Dance for Parkinson's

(A partnership programme delivered by Oxford City Council & English National Ballet)

Dance for Parkinson’s quote

• “The dance class really changed my life. I am much more positive. It’s something about the music, rhythm and ballet, which makes you feel lovely. I haven’t felt lovely in a long time. This disease is grotesque… I’ve a feeling these classes are going to be my life-line. It’s a combination of physical exercise, which is superb, but also for me it’s a sense of being beautiful again. I feel so degraded with the disease. It’s very, very important to me that my body is doing something pretty again. I just love it; I really, really love it.” (London participant)

• What is Parkinson’s Disease? • How did a national world-class ballet company get

involved with Parkinson’s dance?

“The focus of the activity is on the art, not on Parkinson’s. I don’t think about Parkinson’s from beginning to end. I don’t think I’m

doing the steps for Parkinson’s.”

• Phase One – A mixed-methods study into the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson’s

• Roll-out of UK Hubs• What is the aim of Dance for Parkinson’s?

• Second phase of research – importance of evidence base

• Houston and McGill’s research concluded that dancing helps people with Parkinson’s nurture an active lifestyle, not just physically, but also socially.

• Impacts

• Final thought..• BBC One Inside Out South - “Parkinson’s: The

Funny Side” Available on the iPlayer.

Contact: Claire Thompson: cthompson@oxford.gov.uk / 01865 252820

• What the dancers say:-

• ‘A sincere thank you for all the talent, and joy that the Dance for Parkinson’s classes in Oxford have given and shared. As a carer I confess I anticipated mindless and rigid exercises. Now I am still laughing as I reflect on all the fun and beauty of movement, the drama and music that you and the team bought us. Stimulated, stretched and enthused I left the Old Fire Station each week. I do thank you’.

• ‘We have all enjoyed the exercise, music, meeting others, having fun and all this ticks the "feeling good" box. But that was only part of it. Opening us up to see what new things we could do, building our stamina by marching across the room with gusto, has left us recognising that we have improved, that we can do more, that we can be encouraged to try something new that will exercise our bodies and minds’.

• ‘To forget I have Parkinson's for a couple of hours a week has been a most positive experience’.