Nidhi Bhaskar | ASAP Fall 2020 Cohort
During our virtual edition of ASaP, we compared and contrasted two virtual lessons for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The first was a DAPpers class led by David Leventhal, virtually featuring a medley of music and instructor-led dance moves. The second was a spatial workshop style session led by Pam Quinn, a professional dancer who had experimented with dance styles after she herself had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Prior to each of these lessons, our class had the opportunity to read about Mr. Leventhal and Ms. Quinn’s perspectives and to have interactive presentations about each of their styles, along with a Q&A session following.
David Leventhal’s style of dancing more closely resembled a traditional dancing class, but with slightly modified styles to accommodate individual patient needs. Leventhal encouraged everyone in the class to perform at their own ideal level and follow his example as much as they were able to. The music used was a wide range of genres, from cultural to classical to jazz, and, similar to a traditional dance lesson, the movements were choreographed to be performed in time to the music and to allow for small bursts of creativity through the process. Leventhal’s descriptions of building identity among his participants as “dancers” as opposed to “Parkinson’s patients” demonstrated a focus on creating a dedicated community of passionate participants who identified with dance as a self-motivated hobby, existing in an entirely separate strain from health “therapies”. Overall, Leventhal’s dance class seemed therapeutic and relaxing, prioritizing flowing motions and coordination with the music to achieve a holistic experience.
In contrast, Pam Quinn’s workshop felt more rigorous and oriented toward boosting mobility as a primary goal. The narratives that we read before class and Pam’s talk prior to the workshop highlighted how she used the principles of dance that she had garnered through past experiences as a professional dancer to develop movements that boosted mobility and improved the range of motion of patients with Parkinson’s. Pam’s approach was reflected heavily in her workshop, many parts of which were referred to as “three-dimensional problem solving”. Pam’s approach encouraged us to use our surroundings to our avail- a practice that seemed especially relevant to the current state of our world. Through exercises in creativity and the self-guided creation of exercises, our class used common household objects, such as hand towels and tennis balls for light exercise and stretching regimes. Music was introduced in this workshop, but seemed more auxiliary to the movements, serving to supplement timings and rhythms to the repetitions of exercise.
Both David and Pam employed unique styles of dance and exercise that reflected on their identities as dance instructors and professional dancers respectively. The use of volunteers in both of these settings reflected the prioritization of partnerships between individuals with Parkinson’s and those without neurological conditions. Exposure to each of these dancing styles was incredibly helpful to witness firsthand the power of inclusivity in dance spaces and the tremendous variations that may exist between the style and practice of dance that caters to patients with Parkinson’s.