UF joins with Mark Morris Dance Group to offer dance for Parkinson's disease tra

June 1, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance and the Center for the Arts in Medicine will host a special Dance for PD training workshop, designed and developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Group, for dance teachers and movement practitioners. The workshop will take place June 8-10.

The two-and-a-half day program is designed to help dance teachers adapt what they already know so that they can work effectively and comfortably with the Parkinson’s population, replicating a class model that started at the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn, NY. The workshop will also expose other movement practitioners to Dance for PD Best Practices so that they might incorporate components of the program into their own work.

Through specially designed Dance for PD Training Modules, trainees will cover topics including safety and good exercise design and will learn about the program’s philosophy and teaching approaches from Dance for PD’s founders. Participants will observe a demo class, talk with members of the local Parkinson’s community, and connect with other teachers interested in this work.

The workshop is open to dance and yoga teachers, physical and occupational therapists, PD and arts organization administrators, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals and caregivers who dance.

The Dance for PD program has presented more than 10 training workshops involving more than 200 teachers in cities including Brooklyn, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, New Haven and Berkeley, CA. The training program was recently featured in Dance Teacher Magazine.

A free master class, taught by Dance for PD founding teachers from the Mark Morris Dance Group, will be offered to the community in connection with the workshop

For more information, visit http://mad.ly/f19062.

To register, visit http://shop.danceforparkinsons.org/Training-Workshop-Preregistration-PREREG.htm.