Escaping from Parkinson's

" Dancing like this is helping me to get Mr Parkinson out of the driving seat of my life."

English National Ballet
Dance for Parkinson's

An investigative Study

by Dr. Sara Houston and Ashley McGill
Roehampton University
May 2011

I was intrigued to start reading this study by Houston and McGill as I knew it would give me more insight into my potential line of inquiry. Can dance really help people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease?

(Taken from the literature, a brief summary of what the project entailed:)
English National Ballet's department of learning joins a number of dance practitioners delivering dance for people with parkinson's in the UK. English National Ballet set up a pilot project for people with Parkinson's from October 2010 to February 2011. With two film cameras in the studio there were 12 dance sessions, given once a week for between an hour and 15 minutes and an hour and a half, with time after for refreshments. They were run in two blocks of six consecutive weeks with a break of four weeks for the christmas holidays. The sessions took place at the English national Ballet Headquarters. Not only were the participants led through a normal ballet 'barre' and class, they were taught various steps accompanied by live musicians throughout the sessions to the reportoire of Rudolf Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet, danced to Prokofiev's music.

The beginning of the study concludes a brief summary of the material they discovered. These were:

• Does not help with physical development, but it can help with mobility in the short term, particularly with musical accompaniment
• Provides tools to help with activities in everyday life
• Can loosen up the spinal area- improves posture and stability
• Precipitates feelings of well-being, determination and achievement

....and the statement that really stood out for me was:

• Provides an event for people with Parkinson's that is about Art, rather than about the disease.

What an incredible observation- that is undoubtedly the essence of ballet within the arts; it has the ability to completely remove you from your everyday life and transport you to another world. Due to the nature of the disease they may be limited in verbal or physical communication, but in these surroundings they have the freedom of expression, and a voice.

Several aims in relation to the study were to examine how the dancing affects participants, their careers and other stakeholders

• To assess the value of community within the group of participants
• To assess the creative and aesthetic value of dancing with music for the participants
• To evaluate the physiological impact of dancing on participants, specifically on the areas of postural alignment, balance and stability and motor control

It stated that Parkinson's is a degenerative disease with no known cure. Depression is common with sufferers and lack of co-ordination is apparent.

"Many people with Parkinson's lose balance because their response times are slower and because their bodily stance is compromised. More awareness of what their bodies are doing at any given moment may prevent falls."

Many people with Parkinson's disease lose their balance easily and find multitasking very difficult- so it would seem a dance class is the logical solution? Not only does the physical factors of dancing improve their general health, mobility and co-ordination, the physiological changes to the participant's well being really fascinated me.

 Housten and McGill required diary entries from the participants examining their daily life and what their thoughts and views were on the sessions. Interviews and informal conversations were also formed to create a greater perspective of the participant's lives. Throughout the study, many (anonymous) quotes are displayed from the participants, either from diary entries or interviews, and it portrays so clearly why this programme is such a positive community for so many to be apart of. 

"Handicapped though I am, I value the freedom of expression and for this I am deeply grateful. I realise how difficult it must be to include me in the class and how small my contribution is. However, to me it is a breath of fresh air for which I am most appreciative."

It reaffirms how imperative freedom and expression are to sufferers and they can get lost in their creative imagination through this class. The debilitating realness of the disease makes everyday life a challenge in itself, but by attending ENB's Dance for Parkinson's many of the participants noticed positive changes to their health.

"...Another example (of an extended range of movement) would be putting on a jacket which is more difficult for me than it was before I had Parkinson's and is a bit easier for a while after the classes. Basically the classes act like an athlete's warm up exercises to make the limbs more supple, increase their span of movement, and improve one's control over them. Nothing dramatic but a positive change can be felt."

I particularly liked how participants felt that they weren't labelled by their disease during these sessions. It enabled them to grow in confidence and share the experience with like minded people and in an environment they felt comfortable in. The impact of this project implemented massively on the professional dancers in ENB also. One dancer states that you should never take movement for granted and it has provided her with a larger, more positive perspective on life. As a dancer I entirely agree with one company member in the study - you can become so consumed in your own self when training or in a company that you sometimes forget how lucky you are to be able to walk and talk with ease, as well as dance.

Reading this study has been such an eye opener for me; full of positivity and it's wonderful to see what effect this programme has had on not only people with Parkinson's, but those without too. I am very interested in dance movement therapy, even more so with the mental developments that occur through therapy sessions and I'll definitely be looking into this in more detail.