhode Island College, and American Dance Legacy Initiative (ADLI), CFHS dance students have had the opportunity to earn certificates of completion, work on collaborative projects with college students, participate in college workshops, and earn college credit through EEP (Early Enrollment Program). In working with ADLI’s Repertory Etudes Collection, Deanna has developed a teaching strategy called “Body Research,” a technique of investigation to “enter the text” of choreography in order to help students EXPERIENCE dance technique, EMBODY the emotion of a choreographer’s intent, and imagine and develop EMPATHY for another person’s story.

Brief Description of the Session:

In this Body Research Workshop, through imagery and movement, we will be investigating central themes not only from the lens of dance but also from the lens of civil and human rights. Large group and small group viewing, movement, and creativity circles with be active, lively, and combine to create our collective voice.

11:30- 12:30 - Lecture Demonstration

Lecture Demonstration – Sharing Dance Repertory Across Populations, featuring "Repertory Etudes" in performance by dancers with Parkinson’s Disease, Dance for the Aging Population (DAPpers), students from Brown University and Central Falls High School, and Dancing Legacy, American Dance Legacy Initiative’s (ADLI) Performing and Teaching Ensemble

12:30-1:30 - Lunch on your own

1:30-3:00 - Breakout Group discussions

ASD interventions— Dr. Barry Prizant (leader) is a practicing speech language pathologist and author of Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism. This discussion will explore current ASD interventions and directions for future programming in this area.
PD interventions—David Leventhal (leader) is a founding teacher and Program Director for Dance for PD®. This discussion will explore current PD interventions and directions for future programming in this area.
Art Informing Health/Health Informing Art—Dr. Colleen Cavanaugh (leader), obstetrician and gynecologist and director of Part of the Oath, an arts organization which focuses on educating about health and social issues. This discussion will address art and its impact on health issues and vice versa.
Qualitative/Quantitative Research—Dr. Sara Houston (leader), Principal Lecturer of Dance at Roehampton University. This discussion will look into the role of qualitative and quantitative research in establishing the necessity of future arts in health programming

3:15-6:00 - Design Workshop - Led by Miranda Olson

An interactive design workshop to apply the day’s skills and discussions to real-world problem solving. A collaborative, small group experience with other symposium attendees. Leave the conference with an actionable idea - future research, community arts programming, an educational course syllabus focused on art and health interventions, etc.